This award provides funds to The College of Biological Sciences at the University of Minnesota to establish a summer program of undergraduate research experiences targeted to women and members of under-represented minority groups. The NSF/REU program will involve 10 high ability undergraduate students, at least half of whom will be from under-represented minority groups. Students will work under the direction of university faculty members who have a common interest in research involving recombinant DNA technology. The primary objective of the 10-week summer program is to provide a challenging and enriching educational experience for outstanding undergraduate students and thereby strengthen their interest in pursuing graduate education and research in the biological sciences. The program will be modeled after a 1989 pilot program of Summer Research for Women and Minorities, which included four Black, four Hispanic, and three Native American undergraduates. The average GPA of the 16 students in the 1989 program was 3.5. Aggressive recruitment strategies have been designed to recruit an equally talented and diverse group of participants for 1990. Approximately 1,000 letters will be sent to recruit high ability women and minority students from the Twin Cities metropolitan area, at institutions with high minority enrollments, and at major universities in the states with a large minority population.
