Poster Abstracts

Rutgers University

Paving the Pathway to Ph.D. Studies in the Sciences

Many undergraduate students with the potential for research careers are unprepared to apply to Ph.D. programs in the sciences and engineering because of educational or economic disadvantages, lack of research exposure, or inadequate mentoring.

To expose talented college students from diverse backgrounds to research and prepare them for graduate school in the STEM fields, we have launched a residential summer research program, RISE (Research In Science and Engineering), (http://rise.rutgers.edu), jointly sponsored by the graduate schools of Rutgers University and the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey (UMDNJ). About 23 undergraduate students are selected each summer from a national pool and are matched with faculty mentors who guide independent research projects for 8-10 weeks, spanning all of the natural and mathematical sciences and engineering. Academic and professional development activities complement the research. These include a weekly seminar where students learn to read the primary literature critically and hone written and oral presentation skills. The undergraduates also are given opportunities to explore career options and to hear from faculty members and industrial scientists. Current graduate students serve as near-peer mentors. While the curriculum is challenging, the environment is highly supportive. The experience is capped by a research symposium at which all participants make oral presentations. Student evaluations and longitudinal tracking show this summer research program to be instrumental in attracting students to graduate studies, and effective in preparing them for success in Ph.D. programs.

This effort is a collaboration of the Graduate School - New Brunswick of Rutgers University and the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences - Piscataway and Department of Molecular Genetics, Microbiology & Immunology of the Robert Wood Johnson Medical School.