RISE Program

The RISE Program is a student-support program with the specific aim of producing top-notch competitive minority scientists. The goal to increase the number of students from underrepresented groups in biomedical and behavioral research who successfully complete Ph.D. degree programs in these fields. Specifically, the RISE program aims to enhance the minority-serving institutions research training output in biomedical and behavioral sciences by:

• increasing the number of students that complete baccalaureate (B.S./B.A.) degrees and enroll in Ph.D. programs,
  
  
• increasing the number of students that complete master (M.S.) degrees and enroll in Ph.D. programs,
  
  
• increasing the number of predoctoral students that complete the Ph.D. degree, and
  
  
• reducing the national gap in the completion of Ph.D. degrees between underrepresented and non-underrepresented students in the biomedical and behavioral sciences.

The RISE Program offers research assistantships for graduate students who are seeking Ph.D. degrees in Cell, Developmental or Molecular Biology, Biochemistry and organic chemistry. These assistantships include compensation packages of a salary plus the costs of tuition and fees. Graduate students can only be considered for a RISE research assistantship after they have been accepted into the Ph.D. program in either the Department of Biological Sciences or the Department of Chemistry.

Undergraduate students majoring in biology, chemistry, or psychology may be eligible to participate in the RISE Program. Undergraduate research assistants are paid a stipend for 10 - 20 hours of research and academic enhancement activities per week. Undergraduate assistantship packages exclude tuition and fees.