Laura Lopez and a number of Ohio State Astronomy graduate and undergraduate students attend the "Unsolved Problems in Astronomy" Network Event.

Heising Simons Foundation grant helps launch network to connect stellar faculty and students from diverse identities. A new STEM mentoring network seeks to maximize scientific excellence and output within the astronomy and astrophysics community by cultivating inclusive environments where people with marginalized identities can thrive.

Funded by the Heising Simons Foundation, the network—Unsolved Problems in Astrophysics: A Network to Revolutionize Our Understanding of the Universe Through Inclusive Workplaces and Equitable Practices—aims to create spaces for faculty and graduate students so they can create cutting edge science, says UC Santa Cruz astronomy professor Enrico Ramirez-Ruiz. He is among the group of astronomers and astrophysicists who bring a broad range of scientific expertise and pedagogical approaches to the network.

The network crosses institutional boundaries and establishes a formal support structure for faculty from historically marginalized communities in STEM, with the purpose of pushing science towards excellence. Each scientist brings unique expertise to the network, enabling members to collaborate and co-mentor students—ultimately bringing new and creative ideas to unsolved areas of astrophysics.

The network is the first significant and sustained effort of its type in the field of astronomy and astrophysics. It goes beyond current efforts to diversify the field, with the understanding that improving workplace experiences significantly increases the creative output of the workforce and thus impacts scientific excellence overall.

The network was inspired as a result of a national Decadal Survey panel, co-chaired by Ramirez-Ruiz, that looked at the investment of human capital in science.

“For the first time in the history of the field—perhaps in the history of science—the Decadal Survey created a panel, the State of the Profession panel, to look at not only how agencies invest in software, hardware, equipment, but how they must invest in people,” Ramirez-Ruiz explains. 

More information can be found here.