UCSC-MARC U*STAR Program

描述（由申请人提供）：加州大学圣克鲁斯分校（UCSC）的MARC项目在过去的30年里一直由美国国立卫生研究院资助。该计划的主要目标是确保代表性不足的少数民族（URM）学生获得进入和掌握研究生水平工作的成功机会。2007年，加州近一半的高中毕业生来自URM群体（36.9%的西班牙裔，7.4%的非洲裔，3.4%的菲律宾裔和0.8%的美洲原住民）。然而，当我们观察攻读博士学位的学生人数以及我们校园里博士水平的研究人员和教师人数时，这些群体远远低于比例代表制。UCSC MARC项目的最初目标是提高我们校园中被忽视的少数民族本科生参与前沿研究的比例。一旦这些学生体验到参与互动研究社区的兴奋感，我们就会仔细引导他们攻读博士学位，并最终成为活跃的专业研究人员。我们的目标非常成功。在过去的五年中，我们培训项目支持的学生中有50%继续攻读博士学位。我们为这些成就感到自豪，同时也在继续寻求改进项目的方法和手段。在这次竞争性的更新中，我们要求为18个学生培训职位提供资金，比目前的14个职位增加。我们下一个5年资助期的具体目标是：1)引导75%的MARC学生攻读生物医学领域的博士学位。2)提高学生直接进入博士课程的比率。3)创建一个更大的研究型URM学生社区，包括接受MARC津贴的学员和额外的学生，称为多样性研究附属机构（RADS），目的是指导这些额外的学生进入博士课程。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): The MARC program at the University of California at Santa Cruz (UCSC) has been funded by the NIH for the past 30 years. The primary goal of this program is to ensure that underrepresented minority (URM) students are provided with every opportunity for success in entering and mastering graduate level work. In 2007, nearly half of California's high school graduates were from URM groups (36.9% Hispanic, 7.4% African American, 3.4% Filipino and 0.8% Native American). Yet, when we look at the population of students working towards Ph.D.s and the population of doctoral-level researchers and faculty on our campuses, these groups fall far below proportional representation. The initial aim of the UCSC MARC program is to increase the rate at which underrepresented-minority undergraduates on our campus become involved in cutting-edge research. Once these students taste the excitement of participating in an interactive research community, we carefully guide them towards the pursuit of Ph.D. degrees and, ultimately, becoming active, professional researchers. We have been highly successful in our goals. Over the past 5 years, 50% of the students who were supported by our training program have gone on to enter Ph.D. programs. While we are proud of such achievements, we also continue to seek ways and means to improve the program. In this competitive renewal, we are requesting funding for 18 training positions for students, an increase from our current 14 slots. Our specific goals for the next 5-year funding period are: 1) to direct 75% of our MARC students into Ph.D. programs in biomedical fields of study. 2) To improve the rate at which students go directly into Ph.D. programs. 3) To create a larger community of research-inspired URM students, including both trainees receiving MARC stipends and additional students, called Research Affiliates for Diversity (RADS), with the purpose of guiding these additional students towards entry into Ph.D. programs. RELEVANCE: The primary goal of this program is to ensure that underrepresented minority students are provided with every opportunity for success in entering and mastering graduate level work. We aim to support a vision of proportional representation of people from all groups in the Ph.D. and professor ranks.