The Health Research and Education Foundation (HR&EF) at the CIIT Centers for Health Research (CIIT-CHR) will receive $1,292,511 in funding from the Burroughs Wellcome Fund (BWF) to support Project Suc-SEED. Project Suc-SEED is a partnership between CIIT and the North Carolina Local Section of the American Chemical Society (ACS). This project will recruit, support, and encourage talented economically disadvantaged high school students, including minorities, to pursue Ph.D. degrees in chemistry, chemistry-related science disciplines, or the sciences.
Project Suc-SEED is an extension and enhancement to a Summer Educational Experience for the Disadvantaged better known as Project SEED, a national model developed by the ACS. The North Carolina section of Project SEED drew from students in the Triangle area, while Project Suc-SEED will expand its reach statewide.
Project Suc-SEED will include all aspects of the Project SEED program. Students participating in Project Suc-SEED will be placed in academic, industrial, and governmental laboratories for 8-10 weeks during the summer to conduct research under the mentorship of accomplished scientists. Follow up activities will include participation in science conferences for high school students and presentations of summer research projects at national competitions and conferences. Extended enrichment opportunities are offered in a year-round format. During the summer a residential component is involved.
Ms. Isa Watson, a Project SEED alumni and current Chemical Engineering major at Hampton University in Virginia credits her success to Project SEED. Ms. Watson was a student at Chapel Hill High School and had an interest in science when she applied to enter the Project SEED program. She says she excelled under the close mentorship and high expectations. The exposure and experience at professional science conferences was especially valuable. Ms. Watson says that when her group attende
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Contact: Erin Knight
knight@ciit.org
919-558-1215
CIIT Centers for Health Research
14-Sep-2006