Career Mentoring of Underrepresented STEM Students for the Professoriate (CUSP)

Are you interested in a career as a professor?

Are you from a group underrepresented in academia?

The College of Natural and Agricultural Sciences at UC Riverside is launching CUSP, a pilot project funded by the UC-HSI Doctoral Diversity Initiative (UC-HSI DDI) to provide mentoring and career development to graduate students who are interested in becoming professors and are from groups typically underrepresented in science, technology, engineering and math (STEM).

One-on-one career development mentoring from a UCR faculty member outside of your home program
Participation in CUSP professional development workshops
Support in developing your Individual Development Plan (IDP) using MyIDP

$500 travel award to present your research and network with faculty and peers at the scientific conference of your choice

Opportunities to connect with other PhD candidates at UCR who are interested in a career in the professoriate

Join the growing network of CUSP Scholars and Faculty Career Mentors

Click for Detailed Scholar Timeline

Click for Detailed Mentor Timeline

Scholar Eligibility

CNAS graduate students in good standing who are advanced to candidacy by January 1 and will be enrolled full-time for the duration of the program can apply for the 2023 cohort.

While the intent of the UC-HSI DDI grants program is to enhance faculty pathways for domestic historically underrepresented groups, particularly Latinx, African Americans, American Indians/Native Americans, Filipinx and Pacific Islanders in all disciplines; women in STEM; and Asian Americans in the humanities and social sciences, UC-HSI DDI is designed to support students irrespective of race, ethnicity, national origin, sex, or gender identity. For the purposes of this fellowship, AB540 students are eligible. International students are not eligible.

Scholars Apply here

The Scholar Application is available here: https://forms.gle/HRJ8Nsoua9gLPCAj6

The application is due January 14, 2023

Faculty Career Mentor Information

We seek faculty who are excited to inspire the next generation of professors. Mentors from all STEM fields are welcome, and faculty with successful experience mentoring underrepresented students are especially encouraged to apply. The program features a year-long program of one-to-one career mentoring for a student outside your own graduate program, helping this student develop an Individual Development Plan (IDP), and attending/presenting in a professional development seminar series in Spring Quarter.

Click here for resources for CUSP Faculty Career Mentors.