WASHINGTON, DC– U.S. Senator Pat Roberts today announced a $168,000 grant for Wichita State University’s Department of Chemistry.

The grant will fund 5 graduate fellows completing their PhD degrees within the Chemistry Department. The United States Department of Education awarded the grant as part of the National Graduate Assistance in Areas of National Need (GAANN) program.

The GAANN program provides fellowships in areas of national need to assist graduate students with excellent academic records who demonstrate financial need and plan to pursue the highest degree available in their courses of study.

"As Chairman of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, I think the nation needs more Chemistry PhD’s to help us meet the demands of our evolving high-tech economy," Senator Roberts said. "Science and mathematics competency is increasingly essential to this country, for the growing demands of the global economy and for national security and the defense of our homeland."

Senator Roberts is a strong advocate of strengthening math, science and technology education. He introduced the Math and Science Partnerships program providing grants to states for funding innovative partnerships to strengthen math and science instruction and to enhance math and science learning at the elementary and secondary levels.

Senator Roberts also supported legislation creating a SMART Grant Program. SMART Grants provide $4,000 in grant aid each year for students from low-income backgrounds in their junior and senior years who major in a math, science, engineering, or technology field. These grants will also be available to students who major in a foreign language that is determined to be critical to our national security needs. This direct aid is crucial to encouraging more students to pursue these fields to ultimately protect our nation’s security.

In 1997, Senator Roberts established a blue-ribbon Advisory Committee on Science, Technology and the Future to advise him on Kansas’ technology needs. Committee members are from academia, business, medicine, military and government. "According to the Committee, Kansas’ economy demands technological transformation. While agriculture, aviation, energy and manufacturing will remain industrial staples, Kansas must make a substantial research investment in biotechnology, information technology and materials so they become new and reliable economic sectors in the state," Senator Roberts said.

Senator Roberts is a senior member of the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee.