A University of Rhode Island biomedical research program has obtained a $200,000 grant to increase the number of disadvantaged first-year students receiving stipends and research opportunities, accepting seven students a year – up from last year’s five.
The Enhancing Science, Technology, Engineering and Math Educational Diversity program was designed with the aim to help students gain early exposure to research experiences, according to program coordinator Caroline Duane.
The initial grant provided for the program was $1.15 million from the National Institute of Health and is planned to run for four years, according to Ryan Poling-Skutvik, co-director of ESTEEMED. This $200,000 was proposed in addition to the initial grant and was aimed at strengthening the overall program by increasing the number of participants.
“Additionally, we are receiving funds to conduct training for research mentors to improve the efficacy of their training process,” Poling-Skutvik said. “We’re really excited because the first group of students are now paired directly with research mentors and are conducting research in various labs across campus.”
Students from this new cohort of seven have already expressed beneficial experiences, including first-year chemistry major Daniel Flores.
“The program has honestly been one of my favorite parts of college so far,” Flores said. “All of the staff, including the program director Dr. Meenach, [who] has been the kindest person, welcomed us in with open arms.”
The new cohort of students have not yet started research with professors, according to Flores. Most of their time so far has been spent investigating different professors around campus whose work may interest them.
“I feel that using the money to expand the program was a great way to benefit students, as it spreads the benefits of a great opportunity to even more disadvantaged students that could really use it,” Flores said.
The original funding for ESTEEMED was obtained similarly to other grants through an application and a proposal, according to Duane.
The additional $200,000 was granted through a supplemental opportunity grant provided from the National Institute of Health , Duane said. The opportunity grant is aimed toward programs that already have grants as a way to further expand their programs.
“This additional grant was put together in response to initiatives at NIH to bolster support for students that face significant resource disparities,” Poling-Skutvik said. “By justifying to NIH that we could reach more students and improve the benefit to students, we were able to secure the additional resources.”
Poling-Skutvik first became involved in the program after being approached by ESTEEMED director Samantha Meenach to help draft the project proposal.
“I was really intrigued and inspired by how these funds and programs could provide direct resources to students to build their skill sets, and really believed that our program could achieve beneficial outcomes – not only for our students, but in preparing students for entering into the local and national research landscape,” Poling-Skutvik said.
The overall goal for the two-year program is to increase the number of students entering advanced research during their third and fourth years, according to Duane. This could be through the MARC U*STAR program or through other programs at the university.
“ESTEEMED really makes that pipeline stronger and extends it,” Duane said.
After gaining a basic understanding of research, first-year students will shadow professors in three different labs that they are interested in, according to Duane. This will take place during the spring semester.
“The idea is that in their sophomore year they will be in their labs 10 to 12 hours a week in one specific lab,” Duane said.
This is the second year of the program which officially began in May 2023. For more information visit the ESTEEMED program website .