# MARC at University of California Riverside

> **NIH NIH T34** · UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA RIVERSIDE · 2024 · $521,419

## Abstract

Project Summary
The University of California Riverside (UCR) is one of the most diverse campuses in the nation
and is in one of the most rapidly growing and diverse regions of the U.S. Most undergraduate
students at UCR come from this region and are from underrepresented groups in the sciences.
Thus, there is a broad base of underrepresented (UR) students from which to select and
promote interest in a research career in biomedical or behavioral sciences. The main goal of the
MARC Program at UCR is to increase the number of UR students pursuing PhD degrees and
research careers in the biomedically-related sciences. This training grant provides a summer
Pre-MARC Development Program (9-10 students/year) to increase the eligible pool of students
for the research Trainee Program (16 positions/year; 2-3 years of training). The Objectives of
the Program are: (1) Increase the number of UCR minority students majoring in the sciences
who are qualified to become MARC Trainees through outreach to local high schools and
community colleges. (2) Increase the number of qualified students who apply to the MARC
Program by using freshman courses and discovery seminars, by synergizing with Honors and
existing Minority programs on campus, and by engaging students in Pre-MARC undergraduate
research before their sophomore year and stimulating their interest in a biomedical research
career. (3) The core of the program is preparing the MARC Trainees for graduate studies in
highly competitive research institutions. We will achieve this by immersing MARC Trainees in
intensive cutting-edge research in laboratories of Faculty Mentors on campus during the
academic year and in one other off-campus laboratory at a high-caliber research institution
during one summer; we will also provide specific classes that will prepare the Trainees to think
critically, to design and implement rigorous and ethical experiments, to learn modern research
methods, to write scientific reports/papers and fellowships, and to be efficient communicators in
front of expert and lay audiences. Guidance in applying to graduate programs will be provided.
This will give self-confidence and prepare the trainees to enter and succeed in the most
competitive graduate programs in the U.S. This program is for 5 years and proposes to train
about 48 MARC students with the goal that about 80% of them will succeed in entering high
quality PhD or MD/PhD programs in the biomedical sciences.
 Relevance: This MARC training grant will not only contribute to increase the number of
UR biomedical scientists but should also have broader impacts. MARC Scholars will be role
models that inspire new generations and help break down discriminatory barriers.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10840323
- **Project number:** 5T34GM149470-02
- **Recipient organization:** UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA RIVERSIDE
- **Principal Investigator:** ERNEST MARTINEZ
- **Activity code:** T34 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2024
- **Award amount:** $521,419
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2023-06-01 → 2028-05-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10840323

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10840323, MARC at University of California Riverside (5T34GM149470-02). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-22 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10840323. Licensed CC0.

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