The overall goal of PREP is to prepare individuals from groups underrepresented in the biomedical sciences who have recently obtained their baccalaureate degrees for matriculation in, and completion of, competitive biomedical Ph.D. programs. In accordance with this goal, applicant institutions should recruit students from underrepresented groups or from a disadvantaged background who have expressed a strong desire to pursue biomedical Ph.D. degrees, and for whom a one year program of research education program would enhance their ability to enter and succeed in a biomedical Ph.D. program. Based on the program announcement (PAR-17-051), the following list shows the essential items that must be included in PREP applications.
Institutional Profile
- The applicant institution must be a research-intensive institution that has a significant number of faculty mentors with active and well-funded research programs to support robust research training and academic preparation of participants. As such, institutions that are eligible to receive NIGMS support through the Research Initiative for Scientific Enhancement program are not eligible for PREP funding.
Research Experiences and Skills Development
- PREP programs should generate carefully designed, individualized development plans (IDPs) within the context of a one year research education program that will foster each participant’s development of the necessary skills to prepare the participants for rigorous doctoral training programs.
- Postbaccalaureate scientists are expected to engage in independent, mentored research projects that will allow them to develop their own hypotheses and design experiments to test these hypotheses (75% full-time effort), and courses/workshops to develop scholarly potential and specialized research techniques that will prepare them for graduate school admissions, successful completion of the Ph.D., and careers in the biomedical research workforce (25% full-time effort).
Program Outcomes and Evaluation
- The applications must have an evaluation or assessment plan to determine the efficacy of a given intervention by assessing program outcomes, impact and implementation. Measurable objectives should be carefully described and must have relevance to the preparation of PREP participants to complete a rigorous Ph.D. degree in the biomedical sciences. A strategy to monitor the career trajectory of PREP students for at least 15 years after participating in the program should be included when identifying program outcomes. NIGMS encourages grantees to make PREP participant outcomes available on the program’s website.
PREP Answers to Frequently Asked Questions