NSF Grant Supports Students’ Engagement with Real-Life STEM Projects
The Community in Mathematics, Computing Sciences, and Physics Scholars Program is a NSF sponsored program which funds student scholarships up to $2500/semester as well as four meetings throughout the semester to work on real world projects with fellow scholars.
Mathematics, Physics, and CS/CIS majors with at least a 2.7 GPA overall and in the major who have completed at least 54 college credits, and are US citizens, residents, or refugees, and have specific demonstrated financial need can apply for the NSF Community Scholars program.
Scholars are also strongly encouraged become more involved in their major disciplines by:
- Taking part in research activities
- Attending and/or presenting at conferences
- Completing internships
- Taking part other relevant field experiences
In the 2022-2023 academic year students worked on real-world projects such as The Impact of AI on the Global Economy, Genomic Rearrangement, How Matrices Can Be Used for Encryption, and Assistive-Computer Based Technologies. For the last topic, students developed an app, Encompass, which aims to improve the mental health and emotional well-being of the user. The app includes features such as journaling, meditation, checklists, mood tracking, and a therapy chat-box.
The last of the four Fall meetings for the current academic year will took place on November 3. Dr. Rebecca Smith and Dr. Carol Wade are the PIs for the grant.