# Summer Program for Under Represented Students (SPURS)

> **NIH NIH R25** · COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY HEALTH SCIENCES · 2020 · $102,281

## Abstract

PROJECT SUMMARY
This application is to renew funding for the Summer Program for Under-Represented Students
(SPURS). Columbia University's SPURS Program provides an intense undergraduate research
experience on the campus of Columbia's College of Physicians & Surgeons (P&S) for talented
students from backgrounds that are under-represented in biomedical research. SPURS
participants are accepted primarily from the City University of New York (CUNY) senior
colleges, including Hunter, Brooklyn, Queens, and City Colleges, though in the last year we
have extended our outreach and have accepted applications nationwide. This includes students
from Columbia University, Barnard College, New York University, Harvard University, University
of California – Berkeley, and Amherst College. SPURS provides extensive training in basic
science research, and enhances the likelihood that the students will achieve a career in science
by pursuing an advanced degree (M.D. and/or Ph.D.). To expand opportunities for under-
represented minority undergraduate students to participate in high quality, focused and
sustained research experiences in the neurosciences, Dr. Steven Siegelbaum (P.I.), Chair of
the Department of Neuroscience at P&S, and Dr. Andrew Marks, Department Chair of
Physiology and Cellular Biophysics and founder of Columbia University's SPURS program have
joined to expand the SPURS program. Over the last funding period, applications have soared
and in the upcoming period, we propose the expansion of the program to include even more
highly qualified minority student participants. Students selected for support through NIH's R25
Summer Research Experience Programs solicitation (PAR-15-184) perform hands-on research
for nine summer weeks under the mentorship of NINDS-supported Columbia University
neuroscientists (currently 89 Columbia University researchers receive NINDS support). In
addition to specific training in neuroscience, the students have received in-depth training in
research methodology including: (a) the design and analysis of experiments; (b) critical reading
of scientific literature through journal clubs and discussions of ethics in science; (c) the
presentation of scientific results at laboratory meetings; (d) presentation of their research at
poster sessions; (e) an oral presentation of their research to an audience of scientists; and (f)
career counseling. Finally, the research training will be provided in a uniquely enriching setting
that includes weekly meetings with under-represented minority role models in biomedical
research. The SPURS program addresses the critical need to increase the pipeline of highly
qualified minority trainees into neuroscience.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 9875274
- **Project number:** 5R25NS076445-09
- **Recipient organization:** COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY HEALTH SCIENCES
- **Principal Investigator:** STEVEN A SIEGELBAUM
- **Activity code:** R25 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2020
- **Award amount:** $102,281
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2012-04-01 → 2022-03-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/9875274

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 9875274, Summer Program for Under Represented Students (SPURS) (5R25NS076445-09). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-23 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/9875274. Licensed CC0.

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