MARC at University of California, San Diego

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PROJECT SUMMARY A diverse educational and scientific community including people with different life experiences, cultural backgrounds, and ethnicities is vital for developing a robust workforce that can address the technological and social challenges of the U.S. in a new global and interconnected economy. Unfortunately, there is tremendous disparity in the U.S. scientific community in which individuals from disadvantaged economic and social backgrounds, with disabilities, and from some ethnic groups (i.e., African, Native, and Latino Americans) are underrepresented and therefore unable to contribute their talents. Therefore, a forceful approach should be developed to correct the lack of diversity within the scientific community. A starting point for this approach is at colleges and universities where students from underserved communities that do not have the same resources to support higher education begin their education. Indeed, the socio-economic reality of underprivileged students is likely to negatively impact their interest in research. To overcome the obstacles of preventing the pursuit of scientific careers, we are proposing the establishment of a “Maximizing Access to Research Careers” (MARC) program at UC San Diego with the mission is to unlock the potential of students from underrepresented ethnic groups in science, from disadvantaged socio-economic backgrounds and students with disabilities. The proposed MARC program is directed at motivating, training, mentoring, and facilitating the transition of undergraduate students from college to a Ph.D. program. This new MARC program at UC San Diego will be built on the success of 14 years of experience obtained from an undergraduate “Initiative for Maximizing Student Development” (IMSD) program. The proposed MARC program is composed of two consecutive phases to accomplish our goals. An initial Pre-MARC “Boot Camp” training where students acquire the fundamental scientific skills to be successful in research activities (Phase 1), which is followed by immersing scholars into a rich scientific environment by participating in a research project under the supervision and mentorship of internationally recognized, productive, and well-funded investigators with outstanding training records (Phase 2). In this setting, trainees enhance their initial scientific training by gaining expertise in experimental planning, time management, data collection, interpretation, reproducibility, presentations, and ethics, with the final goal of enrolling in a Ph.D. program. These phases will be accompanied by leadership and career development training to increase students’ self-identity and self-efficacy as scientists, thus supporting their pursuit of a research career.