It's been a busy summer so far for the OREGON STATE ADVANCE Working Group for Equity and Inclusion. For the past two weeks, the team has been participating in a summer seminar to identify initiatives that would educate OSU's campus community about how gender, race/ethnicity, social class, and other aspects of identity combine to disadvantage women in academic Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM).

The summer program is the centerpiece of OREGON STATE ADVANCE. The goal is to educate faculty and administrators on how gender-based inequality in the workplace can be removed by changing behavior. The group engaged in activities to help them recognize and reduce discrimination of women and underrepresented groups in STEM.

The College of Science has partnered with ARCS Foundation Portland Chapter to recruit top applicants to PhD programs in the departments of biochemistry and biophysics, chemistry, mathematics, microbiology, statistics and integrative biology.

ARCS® Foundation (Achievement Rewards for College Scientists) is a distinguished national non-profit volunteer women’s organization dedicated to advancing our nation’s competitiveness in scientific and technological innovation.

“These departments in the College of Science are recognized by ARCS Foundation as being among the top research programs in the country,” said Jean Josephson, president of the Portland Chapter of the ARCS Foundation.

The Portland Chapter will raise funds for ARCS Scholar Awards for the College of Science. This week two awards were earmarked for the College of Science to recruit top doctoral candidates entering one of the six programs in the 2014-2015 academic year. Each award is $18,000, payable over three years.

"I am thrilled for the College to partner with ARCS Foundation Portland Chapter,” said College of Science Dean Sastry G. Pantula.

“Their generous support for our departments will help us attract the best graduate students to OSU and help them realize their dreams. We will transform them into leaders in science to improve people’s lives in Oregon and around the world."

The College of Science joins the College of Engineering, College of Forestry and College of Earth, Ocean, and Atmospheric Sciences as partners of the ARCS Foundation Portland Chapter.

Through partnerships with 55 of America’s most highly ranked universities, ARCS Foundation provides significant financial awards to U.S. graduate students who are most capable of innovative pursuits in science, engineering and medical research. ARCS Foundation employs a scholar award model that provides flexible and unrestricted funding that can be a game changer for these fledgling researchers.