Seed Grant Award: Black Undergraduate Mentorship Program (BUMP) in Biology at Columbia

Robert Pollack, Harmen Bussemaker (Chair), Martin Chalfie, Biological Sciences

Bio - BUMP

Spring 2021 Update:

Since being awarded the grant award, the BUMP Biology Steering Committee has accomplished the following:

  1. Expanded the BUMP Biology Steering Committee and clearly designated roles and responsibilities: 
  2. Held the first event for interested Black undergraduates at Columbia on 11/4/20, during which they were introduced to professionals from the Black Alumni Council (BAC) who spoke about their experiences at Columbia and provided career advice pertaining to their respective career paths in medicine and research. 
  3. Launched the mentorship program in January 2021, which began with the opening of the Mentee, Trainee Research Mentor, and BAC Career Mentor applications. 
  4. Paired the first cohort of BUMP Mentees (all who applied were granted admission into BUMP) with their Trainee Research Mentors (TRM). 
  5. Began building community within the BUMP Biology Program by creating a Slack server for mentors and mentees to collaborate and network, developing a code of conduct, a mentee training guide, and a mentor training guide.
  6. Developed an online presence via Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter, and a BUMP Biology website.

This project was funded through the Addressing Racism: A Call to Action for Higher Education initiative of the Office of the Vice Provost for Faculty Advancement.