Applications for 2008 now available. Click here to download the application.

The Merck/AAAS Undergraduate Science Research Program (USRP) is a national competitive awards program available in all 50 states, the District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico. Up to 15 new awards will be made annually. Each award provides up to $60,000 paid over three years at $20,000 per year for joint use by the biology and chemistry departments at each recipient institution. The funding supports research stipends for undergraduate students and ancillary programs that foster interactions between these departments.

Launched in 1993 as a program for institutions in twelve northeastern/mid-Atlantic states, the program expanded to a national competition in 2000. The program goals are to:

• enhance undergraduate education through research experience that emphasize the interrelationship between chemistry and biology
• encourage students to pursue graduate education in chemistry and life sciences
• foster undergraduate programs and activities that bridge chemistry and biology

The program is funded by The Merck Institute for Science Education and administered by AAAS.