About Us

The Maximizing Access to Research Careers (MARC) Program, funded by the National Institute of General Medical Science of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), is an honors program that supports students with an interest in continuing on to graduate study in any field related to biomedical research. If you are a minority student majoring in a biomedically related field (most typically biology, chemistry, and nonclinical areas in psychology, health and nutrition sciences, and speech and hearing, with other majors possible depending on the research focus) and are thinking of going for graduate training, MARC may be for you. This program is not limited to minorities.

The federal government has recognized the need to address the lack of minorities in the biomedical research community by creating a number of special educational programs, including MARC. The MARC program is intended for academically superior students in their junior and senior years who meet certain program requirements for minority status and citizenship, and who are interested in entering graduate programs leading to research careers in the biomedical sciences (broadly defined). The MARC program offers financial support in the form of stipend and tuition, the chance to do research with a faculty mentor, and a variety of academic and personal support systems to increase students’ academic success.

Because the program is designed to train students interested in research careers, the federal MARC guidelines explicitly exclude from consideration for the program students whose primary interest is in going on to some phase of clinical practice (M.D. and its variations, dentistry, podiatry, optometry, veterinary medicine, etc.). Students interested in combining a Ph.D. with a clinical degree can be considered, but to be true to the program guidelines, applications of such students are evaluated carefully. The program supports 10 students annually: five juniors and five seniors.