The Louis Stokes Alliance for Minority Participation (LSAMP) provides holistic support, career and professional development advising, community, and a commitment to undergraduate research for students that are traditionally underrepresented in STEM. Supported by the National Science Foundation, LSAMP works for the undergraduate success of its scholars and at UConn, utilizes the majority of its participant funding to support scholars participating in meaningful undergraduate research both at UConn and beyond the borders of Storrs.

Currently serving nearly 200 undergraduates, the number 45 is significant because it represents the number of scholars directly supported by LSAMP at UConn to conduct summer undergraduate research since 2019, which includes an entire summer lost to the global pandemic. Students are introduced to the variety of opportunities for undergraduate research immediately through the custom 1-credit class for first-year students and through success seminars for incoming transfer and campus change students. LSAMP provides supportive funding to ensure that as many students as possible can participate in the transformative experience of undergraduate research.

The commitment to research has become a foundation of this community of scholars, and LSAMP students also pursue and receive competitive summer research opportunities through the NSF-REU as well as a variety of Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowships (SURF) and Summer Undergraduate Research Programs (SURP) nationwide. These experiences then flow into LSAMP scholars presenting at conferences and moving on into competitive PhD, MD, DMD, MS, professional programs, and NIH-PREP opportunities. LSAMP is research excellence!

To learn more or discuss collaborative opportunities, please contact UConn LSAMP Program Director Michael Petro.