3 College faculty members helping guide NSF initiatives

Friday, Dec 16, 2022 • Greg Pederson :

 

Three College of Science faculty members at The University of Texas at Arlington are serving in leadership positions on National Science Foundation initiatives in physics, STEM education, and biology.

Kaushik De, professor of physics, is a program director for the NSF Division of Physics – Experimental Particle Physics (EPP) program. James Álvarez, professor of mathematics, is a program director for the NSF Division of Undergraduate Education – Directorate for STEM Education (EDU). Matt Fujita, professor of biology, is a program director for the NSF Division of Environmental Biology – Directorate for Biological Sciences, Systematics and Biodiversity Science Cluster.

As NSF program directors, De, Álvarez, and Fujita are making recommendations about which proposals to fund; influencing new directions in their respective fields; supporting cutting-edge interdisciplinary research; and mentoring junior research members. The positions are for a minimum of one year and can be renewed for up to three additional years.

Program directors work at NSF headquarters in Alexandria, Virginia.

 

Kaushik De

 

The EPP program that De is helping to lead has three subareas: High Energy Particle Physics, Precision Particle Physics, and Tools for Particle Physics. De is a member of the UTA High Energy Physics Group and has been actively involved in the ATLAS particle detector experiment at the Large Hadron Collider since it began taking readings in 2009.

“My research has focused on experimental particle physics for the entire 30 years that I have worked at UTA,” De said. “Serving as a program director was an opportunity to help the university community across the country.”

The EPP program supports laboratory research that explores the fundamental building blocks of matter and their forces by investigating, directly or indirectly, particle interactions. Major focus areas include direct observation of new phenomena at the highest achievable energies and indirect discovery via precision measurements of known processes.

The program provides support for university research at high energy accelerator facilities, development of novel instrumentation, and techniques that provide alternate pathways to discovery of new physics beyond the Standard Model.

 

James Álvarez

Álvarez is a program director for three different NSF initiatives in the Division of Undergraduate Education. The first, the Improving Undergraduate STEM Education program, supports projects to improve STEM teaching and learning for undergraduate students, including projects to transform institutions to adopt successful practices in STEM education. Álvarez has spent more than two decades working to improve mathematics education of teachers. Likewise, he has provided leadership in the push to improve undergraduate mathematics achievement and mathematics program development, as well as school curriculum standards.

The second, the Hispanic-Serving Institutions (HSI) Program, supports projects at Hispanic-serving Institutions — like UTA — to improve undergraduate STEM education and to increase the rates of recruitment, retention, and graduation of undergraduate STEM students.

The third, the Robert Noyce Teacher Scholarship Program, supports scholarships for pre-service STEM teachers who commit to teaching in a high-need school, fellowships for Master Teachers at high-need schools, and research on effectiveness and retention of K-12 STEM teachers in high-need schools. Álvarez has been a co-principal investigator on several NSF Noyce grants that UTA has received since 2009, including the most recent in 2018, which extends through 2023.

“I believe that strong partnerships between mathematicians and mathematics educators at all levels play a critical role in improving mathematics education,” Álvarez said. “I firmly believe that foundational work in STEM education is central to expanding opportunities for all.”

 

Matt Fujita

The Directorate for Biological Sciences, Systematics and Biodiversity Science Cluster (SBS) that Fujita is helping to lead supports research that advances understanding of the diversity, systematics, and evolutionary history of existing or extinct organisms in natural systems.

“SBS is tasked with supporting research involved in understanding the patterns and processes of biodiversity of all kinds, from viruses to bacteria to eukaryotes,” Fujita said. “I always loved participating in panels, which is a group of experts (usually academics) that review grant proposals. It was during one panel when the idea of serving as a rotating program director came up, and I indicated that I was interested. A few years later, I interviewed for a position. This was in March 2020, a mere few days before the country shut down because of COVID-19. Fast forward a few years and I indicated that I was ready to commit at least one year to be a rotator.”

Fujita said that he was motivated to become a program director for various reasons. He sensed a positive environment at NSF and was excited about the prospect of working within an encouraging and supportive group. He said he also felt a sense of duty because the NSF has supported him since he was a graduate student, and he wanted to give back in a substantive way.

“I also wanted to understand the processes of the granting process,” Fujita said. “Academics learn the inner workings at their institutions, but what happens on NSF’s side? I am always eager to learn about exciting science, and NSF will allow me to see the research that is happening across the nation. This will also allow me to interact with principal investigators and panelists. My work as a program director will hopefully impact one of my primary goals of broadening participation in science, which also happens to be a priority for NSF.”

Dean Morteza Khaledi said it is an honor to have three College of Science faculty members serving in such critical roles and speaks to the caliber of faculty in the College.

“NSF program directors help to determine the scientific agenda in their respective fields, and to have three of our own faculty in these leadership roles shows the high level of respect they have in the scientific community,” Khaledi said. “Drs. Álvarez, Fujita, and De are sacrificing time away from their own research initiatives to serve the broader needs of their respective disciplines, and we in the College are very proud of them all.”