RAPID: The National Summer Undergraduate Research Project (NSURP), a Virtual Platform for Engaging Underrepresented Minorities in STEM

The COVID-19 pandemic has caused unprecedented disruption to the REU Sites program. During summer 2021, very few REU programs will be able to offer the typical in-person lab- or field-based REU research experience. This RAPID award to the University of Arizona will help mitigate the impact of the pandemic by offering a completely virtual REU program to undergraduates. Summer research is vital to retention of students in STEM and an important activity for students applying to graduate school. The National Summer Undergraduate Research Project (NSURP) at the University of Arizona will engage approximately 40 undergraduates in an REU program for 8 weeks during summer of 2021. NSURP is a virtual program so students will conduct research remotely (i.e., not in a wet lab setting at an institution). Students will be matched to one of many laboratories around the country, based on their interest. There is no travel required to participate in the program, and students will get the full suite of research training under the mentorship of faculty and/or scientists who have volunteered to host an undergraduate. REU participants are expected to work full time on a project they will develop with their mentor. Students will learn how research is conducted, gain professional skills, and have the opportunity to present the results of their work at a national scientific conference. NSURP will recruit underrepresented minorities in STEM, students attending Minority Serving Institutions and community colleges, and students who have been accepted to an REU but denied the program due to cancellation. The effectiveness of the program will be assessed using the online SALG URSSA tool as well as an assessment to be done by the University of Arizona College of Education. Students will be tracked after the program in order to determine their career paths.

NSURP is focused on all fields of microbiology (host-microbe interactions, environmental microbiology, physiological mechanisms, symbiosis, signaling pathways, etc.) and computational immunology. Student research projects encompass biological research from various departments around the country. Participants will be required to attend weekly seminars, professional development talks and ethics training, complete program assessments in a timely manner, and attend all events deemed necessary by the laboratory in which they are doing the work. Student selection for program participation will be made by the NSURP board of directors and will be based on student career goals and their ability to work remotely. Students, who must be a US citizen, US national or permanent resident to be eligible, will be provided stipends. More information, including a list and presentations of previous NSURP projects, can be found at https://nsurp.org. Additional details can be obtained by contacting the PI (Dr. Michael D. L. Johnson) or program administrators at nsurporg@gmail.com. This project is supported by the Divisions of Molecular and Cellular Biosciences (MCB), Integrative and Organismal Systems (IOS), Environmental Biology (DEB), and Biological Infrastructure (DBI), all within the Directorate for Biological Sciences.

This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.