The NIH Research Education Program (R25) supports research education activities in the mission areas of the NIH. The overarching goal of this R25 program is to support educational activities that encourage individuals from diverse backgrounds, including those from groups underrepresented in the biomedical and behavioral sciences, to pursue further studies or careers in research.

To accomplish the stated over-arching goal, this FOA will support creative educational activities with a primary focus on:

• Courses for Skills Development
• Research Experiences

These will be geared toward undergraduate freshmen and sophomores from diverse backgrounds, including those from groups underrepresented in bioengineering or STEM fields relevant to bioengineering, such as engineering or the physical/computational sciences, which play key roles in biomedical technologies and innovation. The ESTEEMED program is intended to expose students to bioengineering research early in their college careers and interest them in potentially pursuing advanced studies in bioengineering or a related field. It will prepare students to join, in their junior and senior years, an honors program, supported by federal or institutional funds, that promotes STEM and entrance into a Ph.D. program. The ultimate goal is for the participants to pursue a Ph.D. or M.D./Ph.D. degree and a subsequent research career integrating engineering and the physical sciences with medicine and biology in academia or industry.