The University of Texas at San Antonio
Top News 
Union Pacific hosts UTSA College Day info fair to discuss career options
UP is expanding operations in San Antonio, offering challenging careers
UTSA Researchers Study Why Disabled People Have a Harder Time Finding Jobs
UTSA researchers find that disabled job candidates professional networks are critica
UTSA Architecture's John Alexander receives Fulbright research grant
Alexander will explore Italian archives about Tridentine-period cardinal.
Jessica Sherette receives competitive National Science Foundation grant
Sherette will participate in an NSF program in South Korea
Three students selected as 2012 summer Gilman scholars
Students will study abroad in Italy, Japan and South Africa.
UTSA approves two new graduate certificates
University now offers 17 graduate certificate programs
UTSA community invited to participate in Corporate Cup 2012
San Antonio Sports Corporate Cup 2012 is Saturday, June 2
UTSA Research website will be redesigned with users' input
Online survey: Team asks for feedback from faculty, staff and students by May 31
John Miller Morris is named 2012 Piper Professor
Geography professor is eighth faculty member selected for prestigious teaching award
UTSA ranked among national leaders in degrees awarded to Hispanics
UTSA is No. 5 in undergraduate degrees, No. 12 in master's degrees to Hispanics
UTSA education scholar Laura Rendon honored by San Antonio College
Rendon named SAC 2011-2012 Outstanding Former Student
UTSA opens faculty instructional technology lab
Lab provides faculty with tech tools to impact teaching and inspire students
UTSA trade assistance center hosts manufacturers symposium
Manufacturing reps talked with Rep. Francisco Canseco about legislation
UTSA study addresses why women perceive sexy cads as good dads
Research shows hormones influence women's perceptions of men as fathers
Institute of Texan Cultures presents China photos by Texas photographers
'Texas Photographers: Descriptions of China' exhibit runs through May 27
Institute of Texan Cultues photo exhibit honors fallen soldiers of Vietnam
'Faces with Names' photo exhibit features photos of 326 of S.A. war casualties
UTSA's MARC, MBRS-RISE, MBRS-SCORE programs celebrate three decades
Share this Story(March 4, 2011)--In 1979, The University of Texas at San Antonio College of Sciences (then known as the College of Science and Mathematics) began offering MARC and MBRS, two programs funded by the National Institutes of Health to nurture students who are interested in attending graduate school and promote faculty development. Thirty years later, the programs have become a lifeline for UTSA science students who aspire to become scholars at the top of their game.
Former College of Science and Mathematics Dean Bernard Sagik introduced the training programs to UTSA. Department of Biology faculty Edwin Barea-Rodriguez, Andrew Martinez and Andrew Tsin as well as retired UTSA biology professors Herb Silver and Paul Rodriguez nurtured the programs into the successes they are today.
MARC-U*STAR (Minority Access to Research Careers - Undergraduate Student Training for Academic Research or MARC) is a UTSA honors program that supports undergraduates majoring in biology, chemistry, mathematics, computer science, statistics or engineering, focusing on underrepresented and financially disadvantaged populations. MARC students receive research and professional skills training, $2,080 per semester toward tuition, a $931 monthly stipend, and two years of travel and conference expenses.
The MBRS (Minority Biomedical Research Support) program offers two tracks: RISE (Research Initiative for Scientific Enhancement) and SCORE (Support of Competitive Research). MBRS-RISE recruits talented students majoring in biology, physics, chemistry, mathematics, statistics, computer science or engineering, focusing in particular on underrepresented and financially disadvantaged populations. MBRS-SCORE supports faculty research in science, engineering and psychology. Financial support for both tracks ranges from $10 per hour for undergraduates working in research laboratories to $25,000 per year for students pursuing doctoral degrees and varying levels of support for faculty.
UTSA alumnus Ulises Ricoy '98, '07 is intimately familiar with the MARC and MBRS-RISE programs. In the mid-90s, a friend introduced him to MARC, causing him to change his major from engineering to biology. After researching memory storage for two years alongside Edwin Barea-Rodriguez, professor and chair of the Department of Biology, and graduating from UTSA with his bachelor's degree, Ricoy later returned as a MBRS-RISE Ph.D. student and conducted research in the neuroscience laboratory of Professor Joseph L. Martinez Jr. Ricoy now is an assistant professor at Northern New Mexico College.
MARC also changed the life of UTSA alumna Zoya Farzampour '10, who went from day-to-day survival to a promising career in neuroscience. While in the program, Farzampour conducted research in the laboratory of UTSA Professor David Jaffe. She now is pursuing doctoral studies in neuroscience at Stanford University.
Since UTSA began offering MARC and RISE, 739 students have participated in at least one of the programs. Some of those UTSA alums have completed doctoral research programs and now teach at the university level. Others have pursued health sciences training and earned their professional degrees.
Over the last 10 years, UTSA has significantly intensified the training and doctoral program preparedness offered by the programs, a shift that has delivered results. In recent years, more than half of the UTSA MARC and RISE junior/senior undergraduates continued in graduate programs. Moreover, all program alumni who applied to graduate school were admitted, many earning extremely competitive placements at schools such as Stanford, Harvard, University of Michigan, University of Iowa and University of Washington, Seattle.
UTSA also found that the programs cater to a significant population of students from community colleges -- more than half at last count.
"We're seeing students like Zoya who are making very strategic decisions to get their general education requirements out of the way at local community colleges before matriculating to UTSA," said Gail Taylor, MARC/RISE assistant program director.
"In 30 years, the MARC and RISE programs have literally changed lives of UTSA students by giving them research experience and mentoring to help them prepare for and pursue their doctoral degrees," said Barea-Rodriguez, who also serves as UTSA's MARC and RISE program director. "We can tell you the number of students who have been through the programs, but the impact the programs have made on those students is immeasurable."
University Communications
Contact Us
Follow UTSA News on Twitter