Cornyn Applauds $90M Investment to Promote STEM Education at Rice University

AUSTIN – U.S. Senator John Cornyn (R-TX) released the following statement after the National Science Foundation announced yesterday that they have reached an agreement to provide $90 million in funding over the next five years to SafeInsights, an education research and development hub, through the Major Research Instrumentation (MRI) program authorized under the CHIPS and Science Act, which Sen. Cornyn supported. This new scientific cyberinfrastructure project is led by OpenStax, the world’s largest publisher of free, open education resources, aimed at transforming research and STEM education at Rice University:

“By investing in leading-edge research infrastructure, we are boosting our cybersecurity, national security, and global competitiveness,” said Sen. Cornyn. “The scientific and technological capabilities these resources will enable at Rice University will help the U.S. reclaim its leadership role in critically important STEM industries.”

Background:

SafeInsights is a research and development hub dedicated to education research that has the potential to benefit tens of millions of students and instructors. It is led by OpenStax at Rice University, who will oversee the implementation and launch of this new research infrastructure project. SafeInsights will enable extensive, long-term research on the predictors of effective learning to better equip students and educators.

The NSF supports infrastructure projects across science and engineering research disciplines through its MRI program and Major Multi-user Research Facility projects, which were authorized by the CHIPS and Science Act. MRI encourages proposals that facilitate U.S. leadership in microelectronics research and training. For Mid-Scale Research Infrastructure Level-2 program awards such as this, the NSF supports the implementation of research infrastructure, including equipment, cyberinfrastructure, large-scale datasets and personnel.