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Science, Technology, Engineering & Mathematics Talent Expansion Program
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  • Curriculum Enrichment Program
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Scientists Prepared, Enriched and Challenged Through Research-based Activities

Humanity's understanding of the natural world and society is growing at a rate that makes textbooks obsolete within years of their publication. Consequently, a college education must be less about memorizing factual knowledge than it is about learning concepts and how to acquire future knowledge. Hands-on learning through research-based experience gives young people exactly the tools they will need in life after college, and Truman State University's SPECTRA program is providing such experiences to new students through the study of science and mathematics.

The Scientists Prepared and Enriched Through Research-based Activities (SPECTRA) program will provide a group of incoming first-year students learning experiences that will prepare them for modern careers and opportunities involving the sciences or mathematics.

Participants will be selected from the pool of incoming first-year students through a competitive application process. Applicants need not be committed to pursuing a major in science or mathematics, but should show some aptitude and interest for the subject(s).

Benefits to you of participation include:

  • a $1400 scholarship with the possibility of renewal1,
     
  • first priority for enrollment in a pre-college program that includes a summer science or mathematics course, room & board, and a stipend,
     
  • an orientation to the study of science and mathematics in a way that highlights the interdependence of the these fields and prepares you to conduct faculty-mentored research,
     
  • free and personalized tutoring for science and mathematics courses in your first two years,
    opportunities to conduct faculty-mentored research during your second year, and
     
  • participation in career and internship awareness activities.

Upon completion of the SPECTRA program after your second year, you will have the background and preparation to compete for summer internships in science or mathematics, to complete a science or mathematics degree, and to pursue a rewarding career in an area that relates to science and mathematics in some way.


1Scholarships are renewed contingent on participation in program activities and on an individual's continued enrollment in science and mathematics courses that lead to a baccalaureate degree in science or mathematics.

This program is made possible by National Science Foundation Proactive Recruitment in Science and Mathematics (PRISM) Award #0928013. Any opinions, findings and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are those of Truman State University, and do not necessarily reflect those of the National Science Foundation.

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