UPDATE: The slides from the U-RISE [PDF, 948KB] and MARC [PDF, 1.1MB] webinars have been posted.

In May 2018, we shared with you our plans to reorganize the undergraduate and graduate programs in the Division of Training, Workforce Development, and Diversity. As part of this reorganization, in December we announced two new graduate training programs. Now, we are pleased to announce two new undergraduate funding opportunities aimed at developing and implementing effective, evidence-based approaches to biomedical training and mentoring. The goal of these funding announcements is to enhance diversity in the biomedical research workforce and to encourage applications from training programs that:

• Focus on skills development, rigor and reproducibility, the responsible conduct of research, and promote safe, inclusive, and supportive research environments
• Use evidence-based, innovative educational practices
• Promote cohort-building activities and interventions that enhance the trainees’ science identity and self-efficacy
• Provide individualized mentoring and oversight throughout the trainees’ undergraduate careers
• Introduce trainees to a variety of scientific research areas and career trajectories
• Encourage program director/principal investigator teams to broaden program leadership and provide complementary expertise
• Display coordinated interactions and synergies with other NIGMS-funded training programs at the institution
• Improve long-term tracking and posting of program trainee outcomes

These new undergraduate programs are:

Undergraduate Research Training Initiative for Student Enhancement (U-RISE) (T34)
PAR-19-218
Supports undergraduate training programs at research-active institutions (i.e., those with an average of NIH research project grant funding less than $7.5 million total costs per year over the last 3 fiscal years; this information is available through NIH RePORTER).

First application receipt date: May 21, 2019
Earliest start date: April 2020

Maximizing Access to Research Careers (MARC) (T34)
PAR-19-219
Supports undergraduate training programs at research-intensive institutions (i.e., those with a 3-year average of NIH research project grant funding equal to or above $7.5 million total costs per year; this information is available through NIH RePORTER).

First application deadline: May 21, 2019
Earliest start date: June 2020

Because these are new funding announcements, all applications (including those from previously established programs) must be submitted as new. However, applicants who have been supported by MARC U-STAR, IMSD (undergraduate), or RISE (undergraduate) grants may describe in the narrative their program’s outcomes over the past 15 years.

If you have questions about our new undergraduate training programs, contact Anissa Brown or Luis Cubano (U-RISE), or  Sailaja Koduri or Luis Cubano (MARC). We’ll also host webinars to discuss these new programs. See details below.