Research Training and Mentorship Program to Inspire Diverse Undergraduates toward Regenerative Medicine Careers (RAMP)

RAMP will train 18 students in the fundamentals of stem cell research: this program will include three cohorts of six trainees each. In the required stem cell science courses, undergraduate trainees will gain the lab skills required to work on guided research projects in host labs. RAMP builds on our well-established stem-cell infrastructure and its rigorous approach to training. All research labs are in new or renovated buildings and are fully equipped with modern instruments. Our stem cell faculty’s labs are extramurally funded, most by NIH or NSF. We aim to make this research area more accessible and inclusive by focusing on the acquisition of tacit knowledge. For undergraduates with minimal experience in a lab, the difficulty of acquiring such knowledge can be especially acute. Thus, rather than leave trainees to wonder about science scholarship’s implicit expectations, RAMP’s mentorship system prompts them to actively engage in those parts of the learning process that remain confusing or impede comprehension. This system has been developed to catalyze tacit knowledge acquisition—beyond asking students to identify skills that are difficult to articulate or formalize, RAMP also provides trainees with ample opportunities to practice their skills (in the lab, through outreach, and in their writing). In-lab mentors help trainees on-on-one and mentor-liaisons connect them to RAMP’s leadership team. Trainees are also required to develop rhetorical skills, an effort in which they will be supported by the program’s four science communications courses. This sequence includes public science & ethics, a science policy course, scholarly communications, and a capstone course. The latter is a culmination, not just of the communications sequence, but also of their time in RAMP. Trainees will revisit and revise their work from their prior courses and will write a reflective text that explores the relations among the items they include in their portfolios. These items will include lab notes, op-eds, policy pitches, presentations, and a scholarly paper. By working in this range of genres, trainees will refine their understanding of the broader impacts of their own scientific work, which will be a boon to RAMP’s outreach efforts. By connecting scientific practices to real-world policy issues, trainees will have a better sense of the contexts relevant to the patients and healthcare workers with whom they interact. Our trainees will be recruited from majors relevant to stem cell research. To integrate RAMP coursework with the graduation requirements of a range of degree programs, trainees from different majors will be allowed to use the foundational courses either as special electives or independent study credits toward their degree requirements. RAMP grafts fundamental science education onto a skill-acquisition framework that enables students to learn methods that, though often ambiguous, are also among the most fundamental practices of scientific scholarship.

Application Deadline: March 1, 2024

Inspiring undergraduates toward regenerative medicine careers