Mission and History
Mission
The Integrative Graduate Education and Research Traineeship (IGERT) program has been developed to meet the challenges of educating U.S. PhD scientists and engineers who will pursue careers in research and education, with the interdisciplinary backgrounds, deep knowledge in chosen disciplines, and technical, professional, and personal skills to become, in their own careers, leaders and creative agents for change. The program is intended to catalyze a cultural change in graduate education, for students, faculty and institutions, by establishing innovative new models for graduate education and training in a fertile environment for collaborative research that transcends traditional disciplinary boundaries. It is also intended to facilitate diversity in student participation and preparation, and to contribute to a world-class, broadly inclusive, and globally engaged science and engineering workforce.
History
The Integrative Graduate Education and Research Traineeship (IGERT) program at the National Science Foundation (NSF) was created in response to the 1995 National Academy of Science's Committee on Science, Engineering, and Public Policy report and the Graduate Education and Postdoctoral Training in the Mathematical and Physical Sciences report (NSF 96-21). Both reports recommended that graduate science and engineering programs should:
- be more flexible and provide more interdisciplinary options for students
- include options for education and training grants
- increase participation of women and underrepresented minorities to be in science and engineering research and training
- provide students with broad based professional and ethical skill training and career information.
Since its inception in 1998, 215 IGERT grants have been awarded and almost 5,000 trainees have been funded, at 41 states (plus the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico) and over 100 universities. IGERT awards are approximately $3.0-3.2 million for a 5 year program, with the major portion of the funds being used for Ph.D. graduate student stipends of $30,000 a year and training expenses. In 2008, NSF made 20 new and renewal IGERT traineeship awards, in addition to establishing the online IGERT Resource Center.
