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NSF Science and Technology Centers (STCs): Integrative Partnerships

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The Science and Technology Centers (STC): Integrative Partnerships program supports innovative, potentially transformative, complex research and education projects that require large-scale, long-term awards. STCs conduct world-class research through partnerships among academic institutions, national laboratories, industrial organizations, and/or other public/private entities, and via international collaborations, as appropriate. They provide a means to undertake significant investigations at the interfaces of disciplines and/or fresh approaches within disciplines. STCs may involve any areas of science and engineering that NSF supports. STC investments support the NSF vision of advancing discovery, innovation and education beyond the frontiers of current knowledge, and empowering future generations in science and engineering. (See more at STC program page.)

QEM's Student and Faculty STC Research Appointments
With support from the NSF STC program, QEM designed, developed, and administered a program to recruit, select, and place doctoral students underrepresented in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) in paid summer and academic year research internships at the NSF-supported STCs. Summer doctoral internships provided a $5,000 stipend, round-trip airfare to and from the host STC Institution, and a housing allowance of $1,600 that could be applied to either on- or off-campus housing. Academic year doctoral internships carried a stipend of $30,000, plus a $10,500 cost of education allowance for the host institution.

QEM also identified and matched STEM faculty at minority-serving institutions offering master’s and doctoral degrees in STEM fields with STCs based on common research interests, establishing ties between STCs and a set of institutions that also were potential sources of student interns. The faculty summer research appointments carried a stipend of $9,000, and travel and housing allowances were available in addition to the stipends.