NIH grants $1 million to RIT Scientists-In-Training Program for Deaf and Hard-of-Hearing Undergraduates

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Goal is to increase the number of underrepresented students who enter Ph.D. program in the biomedical and behavioral sciences





July 14, 2017 by Susan Murad Follow RITNEWS on TwitterMark Benjamin/NTID
RIT/NTID has received $1 million from the National Institute of General Medical Sciences to develop a Scientists-In-Training Program for Deaf and Hard-of-Hearing Undergraduates.

The National Institute of General Medical Sciences has awarded a grant to Rochester Institute of Technology that is expected to provide $1.025 million in funding over five years to develop a Scientists-In-Training Program for Deaf and Hard-of-Hearing Undergraduates. The award is funded through the Research Initiative for Scientific Enhancement (RISE) program, which is designed to increase the number of underrepresented students who enter Ph.D. programs in the biomedical and behavioral sciences. The establishment of the RIT-RISE program is a groundbreaking achievement because it is the first RISE program to specifically serve deaf and hard-of-hearing students.

The RIT-RISE program consists of two components: one is open to the entire university and a second offers additional support to selected RIT-RISE Scholars. The RIT-RISE program will offer a suite of scientific enrichment workshops, presentations, and activities that are tailored to the needs of deaf and hard-of-hearing scientists and open to the entire university. These events are expected to attract students who, for example, wish to enrich their research skills, stay abreast of hot topics in biomedical and behavioral fields, sharpen their presentation skills, or get help applying to graduate schools. RIT-RISE will also provide faculty workshops to share best practices for promoting effective communication between hearing and deaf researchers in the lab.

Selected RISE scholars will also receive intensive training and wage support for working in research laboratories with RIT researchers and, eventually, in the laboratory of a mentor from another institution. The RIT-RISE leadership team will help match supported scholars with participating research mentors in their fields of interest. ...

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