Four cohorts of seven academically talented, financially needy students will be receiving annual scholarships of $7,000 each. The scholarships will vary from one to four years in duration and be awarded to students in the College of Natural Sciences majoring in biology, chemistry, computer science, earth science, industrial technology, or physics. Additionally, scholarships of $2000 each will be available annually to three scholars choosing to undertake fulltime summer studies. There is an emphasis of increasing the number of students from underrepresented groups graduating in STEM disciplines. Monthly seminar series are being offered to the scholars. Topics include the freshmen experience, developing research projects, interviewing skills and the graduate school application process. The scholars also are eligible for funds to travel to professional conferences and to defray professional organization dues.