The MIT UCEM program’s goal is to increase the number of underrepresented students into eight various Ph.D. programs. The program creates a robust infrastructure of resources, people, and support that helps students integrate into the broader MIT community.

HOLISTIC PROGRAMMING:

• Sloan Scholars participate in robust programming, based on retention best practices, that support the academic, career, and professional development, and community building of students.

• Networking events with Sloan UCEM scholars, MIT faculty, and other MIT stakeholders.

MULTI-TIERED MENTORING:

• UCEM Scholars receive assistance in cultivating a diverse network of mentors and involves functional diversity (mentors, advisors, sponsors, peers, and protégés), positional diversity (inside the department, outside the department, outside of MIT), and demographic diversity (gender identity, white, people of color).

• All incoming Sloan Scholars are paired with a current UCEM Scholar to serve an informal peer mentor to discuss strategies in navigating departmental and institutional climate.

SLOAN SCHOLARSHIPS:

• The MIT UCEM Scholarship provides a stipend supplement of $8,000 a year for up to five years ($40,000 total), which can be used to pay for professional travel, equipment, books, and to cover other needs during your graduate study.

• Also, for five years of your graduate study, a combination of funding sources will be used to guarantee financial support. This funding support includes full graduate tuition, a monthly living stipend, and single student health insurance. The MIT UCEM Scholarship can be combined with both internally and externally awarded fellowships.

RECRUITMENT OF UNDERREPRESENTED PH.D. STUDENTS:

• The UCEM program works closely with MIT to expand the institution’s current recruitment efforts and develop partnerships that look to holistically recruit underrepresented minority students into STEM fields.

• The program also supports diversifying academia but aiding the recruitment of URM doctoral students into academic and faculty positions.

UCEM SCHOLAR PARTICIPANT REQUIREMENTS:

• Newly admitted Ph.D. student in Biological Engineering, Chemical Engineering, Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, Mechanical Engineering, Health Sciences and Technology, Civil and Environmental Engineering, Materials Science and Engineering, or Nuclear Science and Engineering. Students offered admission in one of these programs are eligible to be nominated by the department.

• The Alfred P. Sloan Foundation supports underrepresented racial/ethnic minority students who define themselves as: African American, Latinx, and American Indian/Alaskan Native in eligible departments.

• U.S. Citizens.