DOE’s Office of Science Expands Program for Faculty Historically Underrepresented in STEM

WASHINGTON, DC – Applications are currently being accepted for the Summer 2023 term of the Department of Energy (DOE) Office of Science’s Visiting Faculty Program (VFP). The application deadline is January 10, 2023, at 5:00 p.m. ET.

This is the first time VFP will offer a second “track” for faculty, focused on fostering connections between VFP faculty participants’ research at the DOE National Laboratories and the STEM curriculum at their home institutions. As part of the Office of Science’s RENEW initiative, the Office of Workforce Development for Teachers and Scientists (WDTS) is expanding the VFP program to offer this new pathway for faculty and their students from underrepresented higher education institutions to benefit from the unique research capabilities and opportunities at the National Laboratories. This opportunity will strengthen partnerships between DOE national laboratories and two-year colleges, minority-serving institutions (MSIs), and other colleges and universities nationwide.

With the addition of this new track, VFP will now seek to enhance both the research competitiveness and STEM teaching capacities for faculty members at institutions historically underrepresented in the STEM research enterprise to expand the workforce vital to DOE mission areas. Given this focus, VFP strongly supports faculty members from MSIs, including Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs). Typically, about 50% of the participants are from MSIs, one-third of which are HBCUs. Selected college and university faculty members collaborate with DOE laboratory scientific research staff on research projects of mutual interest. 

Two application assistance workshops will be held for all faculty interested in applying to either VFP track, on November 9, 2022, and November 18, 2022 (register for both workshops here).

In addition, prospective VFP applicants can engage with recruiters and scientists from the DOE National Laboratories at a summer internship fair sponsored by WDTS and hosted by the Oak Ridge Institute for Science and Education. The fair will take place on October 25, 2022, from 1:00 – 6:00 pm EST (register here).

VFP is managed by the Office of Workforce Development for Teachers and Scientists (WDTS) in the Office of Science.  More information can be found at https://science.osti.gov/wdts.