This project provides 12 full scholarships each year over four years to academically talented, low-income Biology and Biotechnology majors, and supports faculty-guided research experiences, tutoring, internships and field trips to industry settings for the scholarship recipients. The project goal is to increase retention and graduation rates, including accelerating degree completion by providing the means for current part-time students to pursue full-time study. The intellectual merit of the project is the preparation of an increased number of well-qualified biologists and biotechnologists, and helping students with the desire to succeed overcome academic disadvantages. The project is led by a Project Director and a Head Mentor with over 50 years of combined experience in teaching, promoting and supervising student research. Its broader impacts are increasing the supply of trained Biology and Biotechnology technicians to meet the growing demand for them in New Jersey (which is home to one of the largest concentrations of pharmaceutical, chemical and other biotechnology-based industries in the world), the region and the nation; and increasing the number of individuals who are members of groups currently underrepresented in these fields earning B.S. degrees. In recent years, 65% of our Biology and Biotechnology majors have been women, 19% have been Hispanic and 17% have been African-American. The success of the project is measured by its impact on closing gaps in the retention and graduation rates for these students compared to the overall rates for our Biology and Biotechnology majors over the past five years. Project results are disseminated through presentations and reports at national and regional meetings, with individual student successes publicized through University publications and press releases to regional media outlets.
