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

描述（由申请人提供）：研究，指导和教学指导经验（MERIT）计划的主要目标是为博士后学者提供杰出的研究和教学经验，同时改善招募代表性不足的群体进入生物医学和行为研究领域。在这方面，MERIT项目旨在提供一流的教学和研究实践培训，使多元化的博士后学者成为未来的顶尖院士。MERIT项目是由阿拉巴马大学伯明翰分校（UAB）、奥克伍德大学和斯蒂尔曼学院的合作伙伴推动的；所有学校都位于阿拉巴马州方圆100英里的范围内。在第一次竞争性更新中，MERIT项目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。研究部分包括以实验室为基础的教学，以及道德培训和专业技能发展，包括拨款写作、时间和实验室管理方面的教学。教学部分包括四个关键要素：i)教学相关的课程作业；Ii)对一名本科生进行一对一辅导；Iii)课程开发；iv)课堂和在线教学体验。额外一年的培训为MERIT学者提供了更多的时间来完成研究项目和专业发展。在研究和教学部分开始时，每个MERIT学者都设计了个人发展计划，以确定他/她的研究和教学相关目标；这些计划被用来记录每位MERIT奖学金获得者实现其既定目标的进展情况。在当前的资助期内，MERIT项目的评估表明：1)其学者在研究和教学能力以及就业机会方面表现出色；Ii)东道院校的职业发展和对代表性不足群体的招聘有所增加；(3)合作院校的科学相关课程和申请生物医学研究生课程的本科生人数有所增加。目前，MERIT项目每年资助6个培训名额；在此申请中，我们要求每年增加9个完整的培训插槽。

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.