UNDERGRADUATE SCIENCE EDUCATION 
The Institute established the Undergraduate Bio- 
logical Sciences Education Initiative to enhance un- 
dergraduate education and research in the biologi- 
cal sciences and the fields of chemistry, physics, and 
mathematics at academic institutions in the United 
States. Major goals include encouraging undergradu- 
ate students, particularly women and members of 
minority groups underrepresented in the sciences, 
to prepare for graduate studies and careers in bio- 
medical education, research, or medical practice. 
To achieve these goals, the initiative supports in- 
stitutions in providing undergraduate research op- 
portunities; broadening the academic base of biol- 
ogy through closer integration with chemistry, 
physics, and mathematics; enriching science facul- 
ties; enhancing the undergraduate research envi- 
ronment with modern equipment and laboratory 
renovations; and strengthening the ties between 
academic institutions and elementary, middle, and 
high schools and two- and four-year institutions to 
improve teaching in biology and other sciences. 
Program awards. In 1988 the Institute awarded 
grants in the amount of $30.4 million to 44 private 
liberal arts colleges and public and private histori- 
cally African-American institutions in an initial 
round of grants competition. The next year the Insti- 
tute provided grant awards totaling $61 million to 
51 research and doctorate-granting universities to 
enrich their undergraduate science programs. In a 
third round of grants competition, completed in 
1991, the Institute made awards of $315 million to 
an additional 44 public and private liberal arts and 
comprehensive institutions, including a number of 
institutions with significant enrollments of under- 
represented minority students. In 1992 the Institute 
awarded grants totaling $52.5 million to 42 re- 
search and doctorate-granting universities. 
Since 1988 the Institute has provided a total of 
$175.5 million to 181 institutions for five-year 
grants to support undergraduate science education. 
Of that amount, approximately $60 million is being 
used at 170 institutions for programs to recruit and 
retain students in the sciences, especially those un- 
derrepresented in scientific fields, such as women, 
African-Americans, Hispanics, and Native Ameri- 
cans. The principal student activity supported 
under the program is undergraduate research, pro- 
viding opportunities for students, many with no 
prior laboratory experience, to learn scientific con- 
cepts and techniques while assisting scientists in on- 
and off-campus laboratories. An additional $28 mil- 
lion is being used by 98 awardee institutions for 
science faculty development, including the ap- 
pointment of new faculty members and programs to 
engage research faculty in undergraduate teaching. 
Approximately $53 million has been directed to 
the development of science curricula and laborato- 
ries, enabling nearly all of the 181 awardee institu- 
tions to enhance the quality of instruction in the 
biological sciences and other disciplines as they re- 
late to biology. Another $34 million is supporting 
precollege and outreach programs at 170 grantee 
colleges and universities to expand existing link- 
ages and to develop new ones with precollege and 
other institutions. 
To date the Institute's undergraduate awards have 
supponed more than 7,800 opportunities for 
hands-on research by undergraduates, of whom 26% 
are students from minority groups and 54% are 
women. In addition, the program has supported the 
development of new research-oriented science cur- 
ricula, including the acquisition of equipment and 
renovation of teaching laboratories. These curricula 
are in fields represented by the Institute's scientific 
programs, namely cell biology and regulation, genet- 
ics, and neuroscience, and in related fields such as 
biochemistry, molecular biology, and physiology. 
The undergraduate program has also supported the 
appointment of 114 science faculty members, of 
whom 16% are minorities and 46% are women. 
These appointments represent a range of disciplines 
in the biological sciences and the related areas of 
chemistry, physics, and mathematics. 
About 5,500 precollege teachers and 16,000 stu- 
dents have participated in science outreach pro- 
grams supported by the undergraduate grants pro- 
gram. Approximately 1 9% of these teachers and 66% 
of the students are members of minority groups un- 
derrepresented in science disciplines; 56% of the 
teachers and 57% of the students are female. 
Program directors meetings. As part of its ongo- 
ing assessment endeavor, the Institute brings to- 
gether the directors of undergraduate programs it 
supports. These meetings provide the Institute with 
the opportunity to learn more about the activities it 
has funded and to gain important background on the 
priorities and needs of undergraduate science educa- 
tion for future program development. To inform the 
scientific and educational communities of these ac- 
tivities, the Institute publishes proceedings and 
other reports, which are distributed nationally. 
The initial meeting of the program directors in 
1991 focused on undergraduate research and pre- 
college and outreach activities funded by the Insti- 
tute at the grantee institutions. The proceedings of 
this meeting and individual program descriptions 
are included in the Institute publication Attracting 
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