The National Summer Undergraduate Research Project: Virtual Programming and Mentoring in Biomedical Microbiology and Immunology

About This Grant

PROJECT SUMMARY The National Summer Undergraduate Research Project (NSURP) was created as an eight-week virtual summer research program in the microbial sciences that matches underrepresented minorities in STEM undergraduate students nationwide with faculty mentors worldwide to address the barriers presented by COVID-19 cancelations. NSURP mentees conduct research from any location with an internet connection, allowing students to learn how to conduct impactful research by forming and testing hypotheses. As individuals returned to in-person programs, NSURP found a population unable to travel, independent of COVID-19, due to financial, familial, geography, and health constraints. As we see an increased demand from these individuals, post-pandemic, who can’t travel to in-person opportunities, we seek to expand our ability to serve these undergraduates with research opportunities in our program and provide them with year-long mentoring and professional development. NSURP seeks to apply its virtual research model to human health-related topics, such as the basic and applied disease research conducted within the purview of the NIAID, both in microbiology and immunology. Implementing NSURP within the NIAID infrastructure will create more opportunities for URM scientists and ultimately aid in developing a diverse biomedical research workforce. The central premise of NSURP is to meet undergraduates where they are, facilitate exposure and pursuit of a scientific opportunity, and give them the tools and confidence to continue in their scientific careers. To maximize the contribution of NSURP within the NIAID mission, we will 1) provide virtual biomedical-specific summer research opportunities within the NIAID mission for minoritized undergraduates, 2) facilitate synergistic virtual scientific and career multi-level mentoring relationships, and 3) assess program impact by evaluating educational outcomes of NSURP participants and conducting longitudinal studies on the effects of culturally-responsive virtual mentorship training.