Princeton Chem Intros Summer DEI Visiting Faculty Program
The Princeton University Department of Chemistry announces its inaugural Visiting Faculty Research Partnership program (VFRP), an exciting new initiative designed to foster productive, enduring collaborations with faculty from institutions that serve historically excluded students.
The paid program will run over nine weeks during the 2022 Summer Term. Selected faculty, who will be designated Princeton University visiting research scholars, are invited to bring up to two actively enrolled graduate students or undergraduates with them to participate in a research project.
The program seeks candidates from universities that do not have large doctoral programs, and from groups that have been historically or are currently underrepresented in the chemical research community.
Applicants are asked to identify a particular professor with whom they wish to collaborate as part of the application process. The application for the program can be found here. Deadline for submission is Dec. 15, 2021. (The 2022 VFRP is contingent upon University COVID-19 visitor policies.)
Senior Associate Director for Institutional Diversity and Inclusion Shawn Maxam, who helped develop the Department of Chemistry’s inaugural VFRP program.
“Research tells us that academic excellence and diversity are inextricably linked. At Princeton, these are some of our core values,” said Senior Associate Director for Institutional Diversity and Inclusion Shawn Maxam. “I believe that through this program, the Department will be able to continue to demonstrate its commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion and to enhance opportunities to deepen relationships with talented scientists and scholars historically underrepresented in the discipline.
“Programs like these are critical to building inclusive participation in STEM fields and to ensure that we draw from the broadest talent possible to push knowledge and discovery forward. This program can serve as a model for our campus and for academia more broadly.”
The idea for VFRP was born of a series of steps sought by Department Chair Gregory Scholes, the William S. Tod Professor of Chemistry, to strengthen the Department’s commitment to inclusivity and equity.
“We look forward with great delight to welcoming summer colleagues with new perspectives and inspiring research for our inaugural Visiting Faculty Research Partnership,” said Scholes. “When I became chair in 2020, creating new programs like this one to address inequities in the STEM disciplines were at the top of my list of priorities. I’m pleased that we’re ready to go, and I encourage faculty from far and wide to apply to join us here at Frick next summer.”
Faculty applicants must be full-time faculty members in chemistry, chemical biology, physical chemistry, or materials chemistry, at an accredited U.S. degree-granting, postsecondary institution. The Ph.D. is required. Faculty selected for VFRP may not hold an appointment at a university categorized as R1 – or, doctoral universities with “Very High” research activity – by the 2018 Carnegie Classification of Institutions of Higher Education.
Selected faculty will spend nine weeks working on a collaborative project with a Princeton Chemistry faculty member and lab. The VFRP program will feature opportunities for professional development and enrichment, recruitment and networking, workshops, summer term activities, and the use of the lab’s core facilities (NMR, MS, XRC, and others). Visiting faculty and students will receive stipends.
The program will culminate in a Summer Research Symposium, at which students will have an opportunity to present their work in brief oral presentations and in poster sessions.