Jackson State University has announced that the historically black college and university (HBCU) was awarded a $467,080 grant from the National Science Foundation to help fill a workforce void throughout the United States.

According to principal investigator Dr. Tigran Shahbazyan, the grant includes significant funding to help undergraduate students get prepared for graduate school, should they choose to pursue a Ph.D. in science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) or find a STEM-related job in industry.

Dr. Joseph A. Whittaker, vice president for research and associate provost for academic affairs, said that teamwork, team-science collaboration and community engagement are critical.

“The future of Jackson State and many other HBCUs will be in their ability to leverage their collective capabilities to do some meaningful things,” Whittaker said.  “That’s because the science and research landscapes are evolving at a rapid pace and demand a higher level of skill sets.”

Click here to read more on the $467K NSF grant that will allow CSET to develop next generation minority scientists