Grants or Gifts Relating to Women in Higher Education

Here is this week’s news of grants and gifts that may be of particular interest to women in higher education.

Gail Matters, an associate professor of biochemistry and molecular biology, medicine, and pharmacology at the Pennsylvania State University College of Medicine in Hershey, received a $100,000 grant from the Mary Kay Ash Foundation to develop new tools to detect the early spread, or metastasis, of breast cancer. “By researching new ways to detect this spread early, we hope to improve the prognosis for people with these cancers,” Dr. Matters said.

The University of Hawai’i at Mānoa received a $300,000 grant from the National Science Foundation for programs to increase the number of women faculty in STEM fields. The funds will support the development of a strategic plan that includes modifying recruitment, retention and promotion practices, mentoring, and creating pathways to hiring university graduates for faculty positions.

Stanford University received a grant from the National Institutes of Health to train principal investigators about sexual harassment in biomedical research. The study is titled, “Sexual harassment Training Of Principal Investigators (STOP)” and its goal is to not only decrease sexual harassment but improve the retention of women in science. The grant program is under the direction of Arghavan Salles, an associate professor of medicine of gastroenterology and hepatology at the Stanford School of Medicine.

Spelman College, the liberal arts educational institution for women in Atlanta, received a $5.7 million grant from the Simons Foundation that will provide reduced teaching loads for 10 STEM faculty members, allowing them to increase the time spent conducting research and providing research opportunities to their students. In addition to the reduced teaching load, the grant will provide faculty members with funding for supplies, publications, and travel expenses to attend conferences.

Texas Woman’s University in Denton received a five-year, $1.3 million grant from the U.S. Department of Education to prepare students from diverse backgrounds for doctoral studies. Undergraduate students who meet income eligibility, are first-generation students, and/or from an underrepresented background are eligible to apply. Students will be paired with faculty members and participate in research projects. Funds will be available for GRE preparation resources, visits to universities, and application fee waivers for doctoral programs.