Google exploreCSR grant will increase research mentoring relationships in computing at CU Boulder

The University of Colorado Boulder is one of 24 institutions to receive Google's exploreCSR grant, which supports universities that are trying to get more women involved in computing research careers by running research-focused workshops.

CU Boulder's project will be led by Ben Shapiro, assistant professor of computer science, and Sarah Miller, associate dean for access, inclusion and student programs in the College of Engineering and Applied Science.

They plan to use the grant to increase the number of faculty-student research mentoring relationships within computing at CU Boulder, as well as to increase the rate of faculty applications for National Science Foundation Research Experiences for Undergraduates funding.

Shapiro has been an active mentor of women undergraduate researchers at CU. But when he looked at how many computer science faculty members hosted REUs, he realized they needed more "supply" to meet potential student demand.

"We will collaborate with university staff to offer a workshop to help faculty to scope out research proposals," he said. "The goal will be to increase by ten-fold the number of REU proposals our computing researchers submit."

The program will include faculty and students from the Department of Computer Science, Department of Information Science, Department of Applied Mathematics and the ATLAS Institute.

"Making computer science education accessible and available to everyone is one of our most important initiatives. We're excited to provide this grant to CU Boulder to help encourage more women to be involved in computer science research careers," said Sepi Hejazi Moghadam, senior program manager at Google.

For more information about Google's exploreCSR awards, visit the official Google announcement.

More information:
www.colorado.edu/engineering/2 … onships-computing-cu

www.blog.google/outreach-initi … undergraduate-women/
Josh Rhoten
joshua.rhoten@colorado.edu