DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): The University of Texas at San Antonio (UTSA) requests NIH/NIGMS support to continue its successful MARC U*STAR Training Program. The long-term goals of the UTSA MARC program are to provide exceptional training in research, professional development training, academic support and enhancement, and broadly impact the UTSA community to promote student success and doctoral program matriculation. The Specific Aims of the current proposal are: 1) Continue effective research, mentoring, professional development, and broader impact program components and refine as needed; continued components include extramural and intramural research, mentoring activities, the Summer Jumpstart, most individual professional development activities, and engagement in pre-MARC programs and populations; 2) Create a more effective Honors experience and obtain academic and administrative benefits for all MARC trainees through partnership with the UTSA Honors College; 3) Improve professional development training to better serve student needs by reorganizing our training sequence, enhancing training in critical thinking, intellectual property, grant writing/submission, implementing an individual development plan, and providing a more exhaustive foundation for success in the first year of doctoral training; and 4) Develop new Broader Impact activities to be carried out by the MARC program to broaden access to science and promote student retention, through activities such as implementing a pre-Biology BIOS summer workshop, training additional department/university funded researchers (University Support), and partnering with the Office of Undergraduate Research to implement a Peer Mentoring program to help engage other undergraduates in research. The training associated with the UTSA MARC program will be structured so that MARC trainees will participate in intra- and extramural research for a full two years. Several career or recruitment seminars will be presented each semester and the program's professional development activities will be reorganized into a six-semester training schedule. All trainees who are not members of the Honors College will immediately be inducted.