Career Pathways in Multiferroics for Underrepresented Students
The Center for Translational Applications of Nanoscale Multiferroic Systems (TANMS), an NSF-funded Engineering Research Center (ERC) based at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), has established a Center Culture of Inclusion to successfully retain students from underrepresented groups as repeat participants in the Center’s programs.
Creating opportunities for underrepresented students is critical to maintaining a diverse and globally competitive workforce. By actively recruiting these students and exposing them to research in a cutting-edge field, TANMS is also fostering innovation in multiferroics to advance research goals and commercialize technology.
In what TANMS calls their Cradle to Career Vision, gifted students are recruited as early as high school for coursework and research opportunities focused on multiferroics with the goal of matriculating into a career in the field. Many participants have earned undergraduate and graduate degrees, while some have even returned to the center as postdoctoral fellows. Program alumni have reported that the developmental curricula for communication and cultural competencies have been especially helpful.
The Center utilizes the Young Scholars Program (YSP) for high school students and the Research Experiences for Undergraduates (REU) Program to target gifted students and retain them at multiple points in their academic careers. Both the YSP and REU programs are funded by the NSF.
