UAB PREP Scholars Program

描述(由申请人提供)：阿拉巴马大学伯明翰分校(UAB)是一所综合性研究型大学和医疗综合体，拥有1.92亿美元的NIH资助研究。UAB坚定地致力于培养来自不同背景的本科生和研究生，包括代表人数不足的少数族裔和来自弱势背景的学生。UAB已经建立并支持了几个项目，以帮助这些学生实现他们的教育和职业目标。UAB目前缺乏的是为那些在本科生涯后期决定继续博士教育的潜在研究生提供机会的手段。这些学生可能已经获得了学士学位，但没有进入顶级生物医学研究生项目的资格，在这些项目中，以前的研究经验和高标准化测试分数是录取的基本标准。我们已经确定了几个潜在的招生对象：1)申请我们生物医学博士项目的少数族裔学生，但由于GRE成绩低或没有研究经验(每年约30人)而未被录取的阿拉巴马州本科生2)参加针对STEM学科的项目的阿拉巴马州本科生(阿拉巴马州路易斯·斯托克斯少数族裔参与学生联盟；每年700-800人)3)从阿拉巴马州各地的机构毕业于化学和生物专业。我们建议的预科项目将为那些需要加强他们进入博士教育的资质的学生提供机会。我们的总体目标是每年招收10名学生，并在NIH资助的导师的实验室为他们提供高质量的研究经验和学术充实机会，使他们具备进入NIH资助的顶尖机构生物医学研究生项目的竞争力。学生将与导师一起开发一个要求很高的研究项目，该项目将导致至少一篇论文发表；每个学生80%或更多的时间将用于完成这个研究项目。还将为每个学生设计个人发展计划(IDP)，以解决任何可能影响未来研究生成功的学术弱点。IDP还将提供活动，以加强写作和量化技能，提供职业信息，发展陈述技能，讨论研究伦理，并在科学会议上与同行建立网络联系。学生在实现国内发展计划目标方面的进展将每季度监测一次。我们预计，在UAB建立预科奖学金项目将增加为进入全美顶级博士项目做好准备的少数族裔申请者的数量。 为了建立一支多元化的劳动力队伍，阿拉巴马大学伯明翰分校(UAB)将从生物医学研究中代表性较低的群体中挑选10名学生，并为他们提供一系列培训和学术经验，为他们进入美国顶尖的博士研究生项目做准备。这些已经获得学士学位的学生将与UAB由NIH资助的教职员工配对，后者将指导这些受训者，并提供高质量的生物医学研究经验。个人发展计划将根据每个学生的需求量身定做，以确定为他们在博士学习中取得成功做好准备的具体活动，包括学术充实、科学写作、量化技能发展、陈述技能、研究道德、职业指导和季度进展评估。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): The University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) is a comprehensive research university and medical complex with $192 million of NIH-funded research. UAB has a strong commitment to training undergraduate and graduate students from diverse backgrounds, including underrepresented minorities and students from disadvantaged backgrounds. UAB has established and supported several programs to help these students meet their educational and career goals. What UAB currently lacks is a means to provide opportunity to potential graduate students who make a decision to pursue doctoral education late in their undergraduate career. These students may have already attained their baccalaureate degrees, but do not have the credentials for entry into top biomedical graduate programs where prior research experience and high standardized test scores are essential criteria for admittance. We have identified several potential pools from which to recruit such students: 1) Minority students who apply to one of our biomedical doctoral programs, but who are not offered admission due to low GRE scores or no research experience (about 30 per year) 2) Alabama undergraduate students who participate in programs aimed at STEM disciplines (Alabama Louis Stokes Alliance for Minority Participation students; 700-800 per year) 3) Graduates in Chemistry and Biology from institutions throughout Alabama. Our proposed PREP program will provide opportunities to those students who need to strengthen their credentials for entry into doctoral education. Our overall goal is to recruit 10 students per year and to provide them a high quality research experience in the laboratories of NIH-funded mentors and academic enrichment opportunities to equip them to be competitive for entry into biomedical graduate programs at top NIH-funded institutions. The students will work with mentors to develop a demanding research project that will lead to at least one publication; 80% or more of each student's time will be devoted to completing this research project. An individual development plan (IDP) will also be designed for each student, to address any academic weaknesses that might affect success in future graduate attainment. The IDP will also provide activities to strengthen writing and quantitative skills, provide career information, develop presentation skills, discuss research ethics, and network with peers at scientific meetings. Student progress toward meeting the goals of their IDP will be monitored quarterly. We expect that establishing a PREP Scholars program at UAB will increase the number of minority applicants who are well prepared for entry into top doctoral programs across the US. To build a diverse work force, the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) will identify and prepare 10 students from groups underrepresented in biomedical research for a series of training and academic experiences to prepare them for entry into top doctoral graduate programs in the U.S. These students who will already have earned a baccalaureate degree will be paired with NIH-funded faculty members at UAB who will mentor these trainees and provide high quality research experiences in biomedical sciences. Individual development plans will be tailored to each student's needs, to identify specific activities to prepare them for success in doctoral study, including academic enrichment, scientific writing, quantitative skills development, presentation skills, ethics in research, career mentoring, and quarterly assessment of progress.