Photo by Kate Rispoli.
Cal State Long Beach (CSULB) announced today that is has received its largest grant ever—$22.7M over five years—to help prepare underrepresented students for doctoral programs.
The grant, awarded by the National Institutes of Health (NIH), will allow CSULB to create the most comprehensive and transformative research training program in its history through a program called Building Infrastructure Leading to Diversity (BUILD), officials said.
“This award has the potential to become a national model and secure Cal State Long Beach’s place as a biomedical and behavioral research training ground,” said CSULB President Jane Close Conoley. “We are very excited and proud to have been chosen for this potentially transformative award. The opportunities it will bring about for our faculty and students are truly unprecedented for this university.”
Underrepresented undergraduate students will be mentored and given research training at CSULB, UC Irvine and USC, to help them succeed in doctoral programs in biomedical and behavioral sciences.
When the program reaches capacity in five years, CSULB anticipates it will be able to support more than 200 students each year. Students accepted into BUILD will be paid, which will benefit faculty by having students who have time to work in their labs.
“This is an extraordinary opportunity for our students and our faculty,” said Laura Kingsford, dean of the College of Natural Sciences and Mathematics at CSULB. “As the largest award in the university’s history, it provides funding for stipends or hourly pay for students engaged in the training programs and research and allows us to renovate shared research spaces on campus and buy research instruments. In addition, our faculty will be able to create new partnerships at Research I Universities, enhancing their research competitiveness.”
Four CSULB colleges are included in BUILD: Liberal Arts; Health and Human Services; National Sciences; and Mathematics and Engineering.
Ten BUILD awardees were selected nationally, officials said.
CSULB is partnering with Long Beach Unified School District, Long Beach City College, Cerritos College and Golden West College to help students think about BUILD early. Additionally, CSULB will work as a research partner at Veterans Administration Medical Center in Long Beach, USC’s role will focus on public health and UCI will focus on science, behavioral sciences and engineering.
Students in their junior or senior year will be requred to do summer reasrch at a Research I Universities as defined by the Carnegie Foundation, but it doesn’t have to be at USC or UCI. Students can participate in one of two tracks: one for students who are likely to graduate in four years, and one for students who may take longer or transfer. If students are not accepted in a doctoral program immediately, CSULB can continue to enroll them for 10 months as a post-baccalaureate student.
BUILD will start up this year at CSULB as the university hires staff, establishes training programs and curriculum and developing partnerships.
By summer 2015, CSULB hopes it will be ready to start student training, including working with students’ families to give them a better understanding about the career options.