The NIH-IMSD Scholars Program at Indiana University-Bloomington is an undergraduate summer research program for IU-Bloomington minority undergraduates that also offers academic support throughout the school year. The Initiative for Maximizing Student Diversity (IMSD) Program is funded by the National Institutes of Health's (NIH) General Medical Sciences' Division of Minority Opportunities in Research, through their Minority Biomedical Research Support (MBRS) Branch. The IMSD Program at Indiana University at Bloomington is one of a limited number of NIH funded "Initiative for Maximizing Student Diversity Programs.

There are two major goals of the NIH-IMSD Scholars Program. One goal is to increase the retention and graduation rates of minority undergraduate students in the sciences. The second goal is to prepare students for graduate school and their future career in research. The IMSD Program seeks to increase the number of African-Americans, Hispanics, Native Americans, and Pacific Islanders pursuing Ph.D. or M.D./Ph.D. degrees in biomedical research related fields.

Each year, 20 undergraduate students will participate in a 10-week summer research program working with faculty conducting major research in the sciences, such as Animal Behavior; Biochemistry; Bioinformatics; Cell Biology; Cognitive Sciences; Evolution; Genetics; Genomics; Inorganic Chemistry; Microbiology; Molecular Biology; Neural Sciences; Organic Chemistry; Physics; Plant Sciences; Proteomics; Psychology, and Structural Biology.
(For more information, see Faculty Research Interests)

Students selected to the program must make a two-year commitment to participate in two, successive 10-week summer research experiences at Indiana University, Bloomington, must maintain a GPA of 3.2 and agree to participate in all aspects of the program, including activities designed to enhance academic and research development.
(For more information, see Apply to IMSD)