University of Puerto Rico, Mayagьez
To enhance the research skills and productivity of Ph.D. candidates in 8 STEM fields at UPR-Mayagьez to compensate for campus damage during Hurricane Maria (2017)
In 2017, Hurricanes Irma and Maria hit Puerto Rico, devastating the island and disrupting most scientific research and education. Sloan responded by granting $4,000 to each of 35 chemical and chemical engineering graduate students at the University of Puerto Rico Mayagьez (UPRM) and Rio Piedras, allowing them to use the funds in whatever way they saw fit to best continue their educations. Disruptions continue, however, and this grant to the University of Puerto Rico provides enhanced funding to help doctoral STEM students continue their educations in the wake of Maria and Irma. Grant funds will allow 24 doctoral students to conduct research for four to six months at a collaborating mainland laboratory; support a lecture series at UPRM; and provide travel funds for faculty to attend scientific conferences and meetings and for graduate students to visit mainland campuses for supplementary mentoring, including practice job talks. Additional funds will support data collection and analysis that will allow evaluation of program impacts.