UALR scholarships can total $20,000
University of Arkansas at Little Rock juniors and seniors wanting to become math or science teachers will be able to apply for up to $20,000 in scholarships starting spring 2017.
Juniors and seniors are eligible if they are enrolled in a math or science degree program and would like to pursue a teaching license, the university said. The university received a $1.2 million grant from the National Science Foundation that will help provide the scholarships, an effort to fill the state's shortage of math and science teachers.
The UALR Noyce Teacher Scholarship Program will award $5,000 per semester in junior and senior years and has given 12 scholarships since 2015, UALR said. As a part of the program, recipients must sign a contract to teach a year in a "high-needs school" in the country for every semester they receive the scholarship, according to a news release. Recipients also must teach one science, technology, engineering or math lesson in a high-needs school in the Little Rock School District every other week.
The program is a collaboration among the university, Henderson Middle School, UALR Children International and the Museum of Discovery.
$6,000 to help fill pantry at college
A $6,000 grant to Northwest Arkansas Community College will help the two-year school expand its food pantry.
The Northwest Arkansas Food Bank gave the grant to the college, which will buy a refrigerator, a freezer and more shelving for the food pantry. The community college started the food pantry in September 2015 and has served nearly 500 students, employees and families, the college said.
The purchases will help the pantry grow by three times its current size and allow more offerings, including fresh meat, produce and dairy, the college said.
"We are very thankful for this gift from the Northwest Arkansas Food Bank," college President Evelyn Jorgenson said in a statement. "Many NWACC students and their families will benefit from the additional types of food we will be able to offer."
Grant funds UAPB 'superchip' work
A University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff professor and research scientist will study the advancement of laser and LED technology thanks to a federal grant.
The $500,000 grant was awarded to Mansour Mortazavi, a professor of physics, and Wei Du, a research scientist of lasers and nanoscience laboratories. Research will be done in collaboration with the University of Arkansas at Fayetteville.
Funding for the grant comes from the National Science Foundation's Experimental Program to Stimulate Competitive Research, the Air Force Office of Scientific Research and NASA.
The goal is to create a "superchip" that will improve lasers' processing speed, reliability and efficiency in applications, including medical use and optical communications, according to a news release.
Metro on 12/06/2016