Job Title: NSF RET Summer Fellows

JOB TITLE: NSF RET SUMMER FELLOWS

NSF RET Fellow Opportunity

5-10 weeks of your choice during June 2023- August 2023

Job description: The NSF Spatiotemporal Innovation Center (STC) is recruiting three summer fellow opportunity for in-service or pre-service K-12 teachers. The 2023 summer fellows will observe/participate in one or multiple spatiotemporal innovation projects funded by 10+ agencies and companies. The positions are funded by the NSF Research Experience for Teachers (RET) program. STC, a collaboration between George Mason University (GMU) and Harvard University, conducts STEM research and development with partners in academia, state and federal agencies, industry, and non-governmental organizations. This RET summer fellow opportunity supports K-12 teachers, specifically in-service or pre-service teachers, to participate in spatiotemporal research at GMU. Outcomes of this RET program will provide participants with novel STEM-based lesson module plans and State of the Art classroom activities.

The participants will join the research team at George Mason, Fairfax, VA for seven flexible weeks during June 2023 to August 2023 timeframe. During the first two weeks, the participant will get introduced to the latest advances in spatiotemporal research. The participant will meet with center researchers to discuss their research and how their research may relate to national education needs as course modules. The initial two weeks will allow the participants to understand the importance of spatiotemporal research and how it impacts everyday decision making. In a second phase, the participant will get familiar with the knowledge about the practical research conducted in the center, the participants will develop course modules that may be used in their K-12 instruction. The participants will also have access to activities in the Aspiring Scientists Summer Internship Program, an educational opportunity for high school and undergraduate students. The third phase will include implementing the course module plan into a class curriculum. RET participant will be encouraged to introduce their new module plans in a classroom setting during the 2022-2023 academic school year, or publish the outcomes of this research experience in an educational journal or conference.

NSF RET Summer Fellows will receive travel support to a professional conference (e.g. the 2023 Annual Meeting of the National Council for Education) to present the outcomes of this RET summer fellowship. Participants are also encouraged to publish the outcomes of this research experience in an educational journal.

For more information about NSF RET program, please visit http://www.nsf.gov/funding/pgm_summ.jsp?pims_id=5736
For more information about STC, please visit https://www.stcenter.net/ 

Benefit:

  • Working with world class researchers and projects
  • Bring cutting-edge research to K-12 education
  • Networking with academic, industry, and governmental researchers
  • Stipend will be provided at a rate of $1k/week+Misc cost

Requirements:

  • Applicants must be in-service or pre-service K-12 teachers.
  • Applicants must be U.S. citizens, U.S. nationals, or permanent residents of the United States.
  • Applicants should be able to participate in for 5-10 weeks. The start date is flexible.
  • We encourage applications from underrepresented groups, such as women, Native-Americans, African-Americans, Hispanics, Veterans, and students with disabilities.

A complete application includes:

  • A resume
  • One page double spaced statement of interest.
  • Contacts (email and phone #) of two referees.

Selection process:

There will be two steps for selecting the students: 1) Site directors will collaboratively select a pool of promising applicants. 2) A zoom interview will be arranged with the selected candidates to consider the teacher’s skills in communication, teamwork, and topic interest.

Please submit your application through email to (stc@gmu.edu). The review of applications will start on March 15, 2023, and end until the position is filled up. Feel free to contact Dr. Chaowei Yang (cyang3@gmu.edu) with questions about the NSF RET Summer Fellows in Spatiotemporal Computing. We look forward to receiving your applications.