University of texas, SAN antonio project title: connect- the consortium on nuclear security technologies project description: the consortium on nuclear security and technologies (connect) was…

University of texas, SAN antonio project title: connect- the consortium on nuclear security technologies project description: the consortium on nuclear security and technologies (connect) was established in fall 2019 by the award of an FY20 nnsa msipp grant (award number: DE-NA0003948). Connect is led by the university of texas at SAN antonio (utsa) in collaboration with university partners at the university of nevada LAS vegas (unlv) and ST. Mary's university (stmu). Connect is a student-focused program that has partnered these three minority serving institutions (MSI) with LOS alamos national laboratory (lanl) and argonne national laboratory (ANL), forming a cross-disciplinary network of faculty, scientists, and engineers focused on training the next generation of nuclear security science and technology leaders. Connect is in its third and final year of performance, applying for a five-year renewal starting FY23 under the present funding opportunity announcement (DE-FOA-0002494). Over our 2.5 years of performance, connect has provided funding to support the nuclear security research and professional development efforts of over 50 students across our three institutions, with a student retention rate of 86%. Connect has provided funding for 21 graduate students, 2 postdoctoral fellows, and 32 undergraduate students with 56% of the participants identified as underrepresented minorities (URM). Connect has been largely successful at directing these students to and preparing them for nuclear security science and engineering in the DOE complex. IT is the primary aim of the future-focused renewal to continue to support students in our pipeline to advance them to graduation, to recruit and engage new students interested in not only nuclear science and engineering but also nuclear and nonproliferation policy, and to grow our multi-disciplinary student and faculty programs in a strategic way to both increase our student presence at the national labs and support program sustainability beyond the renewal.