by Tyler Smith
Tyler Smith is a 5th year PhD candidate and NSF/LANL/ARCS Fellow at UC Irvine. His research spans the intersection of astrophysics and particle physics. His work focuses on binary black hole formation and merger rates, beyond the Standard Model particle phenomenology, and supernova dynamics from neutrino spectral analysis. He is deeply committed to building community via active roles in the PACE, SACNAS, and the Physics Graduate Caucus where he fosters mentorship, leadership, and inclusivity for students at all levels. In his free time Tyler enjoys weightlifting and spending time with his two daughters, whether catching waves at the beach, watching anime, or making bomb vegan food. You can connect with him on Instagram, LinkedIn, or BlueSky.
For many years, the astronomy community has grappled with the question: how can we better prepare PhD candidates for leadership roles that extend beyond research? Enter the National Osterbrock Leadership Program (NOLP), an initiative that equips early-career astronomers with the tools to integrate mentorship, leadership, and diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) into their professional practices.
Since its inception, NOLP has worked to redefine the role of the astronomy PhD by emphasizing broader impacts. Broader impacts are defined as those efforts that benefit society and contribute to specific, desired societal outcomes. Through fostering impactful collaborations across institutions, NOLP has created a lasting legacy in shaping astronomy’s broader impacts landscape. The three NOLP nodes ( UCSC, UCI, and Columbia ) regularly collaborate to organize yearly splinter sessions at AAS, sharing ideas and best practices with the community which has culminated in the 2021 NOLP whitepaper (see below). This program has been guided by the conviction that the true value of a PhD is maximized when researchers actively apply leadership and management principles to their research, teaching, and outreach activities.
Building on these principles, NOLP is hosting its annual splinter session at the AAS 245 Winter Meeting in Maryland. The session, titled Deepening Broader Impacts: Mentorship, DEI, and Career Advancement (Session ID 199), will take place on Tuesday, January 14th, from 10:30 AM to 12:00 PM. If you’re interested in strengthening your NSF proposals, deepening your community impact, or simply learning more about NOLP, this session is not to be missed.
The History of NOLP: From Whitepaper to Action
NOLP’s approach to leadership and broader impacts was formalized in a whitepaper published in 2021, which outlined key priorities for mentoring and DEI initiatives in astronomy. This whitepaper identified persistent challenges in the field: “The challenges that pervade the field, i.e., the bottleneck at each rung of the academic ladder (especially graduate admissions), the need for increased DEI programs and training, the need for formal mentorship programs.”
Previous NOLP splinter sessions have focused on these challenges by exploring actionable solutions, such as peer mentoring programs, graduate student-led leadership initiatives, and scalable DEI frameworks. These discussions have not only inspired changes at the three NOLP nodes: UCSC, UCI, and Columbia, but have also sparked community-wide conversations about what it means to create meaningful broader impacts in astronomy.
This year’s session at AAS 245 will build on those efforts by addressing NSF’s evolving guidelines focusing on broader impacts and introducing new mentorship and leadership guidelines, providing attendees with the tools to strengthen their proposals and expand their impact.
What to Expect at the 2024 Splinter Session
This year’s session is designed to provide both inspiration and actionable takeaways. The agenda is structured to combine expert insights, institutional examples, and hands-on collaboration:
- Introduction to NSF Guidelines: The session will begin with an overview of NSF’s new broader impacts requirements, presented by Dr. Hans Krimm, NSF Program Director and SAA Lead. Dr. Krimm will discuss the updated expectations for mentorship and leadership components in grant proposals, offering practical advice for aligning your work with these guidelines.
- Node Presentations: Representatives from the three NOLP nodes UCSC, UCI, and Columbia will showcase how they’ve tackled challenges in mentorship, leadership, and DEI. Their presentations will be framed around the themes of:
- Problem: Identifying key barriers to broader impacts at their institutions.
- Solution: Designing innovative approaches to overcome these barriers.
- Implementation: Scaling these solutions to create meaningful and measurable outcomes.
These presentations are a chance to learn from real-world examples and spark ideas for your own broader impacts work.
- Interactive Workshop: The session will conclude with an engaging workshop designed to help attendees deepen their broader impacts. Participants will collaborate in small groups to identify challenges, propose solutions, and develop practical strategies for mentorship, leadership, and DEI initiatives. The activity will also include an opportunity to craft and refine NSF-aligned elevator pitches, ensuring attendees leave with actionable ideas and skills to enhance their broader impacts work. Participants will leave with clear frameworks and tangible next steps to apply at their home institutions.
Why This Section Matters
Broader impacts have always been a key component of NSF proposals, but recent changes to the guidelines have placed greater emphasis on mentorship and leadership efforts. As a result, it’s more important than ever for researchers to design impactful initiatives that go beyond individual goals and address community-wide needs.
This session is an opportunity to not only understand these new requirements but also to develop practical skills and strategies for meeting them. By the end of the workshop, attendees will leave with:
- A deeper understanding of NSF broader impacts requirements.
- Examples of how institutions are tackling mentorship, leadership, and DEI challenges.
- A personalized, NSF-aligned elevator pitch that can be used in proposals or presentations.
- New connections and ideas for collaborative broader impacts work.
Join Us
Whether you’re an early-career researcher or a seasoned professional, this session offers valuable insights and tools to enhance your broader impacts. Join the National Osterbrock Leadership Program on Tuesday, January 14th, from 10:30 AM to 12:00 PM at AAS 245 for an engaging, interactive, and inspiring discussion. Together, we can build a more inclusive and impactful astronomy community.
Astrobite edited by Lindsey Gordon
Featured image credit: NOLP
Discover more from astrobites
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.