JSU’s Department of Physics, [hr]
JSU’S Department of Physics, Atmospheric Sciences and Geoscience was awarded $1.8 million recently from the National Science Foundation (NSF) to help junior faculty members initiate their research programs and allow JSU to retain undergraduate students in the College of Science, Engineering and Technology while improving teaching and mentoring.

Principal investigator Dr. Mehri Fadavi said she believes that the funding for the award titled Institutional Change Through Faculty Advancement in Instruction and Mentoring will help the School of Science, Engineering and Technology achieve its goal.
“By supporting junior faculty member to increase their research capacity, a sustainable system will be established, which improves student retention and secures more external funding to the university,” said Fadavi, professor and departmental chair.
Also, the funding will strengthen the capacity of the department by adding research areas in Raman imaging and solar cells at JSU.
Reportedly, the project has the potential to become a successful model, which is expected to be shared with the broader community of colleges and universities working to increase the number of minorities entering the scientific and technological workforces.
The project’s end date is expected to be August 31, 2018.