Webster Receives a $400,000 NSF Grant to Improve the Undergraduate STEM Experience

Webster University received a $400,000 grant from the National Science Foundation (NSF) to improve engagement, retention and training opportunities for undergraduates studying in a STEM field. The goal of the three-year “Fostering Engagement and Linkages through Leadership Opportunities in STEM” project is to investigate how leadership development, communication skills and a peer fellowship program influence STEM undergraduate students’ sense of belonging and persistence.

The project will include recruiting and training undergraduate STEM Fellows in leadership, communication and peer mentoring, and includes wages for students who participate in the program, thus helping lower their overall costs of pursuing a college degree. The program is designed to explore ways to increase retention and graduation rates in the STEM-related fields.

“Securing this NSF grant gives us additional capacity for providing significant training and developmental experiences to our students,” said Associate Professor of Biology, Shannon Kispert, the principal investigator for the grant. “This will be a wide-ranging project that includes conference participation and leadership programming for the Fellows, as well as community building focused on all undergraduate STEM students. I am grateful that the NSF saw the value of this work, as it will help students stay on track and graduate with the skills that our community needs to fill the jobs of the future.”

Kispert is joined by two co-principal investigators, Professor of Management Ece Tuncel and Assistant Professor of Counseling Claire Martin. Together, the team brings expertise in STEM education, leadership, student wellbeing, and connectedness to the design and delivery of the program.

“STEM students are preparing to become scientists and technical experts, but they will also work on teams, mentor others, manage projects, and take on leadership roles. Giving students opportunities to develop reflective and relational leadership skills while they are still in college prepares them for what comes next and also gives them more meaningful ways to participate in the STEM community.” Tuncel said.

Under the proposal, 40 undergraduate fellowships will be created, giving students real-life experiences that will build their skills and help move them toward graduation.

The award is pursuant to the authority of the National Science Foundation Act of 1950, as amended (42 U.S.C. 1861-75) and is subject to the NSF Grant General Conditions dated May 29, 2026. Named “Fostering Engagement through Linkages and Leadership Opportunities in STEM,” the award is number 2612897. This is the third NSF grant Webster has received in 2026. 

This is the third NSF grant Webster has received this year, and the fifth in the past three years. Last week, Webster University was awarded a three-year grant for $746,008 by the National Science Foundation (NSF) to fund the Connect-HPC project. Led by Webster University Professor Xiaoyuan Suo, who teaches in the George Herbert Walker School of Business & Technology, the venture will expand access to high-performance computing (HPC) education across Missouri through a collaboration between Webster, Missouri Western State University, Drury University, Truman State University and Southeast Missouri State University.

Earlier this year, Suo received a $300,000 National Science Foundation CyberTraining grant to create a summer bootcamp for undergraduates to study and research cyberinfrastructures.  That project will provide undergraduate students with hands-on experience using high-performance computing to solve real-world scientific problems across STEM disciplines through peer mentoring and authentic research experiences.

Last year, Webster was awarded a $783,379 Experiential Learning for Emerging and Novel Technologies (ExLENT) grant from the NSF to establish a new Biotechnology Preparation and Readiness Experiential Program that prepares undergraduates for careers in the rapidly growing biotechnology industry.

In 2023, Webster was one of four institutions in Missouri awarded a two-year grant by the National Science Foundation to expand high-performance computing education. In 2021, Webster University was awarded a nearly $1.2 million NSF grant to create scholarships and support systems to benefit low-income, high-achieving students who transfer from community colleges to complete a four-year STEM degree at Webster University.