Summer Program for NYC STEM Teachers: 2022 NSF COSMOS-NewLAW Research Experiences and Mentoring and Teaching

Applications for Summer 2022 are now closed. Please email [email protected] with any questions. 

The NSF COSMOS-NewLAW Research Experiences and Mentoring and Teaching (RET/REM) is an intense summer program for teachers who learn the basics of wireless technology and how to enhance the teaching material for their students using the predesigned online lessons/labs. The teachers are mentored by NYU and Columbia University researchers and by the teachers who participated in the program in the prior years. Since Fall 2018, participating teachers have incorporated the science, math, and computer science lab experiments developed through this program within their classrooms, giving students hands-on experience with the next wave of mobile technology.

The program runs from July 5 to July 22 and teachers will be paid $4,000 for their time during the summer plus school year classroom activities. 

Over the period of 3 summer weeks, the teachers will:

  1. Get training in the fundamentals of wireless communications.
  2. Learn about experiential COSMOS web-based lessons/labs created for teaching 6-12 students about STEM topics from the NYC STEM curriculum.
  3. Learn how to use the lessons/labs in their 6-12 classrooms.

  4. Get research and mentoring experience by interacting with the COSMOS research team and with other 6-12 teachers participating in the program

Summer activities are followed up by teachers using the lessons/labs in their 6-12 classrooms during the following academic year. 

The teachers will learn about basic principles of wireless communications, including topics such as radio propagation and networking. This will be done using the web-based lessons/labs that were designed by 6-12 teachers who attended the program in prior years. The lessons are built to support NYC 6-12 curricula, on STEM subjects such as math, physics, biology, and other live sciences, computer science, communications,  and similar. The teachers will learn how to use the lessons/labs and how to support their own 6-12 students in running the online labs during the academic year. The instructional material for teachers consists of lesson plans, slides, videos, and running the online labs. The teachers will be mentored by graduate students from research laboratories at the universities and by teachers who attended the program in prior years who developed the 6-12 lessons.

  • Teachers MUST be math or science certified.
  • Teachers must be U.S. citizens or Permanent Residents.
  • Must teach at a public middle or high school located in an NYC borough.
  • Must have at least three years of full-time teaching experience in science, math, or pre-engineering disciplines.
  • Must receive endorsement by the school administration.

Teacher Responsibilities:

  • Attend all program activities
  • Complete assigned research and curriculum project, final presentation, and report
  • Participate in academic year activities, such as presentations, meetings, and conferences
  • Implement a COSMOS lesson within classroom with students during academic year
  • Submit program assessment
  • Completed application form
  • Two (2) reference letters from your school administration, submitted here
  • Current resume (submitted via email)
  • Completed essay questions
  • COSMOS Educational Toolkit - A great resource for free lessons, labs, and curriculum materials for math, science, and computer science classrooms -- created from previous years' COSMOS RET cohorts. 
  • COSMOS: A New Generation of Wireless Technologies - A video introduction to the research on wireless technologies. 
  • COSMOS Testbed Main Website - Main website for the COSMOS project. The COSMOS project is aimed at design, development, and deployment of a city-scale advanced wireless testbed in order to support real-world experimentation on next-generation wireless technologies and applications.
COSMOS: Learning from the next generation wireless network

COSMOS in the News

  • The Verizon Foundation names 5G EdTech Challenge winners and awards a total of $1M to bring classroom solutions to life: The Verizon Foundation commits to be the first to introduce 5G technology to schools across the U.S. in 2019. From AR and VR experiences to machine learning, AI, and mixed reality, projects were chosen for their ability to solve for student engagement, teacher preparedness, and special needs support. (February 7, 2019 - on Verizon Corporate)

  • 5G in 3D: Immersive COSMOS Education Toolkit Wins Verizon EdTech Challenge: Up to 100 times faster than current wireless networks, 5G is being touted as the future of entertainment and telemedicine. But how might it begin to transform education? For a glimpse of what’s next, look no further than an immersive new educational toolkit in development from NYU and Columbia Engineering researchers with public school teachers throughout New York City. (February 8, 2019 - on Columbia Engineering)

  • Racing Huawei to 5G | Plugged In with Greta Van Susteren: Dr. Gil Zussman is featured on Voice of America (VOA) News, talking about the COSMOS project and bringing 5G technology to Harlem. (April 3, 2019 - on Voice of America News)

  • With 5G on the Horizon, Researchers Build Experimental Network in Harlem: Fifth generation mobile networks, better known as “5G,” promise ultra-fast connections and more reliability. But getting these networks up and running won’t happen overnight, and only a handful of U.S. cities have initial access. New York City is building an experimental network that tests the limits of 5G and beyond. (April 22, 2019 - on Voice of America News)

  • FCC Announces COSMOS As One of the Two First Innovation Zones in the Nation: The Federal Communications Commission today announced the creation of its first two Innovation Zones, in New York City and Salt Lake City. These Innovation Zones will be city-scale testbeds for advanced wireless communications and network research, including 5G networks. (September 20, 2019 - on SmartCitiesDive)

  • AT&T, NYU Tandon, Columbia Host 5G Showcase for NYC Teachers, Students: AT&T engineers and researchers from Rutgers University, Columbia University, and New York University (NYU) Tandon School of Engineering, three of the universities building one of the country’s first and largest real-world testbeds of advanced wireless communications, hosted New York City teachers and their students for a 5G technology showcase. (December 17, 2019)