Current HSI-Related Grants

San José State Researchers have been making our campus HSI identity a central element of their approach to student success. The grants below represent a growing body of work that expands our institutional capacity for cultivating the next generation of researchers and educators.

Somos UC Davis Pathways to PhD Program

This program is funded by a University of California Hispanic Serving Institution Doctoral Diversity Initiative Grant to Dr. Theanne Griffith (UC Davis) and Dr. Katherine Wilkinson (SJSU). This program aims to increase the number of SJSU students matriculating to PhD programs in the Biomedical Sciences and to strengthen research collaborations between SJSU and UC Davis. Ten SJSU undergraduate and masters Somos Scholars were paired with UC Davis graduate student peer mentors and attended monthly mentoring sessions during the 2023-2024 academic year. They also attended workshops discussing the PhD application and interview process as well as about what to expect in graduate school and how to navigate their financial situation as a graduate student. The program culminated with a Research Symposium at UC Davis where Somos Scholars and mentors presented research talks, listened to SJSU and UC Davis faculty research talks, and visited UC Davis laboratory and core facilities. Three students from the inaugural class will be starting PhD programs in the Fall, including two at UC Davis. The second cohort of Somos Scholars and mentors has recently been recruited and work is underway to expand the program.

A Transformative Master’s Program in High Energy Physics: HEP at SJSU

Funded by U.S. Department of Energy and  led by Dr. Kassahun Betre and Dr. Curtis Asplund in collaboration with SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory (SLAC), (1) creates a 1.5 year long traineeship program for San José State University (SJSU) graduate and undergraduate students with primary emphasis on master’s students, (2) enhances the physics curriculum to prepare students to work with theoretical and experimental high energy physics (HEP) practitioners, and (3) develops research infrastructure in HEP at SJSU. Traineeships enhance students’ academic coursework, provide hands-on research and professional development opportunities, offer mentorship, provide financial compensation, and create a supportive community, ultimately providing the structure and supports to prepare trainees to be competitive candidates for PhD programs in HEP or other STEM careers. Trainees are paired with SJSU mentors and SLAC research mentors. The mentorship model is an inclusive, asset-based framework based on the Somos SJSU, “We are SJSU” framework built by Chicanx/Latinx education experts at SJSU. Training will be given to all mentors on the mentorship approach. More than just a traineeship, this project also facilitates building a long term HEP research group at SJSU by supporting the research of SJSU HEP faculty and their collaboration with researchers at SLAC.

Project Engineering Success

SJSU has received a five-year, five-million-dollar grant from the department of education to increase the retention and graduation rates of Hispanic and low-income (LI) students earning degrees in engineering and computer science. Partnering with San Jose City College (SJCC) and Gavilan Community College (Gavilan), SJSU aims to work collectively to increase the number of Hispanic and LI students attaining degrees in the fields of science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) through research opportunities, internships, outreach programs, transfer pathways, and faculty workshops. Led by Dr. David Parent, Project Engineering Success creates opportunities for students to participate in research projects with SJSU faculty, learn and join SJSU MESA program, educate faculty members on new teaching methods, work with local community colleges for incoming transfer students, and plan outreach events here at SJSU or local community colleges.