University of Houston-Downtown (UHD) associate professors Rebecca Quander from the Department of Mathematics and Statistics, and Jacqueline Sack from the Department of Urban Education, were awarded a $49,847 grant for their project entitled, "Collaborative Research: Understanding Robert Noyce Teacher Scholarship Outcomes in Texas."

The grant comes from the National Science Foundation, a federal agency which supports all fields of fundamental science and engineering, except medical sciences, provides financial assistance to scientists, engineers and educators directly through their colleges and universities.

"This award will provide us additional resources for our ongoing research work with our Noyce scholars and with our Noyce teachers," said Sack. "Specifically, we will be looking for characteristics/qualities of our program and induction year support that may have contributed to reducing attrition among our graduate teachers."

The Robert Noyce Teacher Scholarship Program provides scholarships, stipends and programmatic support to recruit and prepare science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) majors and professionals to become K-12 teachers.

Quander and Sack's project is in collaboration with proposals from University of Houston, University of Houston-Clear Lake, University of Texas at Austin, University of Texas at Arlington, Texas A&M University-Kingsville, Texas State University, and Stephen F. Austin State University.

The grant starts July 1, 2016 and ends June 30, 2019.