UCI Physics and Astronomy Community Excellence

Physics and Astronomy Community Excellence (PACE) is the National Osterbrock Leadership Program node centered at the University of California, Irvine (UCI). The program consists of four fellows annually, who co-lead a peer mentoring program that takes a holistic approach to success as a UCI graduate student. PACE programming consists of one-on-one graduate peer mentoring (Excelleration), monthly workshops for incoming graduate students (Fire Up Fridays), and quarterly career development workshops open to all graduate students (Attitude Thrusters). Through PACE's shared leadership structure, UCI NOLP fellows gain valuable experience in decision making, team management, content development, active listening, and communication skills. In addition to the four fellows, ~12 senior UCI graduate students per year gain advising skills through PACE by participating as peer mentors. As a whole, PACE not only provides valuable leadership experience to graduate students but also fosters a broader sense of community across physics and astronomy. 

With support from AAS/NOLP, PACE is actively expanding to include leadership training from senior professionals, by organizing visits from Physics and Astronomy PhDs with a variety of career paths, attending TAC panels, and taking advantage of UCI's proximity to the National Academies of Sciences.

Read more about PACE on the UCI web page.