Mentored Experiences in Research, Instruction and Teaching (MERIT) Program

研究，教学和教学（MERIT）计划的指导经验的主要目标是为博士后学者提供杰出的研究和教学经验，同时改善代表性不足的群体的招聘进入生物医学和行为研究领域。在这方面，MERIT计划旨在提供一流的教学和研究实践培训，使博士后学者成为明天的领先学者。MERIT计划是通过在伯明翰（UAB），奥克伍德大学和斯蒂尔曼学院的亚拉巴马大学的合作伙伴关系促进;所有学校都位于亚拉巴马在100英里半径内。在第一次竞争性更新中，MERIT计划的拟议结构从三年增加到四年，同时进行研究培训和教学指导。研究部分结合了实验室为基础的教学与道德培训和专业技能发展，包括在赠款写作和时间和实验室管理的指令。教学部分包括四个关键要素：i）与教学相关的课程; ii）对本科生的一对一辅导; iii）课程开发;以及iv）课堂和在线教学经验。增加的一年培训为MERIT学者提供了更多的时间来完成研究项目和专业发展。在研究和教学部分的开始，每个MERIT学者制定个人发展计划，以确定他/她的研究和教学相关的目标;这些计划被用来绘制每个MERIT学者对他们的既定目标的进展。在目前的赠款期间，对MERIT计划的评估表明：i）其学者在研究和教学能力以及就业机会方面表现出色; ii）东道机构的职业发展和招聘人数不足的群体有所增加;及iii）科学-在伙伴机构，申请生物医学科学研究生课程的本科生人数和相关的入学率都有所增加。目前，MERIT计划每年资助6个培训名额;在本申请中，我们要求增加到每年9个完整的培训名额。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): The primary goal of the Mentored Experiences in Research, Instruction, and Teaching (MERIT) Program is to provide postdoctoral scholars with outstanding research and teaching experiences while improving the recruitment of underrepresented groups into the field of biomedical and behavioral research. In this regard, the MERIT Program aims to offer superb training in teaching and research practices that permit a diverse community of postdoctoral scholars to become tomorrow's leading academicians. The MERIT Program is facilitated through a partnership of the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB), Oakwood University, and Stillman College; all schools are located in Alabama within a 100 mile radius. In this first competitive renewal, the proposed structure of the MERIT Program increases from three to four years of concurrent research training and teaching instruction. The research component incorporates laboratory-based instruction together with ethics training and professional skills development, including instruction in grant writing and time and laboratory management. The teaching component includes four key elements: i) teaching- related coursework; ii) one-on-one mentoring of an undergraduate student; iii) course development; and iv) class-room and online teaching experiences. The added year of training provides MERIT Scholars with more time to complete research projects and professional development. At the start of both the research and teaching components, each MERIT Scholar devises personal development plans in order to determine his/her research- and teaching-related goals; these plans are utilized to chart the progress of each MERIT Scholar toward their stated goals. During the current grant period, assessment of the MERIT Program has indicated that: i) its Scholars have exceled in their research and teaching abilities and job placement opportunities; ii) career development and the recruitment of underrepresented groups have increased at the host institution; and iii) science-related curriculua and the number of undergraduates applying to graduate programs in the biomedical sciences have been enhanced at the partner institutions. Currently, the MERIT Program funds 6 training slots each year; in this application, we request an increase to a total of 9 full training slots per year.