The success of the Institutional Development Award Program (IDeA) Networks of Biomedical Research Excellence (INBRE) program has led to the renewal of the National Institutes of Health grant that supports it to the tune of $16.2 million for another five years.
To date, 324 undergraduates students from across the state have taken part in the INBRE scholars portion of the program – 27% of the graduates have continued on to graduate school, 28% have entered professional schools and 20% have taken jobs in the scientific workforce.
Recently the program was recognized by Nebraska Gov. Pete Ricketts, who issued a proclamation declaring August 3rd Undergraduate Research Day. This year 24 scholars presented their work at the annual INBRE meeting held Aug. 3-4 at the Holiday Inn-Downtown in Lincoln.
Established in 2001, the INBRE program was created to expose students to serious biomedical research, build a statewide biomedical research infrastructure between undergraduate and graduate institutions, strengthen the infrastructure of undergraduate institution, and increase the capacity of undergraduate institutions to conduct cutting-edge biomedical and behavioral research.
Students from eight different undergraduate colleges enter the program after completing their sophomore year of college upon recommendation by their college professors. The students are given a two-year scholarship and spend 10 weeks each summer conducting research on either their home campus or at UNMC, the University of Nebraska-Lincoln or Creighton University.