Diversity MATTERS Scholarship

Diversity MATTERS Scholarship Program

Our unique scholarship program is designed to complement a student’s rigorous graduate training in the biomedical sciences while also providing specialized institutional support through enhanced personal mentoring, professional development training, extracurricular community building opportunities, and stewardship via our qualitative analysis research team. The commitment is minimal and the benefits are maximal, providing underrepresented students with the tools and guidance needed to excel in a competitive research environment.

The program offers comprehensive support via the following mechanisms:

Faculty Training

PIs take part in our training series dedicated to facilitating best practices in mentoring and cultivating methods to assist students through transition points using high-yield qualitative approaches. These trainings are not prescriptive, and allow for faculty participants to cultivate their own mentorship strategies through the utilization of these highly vetted and contemporary methods and resources.

Scholar Training

Identified graduate students take part in extracurricular personal and professional development opportunities designed to bridge the cultural and philosophical gaps of traditional graduate training.

Additionally, scholars are encouraged to design personalized mentorship compacts, attend community events dedicated to the underrepresented experience in the biomedical sciences, and receive additional support from our Qualitative Advising Team.

All of these additional activities are optional and are not expected to represent a significant increase in load. There is no expectation that participation in the Diversity MATTERS program would delay the time to degree.

Financial Support

In addition to this enhanced training and institutional support, our program provides a generous stipend and travel funding to identified scholar.

Scholarship Stipulations

Participate as an NSURE Near-Peer Mentor;
Attend the NSURE Mentor Orientation;
Undergo leadership training;
1. The Online Certificate in Leadership Development or the Certificate in Inclusive Leadership offered by the Fanning Institute (here).
2. The Graduate School’s Emerging Leaders Program (here).
Take part in a science communication training or opportunity;
1. Either GRSC 8200 or GRSC 8220
2. TEDxUGA
3. Three Minute Thesis Competition
Utilize enhanced mentoring resources;
1. Mentor-mentee compacts
2. SWOT Analysis
Complete a leadership project via our new student organization, GAIN (Graduate Assistants in Neuroscience);
Take part in periodic scholarship assessments to determine the scholarship’s impact and efficacy.