NeuroGRAD@UPR- Neuroscience Graduate, Resilience, Affirmation and Diversity Program at the University of Puerto Rico - Summary
The Neuroscience Graduate, Resilience, Affirmation and Diversity Program at the University of Puerto Rico
(NeuroGRAD@UPR) has the mission to successfully impact, educate, train, and develop a new cadre of
promising underrepresented minority (URM) neuroscience graduate students within our premier Hispanic
Serving Institution (HSI) in collaboration with top-notch neuroscience research institutions. It is important to
clearly state that the NeuroGRAD program’s aspiration is to broaden, improve and facilitate the research
experience/project of its scholars. The NeuroGRAD program will provide the students with resources to be able
to expand his/her research project, be it by additional training in techniques, access to specialized equipment
and other possible challenges that the student might face during his/her doctoral career. After completing the
two years as NeuroGRAD scholars, students will still be eligible to participate in program enrichment activities,
short courses, or brief internships in their collaborator’s laboratories. The NeuroGRAD program will offer an
outstanding opportunity to grow the pipeline of trainees from diverse backgrounds who will succeed in PhD
programs in the Neurosciences. Six doctoral programs in two different campuses of the UPR (Rio Piedras and
Medical School) will be impacted by the proposed research plan. To prepare scholars for the rigors of conducting
neuroscience research, and to ensure successful futures as neuroscientists, during the academic year, each
NeuroGRAD scholar will work under the close supervision of a mentoring team. At least once during the two-
year training, NeuroGRAD scholars will visit a collaborator’s lab to learn a technique and enhance research and
networking skills within our partner institutions. All research mentors are established neuroscientists with
extensive experience in training students at the graduate, and postgraduate level. NeuroGRAD scholars will be
exposed to a broad spectrum of research topics, including basic neuroscience focused on the central nervous
system, and the more translational/applied neuroscience areas. NeuroGRAD scholars will meet bi- monthly with
the PDs and participate in several professional development seminars. During these seminars, scholars will
receive training designed to increase their research competence in scholarly work, public speaking,
grantsmanship, leadership skills and scientific rigor. Depending on the needs of a particular scholars’ cohort, we
will develop specialized workshops. NeuroGRAD program will also support scholars travel for presentations at
annual conferences. Scholars are expected to learn and contribute to the most current research in their field and
have opportunities to network with established scientists. The overreaching goal of the NeuroGRAD program
will be to take advantage on its strategic strengths and foster the necessary competencies to increase the
numbers of URM students in successful and independent career paths. The present proposal is founded on
strategies that significantly promote transformative mentoring, solid experimental rigor, impactful networking
experiences linked to best practices in career leadership growth and identity building.
