Minorities sought for DHS research

Homeland Security Department officials are seeking applications for summer research appointments for teachers and students involved in science, technology, engineering and mathematics from minority-serving higher education institutions.

The Science and Technology Directorate's Office of University Programs, which administers and oversees such educational programs, wants teachers and students from historically black colleges and universities, Hispanic-serving institutions, tribal colleges and universities, and Alaska native- and native Hawaiian-serving schools to gain a better understanding of homeland security-related research through participating DHS-affiliated venues.

Applications, which are available through www.orau.gov/dhsfaculty, are due via e-mail or postal mail by April 27.

The initiative, called the DHS Summer Faculty and Student Research Team Program, will run 10 to 12 weeks from May through August, and each team will consist of one faculty member and up to two students. Faculty members will choose two qualified students with whom they will work and submit a joint application.

The teachers and students will work at one of the currently four Homeland Security Centers of Excellence, which work on various aspects of counterterrorism-related topics, such as risk and economics, agroterrorism, foreign animal and zoonotic disease, and terrorism’s effects on society.

Eligible faculty members must be tenured or on a tenure-track position. A minimum of two years' full-time research and/or teaching experience is preferred. Successful applicants would receive a $1,200 weekly stipend. Students, who can be either graduate or undergraduate students, must be 18 years or older and enrolled as of fall 2005. Graduate students would receive a $600 weekly stipend while undergraduate students get a $500 a week. Some relocation and travel expenses will also be covered.

The directorate oversees the Centers of Excellence and a larger student fellowship and scholarship program. The intent is to get more individuals from a wide variety of disciplines, including science and technology, interested in homeland security as a subject to study, officials have said.