The National Science Foundation (NSF) National Data Science Alliance (NDSA) welcomes applications for five technical advisors for the Research Affinity Cohort (RAC) summer program.

Application Deadline: December 15, 2024, or until positions are filled. Confirmations will be sent out by January 31, 2025.

Eligibility Information: Technical advisors must be able to lead a hands-on data science research project for faculty or staff from Historically Black Colleges or Universities (HBCUs) to accelerate discovery and innovation in data science. Technical advisors could be faculty members at any institution or industry professionals with data research expertise.

Description: Research Affinity Cohorts (RACs) broaden the participation of HBCU faculty and staff in data science research by connecting multidisciplinary investigators to develop research that solves real problems with data and strives to remove bias and promote ethics, fairness, and validity. The RAC members will be actively involved in developing the research, and each RAC will develop actionable steps to implement a sustainable research program.

Responsibilities: The RACs program will kick off with a two-week, in-person summer session (in Atlanta, GA) where 20 HBCU researchers will be placed in cohorts of 5, depending on expressed interest in the application. Each cohort will work closely with a technical advisor who will define a problem to investigate before the program starts, share their expertise, and serve as the leader for hands-on research. The five (5) technical advisors will be established data science researchers from higher education institutions, industry, government, or nonprofits. In preparation for the program, the technical advisors will engage in an introductory session that shares program goals, expectations, available resources, and a discussion of leading a RAC.

Program Dates: Monday-Friday, June 16-27, 2025 (9:00 am - 5:00 pm ET daily; 8 hours/day; 2-week program); participants must arrive by 5:00 pm on Sunday, June 15, 2025, and depart by 12:00 pm by Saturday, June 28.

Format: In person at Clark Atlanta University in Atlanta, Georgia.

Compensation: Travel and lodging will be provided, and each technical advisor will receive a $9,000 stipend.

Lodging: The loading provided will be in on-campus dormitories (that may be apartment style, to be confirmed). Note that on-campus housing does not allow for overnight guests, including family.

Schedule: Technical advisors must fully commit to the program during program times and not have any outside activities or responsibilities during these times. The technical advisors will lead an interactive project, beginning with an interactive lecture and then quickly transitioning to hands-on interactive research sessions. During two weeks, each cohort will work with a technical advisor to do a deep dive into the research project with a public presentation and written report at the end. It is desirable that the written report could be shared in the public domain.
This material is based upon work supported by the National Science Foundation under Grant No. 2217346. Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Science Foundation.

If you have questions, please contact:
Dr. Talitha Washington
NSF National Data Science Alliance, Director
twashington@ndsalliance.org

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