Dr. Mahasweta Sarkar Earns NSF Funding to Increase Representation of Students With Disabilities in STEM Careers

Mahasweta Sarkar, a Professor in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering at San Diego State University, is currently working on a NSF-funded project to increase the representation of students with disabilities in STEM careers; called The Alliance for Students with Disabilities for Inclusion, Networking, and Transition Opportunities in STEM (TAPDINTO-STEM). Learn more below on how to apply and participate in this exciting program.

Program Description
In addition to receiving a stipend of $1000 per academic year, you will receive:
- Peer mentoring and faculty mentoring on SDSU campus
- Access to a national network of students, graduate students, faculty and industry mentors
interested in supporting students with disabilities pursuing STEM degrees
- Opportunities to apply for internships and research and industry conferences
- Opportunities to participate in campus events and programs such as campus graduate school fairs
- An Alliance-wide annual STEM student research conference
- Group meetings with faculty and guest speakers focusing on topics such as time management,
study skills, course selection, internships, and research opportunities

Eligibility Requirements:
To be eligible for this program, you must:
- Be a student with a disability
- Be a STEM (Engineering majors preferred) major or be a freshman/sophomore planning to
declare an Engineering major and interested in exploring graduate school options
- Be a U.S. Citizen, a national, or a lawfully admitted permanent resident
- Committed to achieving and maintaining a 3.00 cumulative GPA
- 18 years of age or older

What is required of you?
To successfully continue in this program, you have to:
- Make progress toward, or maintaining a 3.00 cumulative GPA
- Participate in mentoring activities to the satisfaction of your TAPDINTO-STEM faculty mentor (Dr. Mahasweta Sarkar, [email protected])
- Participate in enrichment activities such as time-management, study-skills, and tutoring workshops and professional or association meetings (roughly you are looking at 2-4 hours of time commitment in a month, during your academic year)
- Continue to pursue a degree in an Engineering (or STEM) discipline

If this is of interest to you, please email Dr. Sarkar ([email protected]) with a short bio (no more than a page), by May 15 th , 2022. Please include “NSF TAPDINTO Program Applicant” in your email subject
line.

We are looking for a cohort of 8 students – space is limited – so apply early! You will have the chance to extend your participation to the next academic year if your participation is deemed satisfactory. However, application will not automatically rollover.