The Alliance of Hispanic-Serving Research Universities (HSRU) has recently been awarded a $9.3 million grant from the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD), as reported by UTEP. The grant is slated to fund a collaborative project that will be spearheaded by The University of Texas at El Paso and the University of Central Florida (UCF). The project, called the Hispanic Serving Research Institutions Research and STEM Education (HSI-RSE), is designed to bolster the number of Ph.D. graduates in technical fields from the 22-member institutions of the Alliance.
The initiative will focus on advancing research that is essential for national defense, improving STEM education access, and engaging in inter-institutional cooperation on best practices. Azuri L. Gonzalez, who is the project's principal investigator and executive director of HSRU, highlighted the significance of the project, stating, "We are excited to lead this transformative project that directly supports our mission of increasing access to STEM education for underrepresented groups.” She articulates this vision of change, as per UTEP.
The grant will underwrite a host of strategies to meet its goals, which include cohort-based fellowship advising for graduate students, fellowships, research opportunities aligned with DoD technical priorities, and leadership development programs for both students and faculty. Dr. Grace Bochenek and Dr. Shery Welsh are also deeply engaged in the project as co-principal investigators, bringing to bear their academic and research expertise in service of this endeavor.
Cynthia Larive, chancellor of the University of California, Santa Cruz, and chair of the HSRU Alliance, emphasized the strategic benefit of pooling strengths across a wide network of institutions. "By leveraging the strengths of institutions across the Alliance, we aim to build robust pathways for talented STEM students ready to contribute to national security and innovation,” she remarked, according to UTEP. Indeed, forging these pathways is an homage to a principle of inclusivity in securing a stronghold in the vanguard of global science and technology.
The grant is structured to provide support through 2029, with HSRU officials planning to extend the cooperation to other federal agencies in the years to come. This aligns with HSRU's trajectory since its inception in 2022, as a union of the 22 Hispanic-Serving Institutions (HSIs) recognized for their leading research capabilities. The HSRU has been committed to advancing the research and educational opportunities for a demographically important segment which is vital for the fabric of American academia and its future leadership in STEM.
