Proposed is a competitive renewal for funding to continue the development of a student training research program at the University of Texas at El Paso (UTEP). This application rests largely on a successful program initiated by Dr. Larry Cohn, with multiple modifications derived from experiences from the prior program. The proposed training program provides extensive research and educational experiences to eight undergraduate social science majors from underrepresented minorities and first generation college students. The goal of the program is to prepare academically talented students to pursue doctoral training in scientific fields related to mental health. The primary components of the program are two years of faculty mentoring within a research lab, a one semester course preparing students for graduate school and the related activities, advanced training in statistics and methods, preparation of an honor's thesis, and a summer research internship. In total, the skills and educational accomplishments resulting from this program should make trainees highly competitive for entry into graduate programs.
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