The Center for Integrated Space Weather Modeling at Boston University is a National Science Foundation (NSF) Science and Technology Center (STC) that is being established through a $20 million five-year renewable grant from the NSF’s Office of Integrative Activities. The NSF set up the STC program in 1987 to provide funding for important basic research, assist innovative approaches to interdisciplinary activities, promote technology transfer, and encourage education activities about these efforts.

The Science and Technology Centers explore new areas of research and build bridges among disciplines, academic and other institutions, and the technological and research-oriented sectors of the economy. They offer the research community an effective mechanism through which long-term scientific and technological research can be undertaken, better and more effective ways to educate students can be explored, and the timely transfer of research and education advances that serve society can be facilitated.

The NSF lists four objectives it expects Science and Technology Centers to advance:

• Exploit opportunities in science and engineering where the complexity of the research problems or the resources needed to solve them require the advantages of scale, duration, facilities, or collaborative relationships that can be best provided by campus-based research centers;
  
• Involve students, research scientists, and engineers from academic institutions, industry, non-profit organizations, and federal laboratories in partnerships to enhance the training and employability of professionals with an awareness of potential applications for scientific discoveries;
  
• Receive long-term, stable funding at a level that encourages risk-taking and ensures a solid foundation for attracting quality undergraduate and graduate students (with special emphasis on women and minorities) into science and technology careers;
  
• Facilitate the transfer of knowledge among academia, industry, and national laboratories.
  

There have been four competitions to establish NSF Science and Technology Centers to date. Two competitions, one held in the late 1980s and one held in the early 1990s, led to the establishment of 25 comprehensive STCs that have since graduated from NSF support. The third competition culminated in the award of five STCs in July, 1999. The fourth competition was completed in the spring of 2002. The Center for Integrated Space Weather Modeling at Boston University is one of six new centers being established in this year, 2002.

GEM Fellowships

CISM is pleased to partner with GEM (the National Consortium for Graduate Degrees for Minorities in Science and Engineering) to provide graduate school fellowship opportunities. See http://www.gem-stc.org for details.