Minority Access to Research Careers
program exposes students to research and skills that will help them
enter and succeed in graduate schools.
July 7, 2005 :: No. 2
Ronald Coleman peers into the Petri dish
and discovers to his dismay that there are no transformed colonies
of the green algae he is studying. He grabs another from
a series of dishes and is rewarded when he sees transformants that
may be producing the antibody he introduced.
Lawrence Gray works in another lab exploring how
copper is transported through the body.
Both young men are participants in Cal State Fullerton’s
Minority Access
to Research Careers (MARC) program. Thanks to funding
from the National Institutes of Health, the 10-year-old program
offers underrepresented students opportunities to explore careers
in research. The goal, says program director Amybeth Cohen, associate
professor of biological science, is to expose undergraduate students
to the type of research and skills that will help them enter and
succeed in graduate programs. “The idea is to give them the
preparation to compete for slots at the top schools in the country.”
Students selected for the program must carry at least
a 3.2 grade-point-average and be interested in research as a career,
said Cohen. Program participants are required to take specific science
courses; conduct an average of 15 hours of research per week during
both semesters of the academic year and full time for eight weeks
in the summer; conduct a specific research project that will culminate
in a senior thesis; and defend their findings before a thesis committee
at the end of the program.
MARC scholars attend a weekly seminar where they
read scientific papers, learn how to develop research presentations
and hear from guest speakers that they invite to the course. They
also are expected to attend and deliver presentations on their work
at local and national professional meetings.
In addition to four scholars working in university
labs on campus, there are two MARC scholars in England, where they
are gaining exposure to the level and atmosphere of a doctoral-level
research facility.
The program provides each student with an annual
stipend of about $10,000, as well as funding for travel, supplies
and materials. MARC also pays participants’ school fees and
provides a GRE preparation course.
This fall, six students will enter the program, thanks
to a $247,080 NIH grant. Unlike previous years when scholars came
from the ranks of biological science and biochemistry majors, the
new class of MARC scholars will include a psychology major.
“It’s a lot of hard work,” said
Cohen, who has mentored four students and is currently working with
Coleman and another participant. “We expect a lot of them.
But if they rise to the challenge, they do well.”
Since 1995, 23 students have completed the two-year
program and gone on to graduate and doctorate programs at UC Irvine,
UC San Diego and USC. Coleman, a resident of Covina, will begin
a doctorate program this fall at Scripps Research Institute, while
Gray, of Placentia, will work toward a Ph.D. at Oregon Health and
Science University.
Media Contacts: |
Amybeth Cohen, director of the MARC program,
at 657-278-2178 or acohen@fullerton.edu
Pamela McLaren of Public Affairs, at 657-278-4852 or pmclaren@fullerton.edu |
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Amybeth Cohen, associate professor of biological science and
director of the Minority Access to Research Careers program
at Cal State Fullerton, and MARC scholar Ronald Coleman, examine
green algae in a Petri dish. Coleman, will be attending the
doctoral program at Scripps Research Institute this fall.
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