Trainee Eligibility

Trainee Expectations

MARC U*STAR is a full-time, two-year program. Trainees are expected to perform 12-15 hours of research per week during the fall and spring semesters and full-time research (30-35 hours per week) during the first and second summer of the program. MARC U*STAR trainees are required to spend at least one summer – typically a 10-week period between junior and senior year – in a research training experience at a research-intensive institution other than the University of Rhode Island. For more information about the required Summer Research Experience (SRE), click here. 

Trainee Eligibility 

MARC U*STAR trainee eligibility and criteria are outlined below. We encourage all URI students interested in applying to contact the MARC U*STAR Program Coordinator, Meagan Pepper-Estes (mspepper@uri.edu) to discuss your research interests and career goals!

  • Applicants for the URI MARC U*STAR program must be a citizen or a noncitizen national of the United States or have been lawfully admitted for permanent residence at the time of appointment (see NIH Grants Policy Statement for additional details on eligibility and citizenship)
    • Proof of citizenship or permanent residency is required prior to official acceptance into the MARC program.
  • Applicants should be research-oriented students enrolled full-time in a STEM baccalaureate degree with a strong desire to pursue a biomedical, research-focused graduate degree (e.g., Ph.D. or M.D./Ph.D.) upon graduation from URI
  • Applicants should be current sophomores/rising juniors or seniors who have two years left in their academic program
    • All applicants should anticipate graduating in May 2024
  • The MARC U*STAR program supports undergraduate students from underrepresented backgrounds, including: 1) Individuals from racial and ethnic groups that have been shown by the NSF to be underrepresented in health-related sciences, 2) students with disabilities, 3) students from disadvantaged backgrounds, 4) students from low socioeconomic (SES) status backgrounds, and 5) women and underrepresented genders from the above backgrounds (see NIH’s “Populations Underrepresented in the Extramural Scientific Workforce” for details)
  • Pre-Med students are not eligible for MARC U*STAR. For a list of other research programs at URI, see Undergraduate Research and Innovation at URI, CELS Experiential Learning Opportunities and Resources, or the Rhode Island Summer Undergraduate Research Consortium (RI-SURC).

Ready to apply? Click here for our application page!