The S-STEM program includes an award of close to $600,000 for Biotechnology Scholars at the School of Environmental and Biological Sciences (SEBS) at Rutgers University. This will support 30 biotechnology majors with scholarships of $5,000 per year beginning next fall. A group of current freshmen will be funded for three years and another cohort of incoming freshmen will be funded for four years.
Another award of close to $600,000 will support 16 to 18 female students majoring in the sciences through a program dubbed Project Super* (pronounced project superstar) Scholars. The Superstars will get $4,000 to $10,000 per year, based on financial need, and they will follow the same timeline as the Biotechnology Scholars for current and incoming freshmen.
The rising cost of higher education disproportionately impacts gifted students from financially needy families, said Rutgers President Richard L. McCormick. The NSF awards will enable Rutgers to offer educational opportunities in the sciences to talented, economically challenged students that would otherwise be inaccessible.
The awards are based on previously existing Rutgers programs. The Biotechnology Scholars program is consistent with the prominence of biotechnology in New Jersey and throughout the nation. Biotechnology has emerged as a major contributor to the advancement of agriculture, medicine and environmental sciences. The biotechnology industry is one of the most promising segments in the United States economy. Rutgers biotechnology curriculum was created in 1989 and is offered as an undergraduate major to students enrolled at SEBS. It was one of the first biotechnology programs in the country and has received recognition as a model curriculum for the nations land grant universities.
Project Super* is a modification of Project Super, the undergraduate component of the Douglass Project at Douglass Residential College. Fifty percent of the women in this program are underrepresented minorities. Over the last decade, the Douglass Project has successfully increased retention of undergraduate women in science and technology, garnering a graduation rate that outstrips the overall rate of the university. The scholarships awarded through this program will be available to all qualified female students at the School of Arts and Sciences, Douglass Residential College or any other undergraduate unit that is in a Rutgers degree granting program.
The principal investigator on the Biotechnology Scholars program is Barbara Zilinskas, a professor of plant biology and pathology, and the Biotechnology Undergraduate Program Director. Co-principal investigators are Timothy Casey, professor of ecology, evolution and natural resources; Ravit Duncan, an assistant professor in the Graduate School of Education; Donald Kobayashi, an associate professor of plant biology and pathology; and Gerben Zylstra, a professor biochemistry and microbiology, and director of the Biotechnology Center for Agriculture and the Environment.
The principal investigator on Project Super* is Joan Bennett, associate vice president for the promotion of women in science, engineering and mathematics and a professor of plant biology and pathology. Co-principal investigators are Regina Riccioni, assistant dean at Douglass Residential College, and James White, professor and chair of the Department of Plant Biology and Pathology.
Contact:
Michele Hujber
732-932-7000 x 4204
E-mail: hujber@aesop.rutgers.edu