MARC U-STAR PROGRAM AT WASHINGTON UNIVERSITY IN ST. LOUIS

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Project Summary The Washington University MARC U-STAR Program seeks to be part of a larger national effort that promotes diversity in scientific research and the scientific workforce. Teams composed of individuals from diverse backgrounds typically outperform teams composed of individuals from similar backgrounds. For the United States to remain the worldwide leader in research, it must realize the tremendous scientific potential inherent within its diverse population, much of which currently lies untapped within the underrepresented and underserved communities. By focusing on research, scientific presentation, and community, our program seeks to unlock this scientific potential, and in doing so help change the face of the next generation of scientists. This application requests funds to support ten trainees in our MARC Program. By driving excellence and innovation in research-based education, our program's mission is to help underrepresented students succeed in the lab and classroom, matriculate into top PhD and MD/PhD programs, and excel in them. We focus on three goals to achieve this mission: to provide students top-notch research experiences; to train them to think critically and to write and speak effectively about science; and to create a positive, personal, and critical scientific community in which they thrive. We center our program around the research experience and have developed ten activities that span the two-year, junior- and senior-level program and seek to create a supportive community in which students obtain rigorous training in research and scientific presentation via individualized training and critique. Our MARC Program, which was created in 2008, occupies a unique educational niche within Washington University. It is the only program that supports underrepresented students during both the academic year and summer to carry out research. It also incorporates a university-funded, Pre-MARC summer research program for students who just completed their first-year in college to allow them to experience research, often for the first time, and to help recruit these students into the MARC Program at the end of their sophomore year. Positive student feedback on the MARC program illustrates its importance in driving student success and developing a community in which underrepresented students thrive, with a recent surge in student applications leading to a quadrupling in program size made possible through additional financial support from diverse university sources.