Support Framework for Excellence in Interdisciplinary Research and Education

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This project is awarding scholarships to academically talented but financially-disadvantaged graduate students pursuing interdisciplinary research in the Departments of Biochemistry and Cell Biology, Chemistry, Chemical Engineering, and Physics at Rice University. The scholarships are supporting 26 students through the first two years of study, at which point students are transitioning to faculty research funding. Recruiting efforts are targeting women and underrepresented minorities. Students are recruited at conferences sponsored by the Society for Advancement of Chicanos and Native Americans in Science, the National Society of Black Engineers, the American Indian Science and Engineering Society, and the Society of Hispanic Professional Engineers, as well as at the Annual Biomedical Research Conference for Minority Students. Support structures include strong faculty mentoring for students in their first two years of graduate study, the use of senior graduate student ambassadors to mentor entering students, and seminar courses on communication and on interdisciplinary research for each cohort of eight to nine students. The goals of the program include increasing the proportion of minorities and women enrolled in the four graduate departments, supporting students through their first two years of graduate study, and building students' confidence in their research abilities.