WPI granted $900K from U.S. Department of Education to boost diversity among biology researchers
Photo I Courtesy of Worcester Polytechnic Institute
(From left) Amity Manning, WPI associate professor of biology and biotechnology, who will oversee the GAANN program; and Reeta Rao, WPI professor and department head of biology and biotechnology and a co-principal investigator on the fellowship grant
Worcester Polytechnic Institute has received a nearly $1-million grant from the U.S. Department of Education to finance fellowships for graduate students studying to become researchers and educators in cell and molecular biology.
Through the program, WPI will receive a $900,000 grant over the next three years, funding eight doctoral students studying in the fields of molecular biology, cell biology, and microbiology within the university’s Department of Biology and Biotechnology, according to an Oct. 31 press release. Two fellows are current doctoral students, and WPI is in the process of recruiting six additional fellows for the 2025-2026 academic year.
The grant is distributed through the DOE’s Graduate Assistance in Areas of National Need program, offering fellowships to support graduate students working towards the highest degree in their field of study in disciplines designated as national needs, according to the DOE website.
The university expects the GAANN grants will increase diversity within its biology and biotechnology department as WPI will center its recruiting for the needs-based fellowships on doctoral candidates from underserved areas and backgrounds.
Fellows will collaborate closely with WPI’s Office of Diversity, Inclusion, and Multicultural Education with the requirement to take specified teacher-training courses and opportunities to utilize the university’s mentorship programs.
“WPI has opened so many doors for Massachusetts students interested in science and technology, and this grant will enable them to build on their powerfully important work,” U.S. Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-Massachusetts) said in the release.
Biology and biotechnology are increasingly growing fields as the press release cites data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reporting by 2033, employment of microbiologists is expected to grow by 6% and of biochemists and biophysicists by 9%.
“We need educators with expertise in cell and molecular biology given the importance of those fields in medical research in advances in technology that are going to continue to impact society,” Amity Manning, WPI associate professor of biology and biotechnology, who will oversee the GAANN program.
With 6,197 full-time enrolled students, WPI is the largest college/university in Central Massachusetts when ranked by full-time enrollment for the fall 2023 semester, according to data provided to WBJ’s Research Department.
Mica Kanner-Mascolo is a staff writer at Worcester Business Journal, who primarily covers the healthcare and diversity, equity, and inclusion industries.
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