National Physical Science Consortium

The National Physical Science Consortium is a US non-profit organization composed of leading universities,[1] national laboratories, corporations, and government agencies whose aim is increase the number of American citizens with graduate degrees and Ph.Ds in the physical sciences and related engineering fields. It emphasizes the recruitment of women and underrepresented minorities.[2]

National Physical Science Consortium
AbbreviationNPSC
Formation1989
Legal statusNon-profit
PurposeEducation, Minority groups
HeadquartersLos Angeles, California 90007
Location
Program administrator
Dr Joretta Joseph
Websitenpsc.org

Since the organization's inception in 1989, the NPSC has awarded more than 467 graduate fellowships; more than 200 at PhD level and more than 90 Masters degree. Ninety-five percent of NPSC fellows have been minority, female, or both, sections of society underrepresented in science. Participating employers selecting NPSC fellows include Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, the National Security Agency, Sandia National Laboratories in New Mexico and California.

The NPSC founders include African American professor Kennedy J. Reed of the Physics & Advanced Technologies Directorate at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory.[3][4][5]

Fellowship program

NPSC Graduate Fellowships are offered to all American citizens and last from two to six years, providing financial support of $20,000 per year, up to a maximum of $200,000.[6] It covers tuition and allows fellows to hold a research or teaching assistantship positions while gaining work experience with the sponsoring employer during the summer.[7] Fellowships apply to the fields of astronomy, chemistry, computer science, geology, materials science, mathematical sciences, physics and numerous disciplines of engineering.[8] The NPSC also offers mentorship.

Recruitment is carried out through referrals from professors and other students.[9]

References
  1. NPSC Signatory institutions
  2. Hiring, promotion, retention and overall representation of minorities, women and disabled persons within the intelligence community. A hearing before the Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, House of Representatives, One Hundred Third Congress, second session, September 20, 1994, U.S. Government Printing Office, 1995, ISBN 0160470420
  3. Distinguished African American Scientists of the Twentieth Century. Distinguished African Americans, James H Kessler, Greenwood Publishing Group, 1996. ISBN 0897749553
  4. The Edward Bouchet Abdus Salam Institute
  5. California : People Of Distinction
  6. Ferguson Career Resource Guide for Women and Minorities, Infobase Publishing, 2006. ISBN 0816061319
  7. The National Scholars Program: Excellence with Diversity for the Future, National Research Council (U.S.). Committee on the Feasibility of a National Scholars Program, National Academies, 1996
  8. The Graduate School Funding Handbook by April Vahle Hamel, Jennifer S. Furlong, University of Pennsylvania Press, 2012. ISBN 0812207076,
  9. Science and Engineering Programs: On Target for Women? Marsha Lakes Matyas, Linda Skidmore Dix, National Academies, 1992
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