McNair Scholars Program prepares students for the PhD program in materials research
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BEYOND THE LAB
McNair Scholars Program prepares students for the PhD program in materials research www.mcnair.aa.ufl.edu | www.facebook.com/UFMcNair
Samesha R. Barnes
E
ach summer, approximately 20 juniors and seniors in undergraduate school begin an intensive research experience with our University of Florida (UF) Ronald E. McNair Post-Baccalaureate Achievement Program. These first-year McNair Scholars take a course on research methods and writing, complete a preparation class for the Graduate Record Exam (GRE), and attend seminars in addition to working on a faculty-guided research project that continues throughout the academic year. The McNair Scholars Program is named in honor of Dr. Ronald E. McNair, the African American astronaut and physicist who died tragically along with six other crew members in the 1986 Space Shuttle Challenger explosion. The program is one of several US Federal TRIO Programs that provide outreach and services to students
from disadvantaged backgrounds to aid their advancement through the academic pipeline from middle school, to high school, to college, and to graduate programs. McNair programs were established by the US Department of Education to increase the number of students from underrepresented segments of society to obtain a PhD degree and to encourage their entry into faculty and research careers. The UF McNair Scholars Program is one of 151 such programs across the United States and Puerto Rico that collectively provide graduate school preparation and training to over 4000 undergraduate students who are low-income/ first-generation college students or who are members of groups that are traditionally underrepresented in graduate education. Now in its 20th consecutive year of funding, the UF McNair program has served close to 450 outstanding scholars. Our program has supported undergraduate students from a variety of academic disciplines; however, the growing national demand for scientists and engineers has fueled our efforts to emphasize recruitment of students majoring in science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM). A number of our STEM students over the years have worked on innovative research in materials science, a field that is near and dear to my heart. As Director of the McNair Scholars Program, I look for students with strong academic credentials who 2015 National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship have the passion and drive Program recipient and proud graduate of the UF McNair Scholars to complete doctoral studies. Program, Lyndsey Denis.
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VOLUME 40 • JUNE 2015
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Some of these students enter the program with extensive research experience and solid career goals, like Carmen Gil, a junior majoring in chemical engineering. In the summer of 2012, Gil was part of the first cohort of the International Research Experience for Students at the University of New South Wales (UNSW) in Sydney, Australia, where she conducted research on thermoelectric materials for energy technology. She spent two additional semest
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