Summer Program for Under Represented Students (SPURS)

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PROJECT SUMMARY This application is to renew funding for the Summer Program for Under-Represented Students (SPURS). Columbia University's SPURS Program provides an intense undergraduate research experience on the campus of Columbia's College of Physicians & Surgeons (P&S) for talented students from backgrounds that are under-represented in biomedical research. Begun with students from NYC public colleges SPURS now attracts under-represented minority (URM) students nationwide, including a pool of applicants from traditional minority-majority colleges and universities as well as other top academic institutions. SPURS provides extensive training in basic science research, and enhances the likelihood that the students will achieve a career in science by pursuing an advanced degree (M.D. and/or Ph.D.). To expand opportunities for URM undergraduate students to participate in high quality, focused and sustained research experiences in the neurosciences, Dr. Steven Siegelbaum (P.I.), Chair of the Department of Neuroscience at P&S, and Dr. Andrew Marks, Department Chair of Physiology and Cellular Biophysics and founder of Columbia University's SPURS program have joined to expand the SPURS program. Over the last funding period, applications have soared and in the upcoming period, we propose the expansion of the program to include even more highly qualified minority student participants. Students selected for SPURS perform hands-on research for nine summer weeks under the mentorship of NINDS-supported Columbia University neuroscientists. In addition to specific training in neuroscience, the students have received in-depth training in research methodology including: (a) the design and analysis of experiments; (b) critical reading of scientific literature through journal clubs and discussions of ethics in science; (c) the presentation of scientific results at laboratory meetings; (d) presentation of their research at poster sessions; (e) an oral presentation of their research to an audience of scientists; and (f) career counseling. Finally, the research training will be provided in a uniquely enriching setting that includes weekly meetings with under-represented minority role models in biomedical research. The SPURS program addresses the critical need to increase the pipeline of highly qualified minority trainees into neuroscience.