A Summer Undergraduate Research Program in Neuroscience at an HBCU

HBCU 神经科学暑期本科生研究项目

• 批准号: 10530612
• 负责人: MELISSA A HARRINGTON
• 金额: $ 10.8万
• 依托单位: DELAWARE STATE UNIVERSITY
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 财政年份: 2020
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2020-12-01 至 2025-11-30
• 项目状态: 未结题
• 来源: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10530612
• 关键词: African American; Area; Bachelor' s Degree; Behavioral Research; Behavioral Sciences; Biomedical Research; Cancer Education Grant Program; Centers of Research Excellence; Communities; Delaware; Development; Doctor of Philosophy; Educational workshop; Enrollment; Faculty; Funding; Graduate Degree; Grant; Historically Black Colleges and Universities; Institution; Length; Minority; Minority Groups; National Institute of General Medical Sciences; Neurosciences; Neurosciences Research; Participant; Pennsylvania; Play; Positioning Attribute; Preparation; Problem Solving; Professional counselor; Program Research Project Grants; Reading; Research; Research Personnel; Research Project Grants; STEM field; Scholars Program; Schools; Science; Scientist; Self Efficacy; Students; Underrepresented Populations; Underrepresented Students; Universities; college; community college; design; experience; graduate school; inter-institutional; interest; literacy; meetings; member; programs; recruit; scientific literacy; skills; student participation; success; summer program; summer research; supportive environment; symposium; technical college; undergraduate research experience; undergraduate student; virtual

A Summer Undergraduate Research Program in Neuroscience at an HBCU - This proposal is for a renewal of our R25 grant supporting a summer undergraduate research program in neuroscience. The organizing center of our undergraduate research program is the Delaware Center for Neuroscience Research, an interdisciplinary, inter- institutional, virtual Center now in its 8th year of support from a Centers of Biomedical Research Excellence (COBRE) grant from NIGMS. At Delaware State University (DSU), 12 externally funded faculty investigators are affiliated with Delaware Center for Neuroscience Research, and another 14 affiliated faculty at the University of Delaware (UD) take part in Center-sponsored meetings, retreats, symposia and professional development workshops. The undergraduate researchers in our Summer Undergraduate Neuroscience Research Program (SUN-R) program is part of the Center for Neuroscience Research, carrying out research projects with affiliated faculty and participating in Center activities and professional development opportunities. Our project targets students from DSU and other nearby colleges and universities that serve large minority populations. This will allow us to recruit a diverse group of students and maintain them as part of a supportive, research- focused community beyond the length of the 10-week summer program. As an Historically Black University in which almost 80% of undergraduates are members of under-represented groups and about 65% are African-American, DSU is well-positioned to provide a supportive environment for under-represented students. Our partner schools include: Wesley College, a liberal arts college just 3 miles from DSU which has an undergraduate enrollment that is approximately 50% minority; the Delaware Technical and Community College (DTCC), which has an enrollment in which 36% of the students are from underrepresented groups; and Widener University in just over the state line from Delaware in Chester, Pennsylvania with about 25% underrepresented students. Focusing on students attending institutions within our small state and nearby allows us to keep our SUN-R scholars involved in our Neuroscience Center after the end of the summer program. Students in our program participate in a 10-week summer research experience working with faculty members affiliated with the Delaware Center for Neuroscience Research, they are engaged in weekly professional development sessions and biweekly “Think Like a Scientist” sessions designed to develop students’ scientific literacy and skills at problems solving and reading scientific articles. After the summer program many students participate in Neuroscience Center-sponsored seminars, retreats, symposia and professional development opportunities through the summer and the following academic year. In the first four years of our program over 66% of our 56 participants were members of groups under- represented in STEM. Of the 54 students who completed our summer program, 30 have graduated with a BS degree, 9 have gone on to MS or PhD programs in STEM, and 23 are still pursuing STEM BS degrees. Our program combining a high quality research experience with participation in a neuroscience-focused community and skill-building activities has helped to build participants’ preparation and enthusiasm for graduating with a STEM BS degree and pursuing a PhD in areas related to biomedical and behavioral research. A five-year renewal will allow us to continue that success.

HBCU 神经科学暑期本科生研究项目 - 该提案旨在更新我们的 R25 拨款，支持神经科学暑期本科生研究项目。我们本科生研究项目的组织中心是特拉华州神经科学研究中心，这是一个跨学科、跨机构的虚拟中心，目前已进入第八个年头，该中心得到 NIGMS 生物医学研究卓越中心 (COBRE) 的资助。在特拉华州立大学 (DSU)，12 名外部资助的教职人员隶属于特拉华神经科学研究中心，特拉华大学 (UD) 的另外 14 名附属教职人员参加中心主办的会议、务虚会、专题讨论会和专业发展研讨会。我们的夏季本科生神经科学研究计划 (SUN-R) 计划的本科生研究人员是神经科学研究中心的一部分，与附属教员一起开展研究项目，并参与中心活动和专业发展机会。 我们的项目针对来自 DSU 和其他为大量少数民族人口服务的附近学院和大学的学生。这将使我们能够招募多元化的学生群体，并在为期 10 周的暑期项目结束后，将他们维持为支持性、以研究为重点的社区的一部分。作为一所历史悠久的黑人大学，其中近 80% 的本科生是代表性不足的群体的成员，其中约 65% 是非裔美国人，DSU 处于有利地位，可以为代表性不足的学生提供支持性环境。我们的合作学校包括： 韦斯利学院 (Wesley College)，一所距离 DSU 仅 3 英里的文理学院，其本科生入学人数中大约有 50% 是少数族裔；特拉华技术与社区学院 (DTCC)，该学院 36% 的学生来自代表性不足的群体；和威德恩大学 (Widener University) 位于宾夕法尼亚州切斯特 (Chester)，距特拉华州不远，学生人数不足 25%。重点关注在我们小州内和附近机构就读的学生，这使我们能够在暑期项目结束后让我们的 SUN-R 学者继续参与我们的神经科学中心。 我们项目的学生将参加为期 10 周的夏季研究体验，与特拉华州神经科学研究中心附属的教职人员一起工作，他们参加每周一次的专业发展课程和每两周一次的“像科学家一样思考”课程，旨在培养学生的科学素养以及解决问题和阅读科学文章的技能。暑期项目结束后，许多学生在暑期和下一学年参加神经科学中心主办的研讨会、静修会、座谈会和专业发展机会。 在我们项目的前四年，56 名参与者中超过 66% 属于 STEM 代表性不足的群体的成员。在完成我们暑期课程的 54 名学生中，30 名学生毕业并获得理学士学位，9 名学生继续攻读 STEM 硕士或博士学位课程，23 名学生仍在攻读 STEM 理学士学位。我们的项目将高质量的研究经验与参与以神经科学为重点的社区和技能建设活动相结合，有助于培养参与者为获得 STEM 学士学位并攻读生物医学和行为研究相关领域的博士学位做好准备和热情。五年续约将使我们能够继续取得成功。