National Institutes of Health · General
NIH Maximizing Access to Research Careers (MARC) Undergraduate Student Training in Academic Research (U-STAR)
Funds undergraduate research training programs at minority-serving institutions to prepare students for biomedical PhD programs. Provides stipends, research experiences, and academic enrichment for honors-level juniors and seniors.
Program facts
- Typical award
- $500K – $1.5M
- Non-federal match
- Varies by NOFO
- Audience
- Local governments and eligible subrecipients
- Application window
- Periodic reissuance; check active FOAs.
- Typical prep time
- 12–20 weeks
- Statutory authority
- Public Health Service Act §487 (42 U.S.C. §288)
Catalog entry last verified 2026-05-27 · Verify on the agency page →
Eligibility at a glance
- Institutions of higher education are eligible applicants.
- Restricted to Minority-Serving Institutions (HBCU, HSI, AANAPISI, TCU, ANNH, NASNTI, PBI, or MSI-general).
Restructured under the NIH MOSAIC/U-RISE/MARC family; verify which mechanism applies to the current cycle. Amounts and timing approximate; verify directly with administering agency.
How Strategic Pursuit scores this program
When you run a city dossier, Strategic Pursuit cross-checks the city's demographics, federal award history, disaster history, and CEJST burden categories against this program's eligibility and strategic-fit signals. You see an explicit eligibility / strategic / competitive grade — backed by source citations — instead of a generic "match" badge.
Planning purposes only. Award ranges, match percentages, and application windows on this page summarize the latest publicly available agency guidance and are approximate. Always verify the binding NOFO on the administering agency's page before applying.