September 23, 1998
Media contact: Bill Noxon
NSF PR 98-54
(703) 306-1070
wnoxon@nsf.gov


AWARDS CITE UNDERGRADUATE COLLEGE PLANS TO INTEGRATE RESEARCH AND EDUCATION

Research and education are two sides of the same coin: Discovery. The National Science Foundation (NSF) made a down payment on the nation's future this week, announcing ten new Awards for the Integration of Research and Education (AIRE) to undergraduate schools located nationwide.

Coastal Carolina University (Conway. S.C.), Colby College (Waterville, Maine), Grinnell College (Grinnell, Iowa), Harvey Mudd College (Claremont, Calif.), Hope College (Holland, Mich.), Oberlin College (Oberlin, Ohio), Occidental College (Los Angeles, Calif.), Reed College (Portland, Ore.), Union College (Schenectady, N.Y.) and Wellesley College (Wellesley, Mass.) will receive $500,000 each over the next three years to design and implement programs that extend initiatives they have already undertaken to integrate research and education.

"These institutions are strengthening the bonds between research and education by designing and implementing new ways to involve undergraduate students in the process of discovery," Joseph Bordogna, NSF's acting deputy director, said.

"These new awards help create a discovery-rich environment where institutions and their students can benefit from making research an essential component of college curriculum," Bordogna explained.

Baccalaureate institutions in the U.S. have a long tradition of preparing undergraduate students for diverse careers, especially in professions rooted in science and engineering. Bordogna says that in the future, these colleges will become an increasingly critical asset to the nation - a key source in developing a workforce essential to maintain national prosperity in a complex, diverse economy.

AIRE recipients, according to program officials, have excelled in providing undergraduates an experience rooted in the process of discovery, and the award reflects NSF's confidence that the colleges named to receive the awards will be expanding and improving their innovative programs.

Awardees are expected to provide undergraduates experiences rooted in the process of discovery and to set the stage for lifelong inquiry and learning. These skills, say program officials, are not only important for scientists and engineers of the next century, but also for an informed citizenry that will prosper from their discoveries.