Basic and Applied Summer Training in Alcohol Research

The University of Kentucky Summer Training in Alcohol Research (STAR) program provides 12 weeks of intensive, hands-on alcohol research for 11 outstanding undergraduate students. A broad range of opportunities that are truly bench to bedside are available thanks to the critical mass of alcohol research faculty in both basic and clinical science departments. Piggy backing onto existing infrastructure for the Department of Pharmaceutical Science’s summer undergraduate research program, trainees will perform independent research under the supervision of alcohol research faculty, participate in weekly educational and professional development seminars and be trained in responsible conduct of research. Hard work, discovery and great science will culminate in a research presentation to faculty, laboratory personnel and peers. Aggressive advertising of the program through scientific organizations, networking websites, and directly to regional liberal arts colleges, undergraduate institutions, and especially those schools serving underrepresented groups in STEM fields will allow for the recruitment of a diverse pool of summer undergraduate trainees. In concert with the main goals of providing hands on experience in alcohol research, we will be promoting biomedical science as a career choice for these students. Evaluations of short-term and long-term successes of the STAR program on our primary objective of increasing the pool of diverse applicants to graduate programs and biomedical research careers will be conducted and followed throughout the years of the program.