RCSA believes that to promote groundbreaking science, we must welcome, engage and nurture the brightest minds from the widest range of backgrounds, institutions, and life experiences. Our commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion is embedded in our programming, our award processes, our operations, and our interactions with the communities we serve.
In our programming, we strive to create inclusive communities that support the development of scientists as researchers, educators, and leaders. Beyond individual excellence, cohorts for our programs are selected thoughtfully to promote participation by early career scientists who fully represent and include the many identities present in our society. We seek to maximize the vibrant group dynamics and voices required to catalyze transformative science.
In our grantmaking, RCSA actively encourages and recruits applications from scientists from traditionally marginalized or excluded groups, and works with people from a broad range of institutions to address underrepresentation and barriers to participation. RCSA maintains clear, quantitative and qualitative metrics for proposal evaluation, and award applications are seen by multiple reviewers in an effort to ensure fairness and reduce the impact of biases in the application and selection process.
RCSA offers equal employment and advancement opportunities without regard to status or identity. We strive to maintain a workplace where all team members feel they belong.
Changing the Face of Science
RCSA is proud of the efforts we have made to support wider diversity in the physical sciences. By building on the foundation's greatest strength -- the communities we create -- our programs reach students, early career faculty and established academic leaders, helping generate opportunities for a new generation of scientists.
- Cottrell Scholars are agents of change at their institutions, and many of them are deeply involved in work to increase diversity, equity, and inclusion among STEM students and faculty. RCSA will continue supporting their efforts through a variety of initiatives including Cottrell Scholar Collaborative projects, Cottrell Plus Awards and the Robert Holland Jr. Award for senior scientists. Recruiting a diverse pool of Cottrell Scholar Award applicants is critical to the success of these initiatives.
- Scialog will continue to cultivate a diverse network of outstanding early career scientists, catalyzing innovative research at a critical point in their careers and improving their chances to apply successfully for other awards, including the Cottrell Scholar Award.
- Our RCSA Fellows initiative aims to increase faculty diversity in the physical sciences through job search preparation and community building.
View the changing demographics of our Cottrell Scholar and Scialog programs.
