Embargoed until: Media contact: February 11, 1997 Bill Noxon NSF PR 97-10 (703) 306-1070/[email protected]
Program contact: David Schindel (703) 306-1040/[email protected]
NSF REWARDS UNIVERSITIES WHICH LINK DISCOVERY AND EDUCATION
Picture an ideal university: it has a pervasive culture promoting collaborative research between professors and students; there are internet links between research labs, libraries and students; and there is an emphasis on discovery-based learning techniques throughout science and engineering curricula.
This should be the norm. Often, however, it is not.
A top priority of the National Science Foundation (NSF) is to stimulate new thinking at colleges and universities on how to better link research with education.
NSF has taken a major step to meet this priority by announcing its first-ever Recognition Awards for the Integration of Research and Education (RAIRE) made to ten research-intensive universities which have made substantial commitments to integrating research and education.
NSF has named the Universities of Arizona, Delaware, Michigan, Missouri and Oregon, along with Carnegie Mellon, Duke and Kansas State Universities, the University of California in Los Angeles (UCLA) and The State University of New York at Stony Brook (SUNY) to receive the recognition awards. In addition to setting a climate which has set the tone and agenda for change, these universities have produced significant achievements beyond individual and department contributions.
NSF is awarding grants of $500,000 for three years to these institutions. The grants allow considerable flexibility for institutions to continue innovative work built upon past achievements. Grants are also flexible on how universities may document, communicate and share outcomes of their efforts nationwide through such venues as articles, reports, web sites, workshops, conferences and other outlets.
Representatives of the winning institutions will be officially honored in a ceremony at a meeting of the National Science Board on Feb. 21 at NSF headquarters in Arlington, Va.
NSF officials say that links between research and education are more important now than ever because todayÃs students will spend much of their careers in the 21st Century coping with open-ended challenges and opportunities requiring highly developed analytical skills.
More than 100 of 137 eligible research-oriented institutions applied for the recognition awards.
-NSF-
Editors: Information on the Recognition Awards for the Integration of Research and Education may be found on the NSF Home Page at: http://www.nsf.gov by clicking on two sites, Office of the Director (background information), and on FastLane (where awards are listed and information on projects is located).
Attachment: Summary of Recognition Award-winning university programs.
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