URI MARC U*STAR trainees are required to spend at least one summer – typically a 10-week period between junior and senior year – in an external research training experience at a research-intensive institution other than the University of Rhode Island.

Preferable sites are institutions with NIH-funded T32 predoctoral graduate training programs. The National Institutes of General Medical Sciences (NIGMS – a distinct institute within the NIH) maintains a searchable list of NIGMS-funded T32 programs. Other NIH Institutes and Centers also support T32 predoctoral training programs in various research areas. For a query search to identify such programs, visit the NIH Research Portfolio Online Reporting Tools (RePORT) website.

The URI MARC U*STAR program provides Summer Research Experience (SRE) funds to each trainee to help defray living and travel costs. This will allow the host institution to select a MARC trainee at no cost. MARC trainees will continue to receive their monthly stipend during the SRE.

Upon return to URI following the SRE, trainees are required to present their external research findings in an oral scientific presentation, which will be organized by the MARC U*STAR team.