NYU Receives $490K NSF Grant to Promote Women in the Sciences

By James Devitt

NYU has received a $490,000, three-year grant from the National Science Foundation to bolster its existing campus-wide initiative to promote the representation of women and minorities in the sciences. It seeks to achieve these aims by providing support for female faculty at all levels and, additionally, through research, workshops, and training seminars broaden the participation of women in science.
    “This grant is a small step towards helping NYU accelerate the necessary institutional transformation that will lead us towards a goal that is desired by all,” said Daniel Stein, NYU’s dean for science. “Through broadening the participation of women and minorities in science, an area in which they have traditionally been underrepresented nationally, faculty excellence is significantly enhanced and NYU becomes a stronger institution.
    “Given its rise to prominence over the last few decades, NYU’s progress towards a more equitable and diverse institution will have significant effects on the advancement of women within other universities and in their academic disciplines,” Stein added.
    The award is from the NSF ADVANCE-PAID program, which aims to increase the representation and advancement of women in academic science and engineering careers. With its PAID Award, or Partnerships for Adaptation, Implementation, and Dissemination, NYU will evaluate and implement programs to increase the recruitment and advancement of women in science.
    These include mentoring and providing greater access to and opportunities for networking and visibility. To supplement the NSF award, the Faculty of Arts and Science will create a family support initiative, which will provide resources to science faculty with family-care concerns, allowing them to conduct fieldwork and present research at out-of-town conferences. In addition, under the NSF award, NYU will expand its Challenge Grants, which will support research in areas where there are limited avenues for funding from existing sources.
    “This grant is an outstanding and affirming recognition of NYU’s commitment to promote women in the sciences,” said Diane Yu, chief of staff and deputy to the president, who also chairs the NYU Women’s Leadership Forum, launched last year with a focus on advancing leadership opportunities for women faculty and administrators.
    As part of this effort, NYU will partner with local institutions, including Columbia University and CUNY’s Hunter College, both of which have their own ADVANCE-PAID programs, to strengthen one another’s initiatives through collaboration, coordination, and joint programs.
    For more, go to http:// advance.as.nyu.edu/page/home.