AN EXCELLENT OPPORTUNITY

The Ronald E. McNair Scholars Program at Portland State University (PSU) works with motivated and talented undergraduates who want to pursue PhDs.  It introduces juniors and seniors who are first-generation and low-income, and/or members of under-represented groups to academic research and to effective strategies for getting into and graduating from PhD programs. This mission aligns very well with our REU goals.

I encourage all REU alumni who attend Portland State to apply for The McNair Scholars Program. The deadline is November 2nd to start in the program this coming winter term (2013). Dr. Jiao and faculty mentors are a good resource for the required letters of recommendation as well as assistance with the required essay.

The McNair Scholars Program has academic-year activities and a full-time summer research internship. Scholars take academic and skills-building seminars and workshops during the year, and each scholar works closely with a faculty mentor on original research in the summer.  Scholars present their research findings at the McNair Summer Symposium and at other conferences, and are encouraged to publish their papers in the McNair Journal and other scholarly publications.

The Ronald E. McNair Post-baccalaureate Achievement Program was established in 1986 by the U.S. Department of Education and named in honor of Challenger Space Shuttle astronaut Dr. Ronald E. McNair. The program, which is in its tenth year on campus, is funded by a $1,155,000 grant from the U.S. Department of Education and institutional cost-share funds.

The McNair Scholars Program's student-centered approach relies heavily on faculty and university commitment. Activities and opportunities provided by the program focus on building a positive academic community for the scholars while they are undergraduates at PSU.
More information as well as application instructions can be found at the Ronald E. McNair Scholars Program Website.