History
Uplift is an undergraduate research training program model to improve access and retention for underserved students.
Need for Accessible Research Training
The expectation of research experience when students apply for STEM opportunities post-graduation has become ubiquitous. Some websites even recommend that competitive applicants to their graduate school have at least 1000 hours of experience in more than one lab. This value is A LOT for a bare minimum expectation. 1000 hours of research translates to either 3 summers of full-time work or 6 semesters of part-time work, both of which are difficult to juggle alongside a full courseload. There emerged a clear demand for research experience in competitive graduate school applications. While expectations in industry are more flexible, research experience still makes an applicant shine.
In response to these requirements, universities wanted to ensure their own students were competitive for these opportunities. So many academic instutions created research opportunity programs, an effort with excellent intention. These programs often include pay, a cohort community, and hands-on research training. But these benefits are only skin-deep. The selection process for undergraduate research programs are themselves highly selective and inadvertently reinforce the same barriers that necessitated them in the first place.