Maximizing Student Diversity in the Biomedical Sciences at Washington University

描述(申请人提供)：分子水平的多样性创造了这个星球上曾经存在的所有生命形式的多样性。斯科特·E·佩奇(大学)最近的研究密歇根大学)表示，作为团队的一部分，个人之间思想、视角和背景的多样性增加有助于提高绩效。因此，为了追求知识和科学上的卓越，需要吸纳来自所有背景的学生。本申请申请支持华盛顿大学生物与生物医学科学系(DBBS)内的一项名为“最大化学生多样性倡议”(IMSD)的计划。该计划的使命是增加优秀博士生的入学、培训、留住和毕业，这些博士生来自历史上在科学界代表性不足的群体。具体地说，在目标1中，我们寻求通过优化和扩大让本科生和高中生接触以实验室为基础的科学的计划，增加进入DBBS和其他大学的人数。在目标2中，我们寻求通过一系列有目的的教育活动来优化IMSD学生的留住和培训，以配合我们的学生的论文研究。这些活动包括暑期预科和迎新计划，伟大的论文杂志俱乐部，以及科学报告实践俱乐部和赠款写作研讨会。在目标3中，我们寻求开展活动，让IMSD的学生接触到不同的职业选择和博士后机会，以及潜在的博士后导师。我们将从DBBS的所有12个博士项目中吸引IMSD学生，并在他们的头两年支持他们。这些学生将完全融入各自的研究生课程，此外，还将参与IMSD详细的教育计划。为了最大限度地发挥IMSD项目的影响，我们寻求为该项目挑选“高危”学生--这些学生在追求以研究为基础的科学方面表现出天赋和决心，但同时也表现出学业成绩上的不足。IMSD项目的教育部分旨在加强学生培训，提高生产率，缩短攻读学位的时间，并向所有学生开放。因此，我们希望所有项目的学生都能被这些教育举措所吸引，我们的IMSD项目将作为一种机制，加强我们所有研究生项目中学生的培训和互动。从长远来看，我们预计IMSD计划将促进富有成效的、多样化的科学家团队的自我组装，以及攻克和解决生物和生物医学科学中的关键悬而未决问题所需的研究团队的确切类型，并继续和加强美国卓越的科学传统。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): Diversity at the molecular level has created the diversity of all life forms ever to exist on this planet. Recent studies by Scott E. Page (Univ. Michigan) suggest increased diversity of thought, perspective and background among individuals working as part of a team enhances performance. Thus, the pursuit of knowledge and scientific excellence demands the inclusion of students from all backgrounds. This application requests support for a proposed 'Initiative for Maximizing Student Diversity' (IMSD) program within the Division of Biological and Biomedical Sciences (DBBS) at Washington University. The mission of the program is to increase the matriculation, training, retention, and graduation of outstanding PhD students from groups historically under-represented in the sciences. Specifically, in Aim 1, we seek to increase the number of students from under-represented backgrounds that matriculate to DBBS, as well as other universities, through the optimization and expansion of programs that expose undergraduate and high school students to lab-based science. In Aim 2, we seek to optimize the retention and training of IMSD students through a battery of educational activities purposefully designed to synergize with our students' thesis research. These activities include Summer Pre-matriculation and Pre-Orientation programs, a Great Papers Journal Club, as well as a Scientific Presentation Practice Club and Grant writing workshops. In Aim 3, we seek to develop activities that expose IMSD students to different career options and postdoctoral opportunities, as well as to potential postdoctoral mentors. We will draw IMSD students from all 12 PhD programs in DBBS and support them for their first two years. These students will be fully integrated within their individual graduate programs and, in addition, participate in the detailed IMSD educational initiatives. In order to maximize the impact of our IMSD program, we seek to select 'at-risk' students for the program - students that have demonstrated a talent for and determination in the pursuit of research-based science, but that also display deficiencies in their academic record. The educational components of the IMSD program are designed to enhance student training, increase productivity, and decrease time to degree, and are open to all students. Thus, we expect students from all programs to gravitate towards these educational initiatives, and our IMSD program to serve as a mechanism to enhance the training of and interaction among students in all of our graduate programs. In the long-term, we expect the IMSD program to facilitate the self-assembly of productive, diverse teams of scientists; the exact type of research teams required to attack and solve the key outstanding questions in the biological and biomedical sciences and to continue and enhance the tradition of scientific excellence in the United States.