§18999 Programs to Address the Stem Workforce

Summary

The Director must give scholarships, graduate fellowships and traineeships, postdoctoral awards, and other grants to help fill gaps in the STEM workforce. Awards must include undergraduate help (including community college), ways to recruit and keep students, and programs that help students earn a bachelor’s in a STEM field while still finishing high school, often working with state education agencies. The Director must also promote new kinds of postdoc training, help build a more diverse STEM workforce, and study how well these ideas work. Postdoc fellowships or short rotational postings can last up to 2 years. To qualify, a person must have earned a doctorate no more than 5 years before the posting and do research at federal, state, local, or Tribal research sites. Federal agencies may directly hire former award recipients into competitive service jobs if they meet Office of Personnel Management qualification rules, and that hiring must happen within 2 years after the person finished their fellowship or posting. The Director may use existing programs for these awards, including known postdoc and graduate fellowship programs, community college scholarships, internships, and grants to colleges to create or test new STEM programs.