Upper Division EEOP Eligibility and Application
EEOP Upper Division Application Deadlines
UCD students
Application deadline February 20 at 11:59 pm; recommendation letters due by February 27, 2024 at 11:59 pm.
Incoming transfer students
Application deadline May 3, 2024 at 11:59 pm; recommendation letters due by May 10, 2024 at 11:59 pm.
EEOP Upper Division Eligibility
The EEOP Upper Division Programs are funded by the National Institutes of Health (NIH). To be eligible for these programs, students must meet the following criteria:
- Have U.S. citizenship or permanent U.S. residency
- Belong to a group that is underrepresented in the biomedical, clinical, behavioral and social sciences. These groups are defined as:
- Individuals from racial and ethnic groups that have been shown by the National Science Foundation to be underrepresented in health-related sciences on a national basis. The following racial and ethnic groups have been shown to be underrepresented in biomedical research: Blacks or African Americans, Hispanics or Latinos, American Indians or Alaska Natives, Native Hawaiians and other Pacific Islanders.
- Individuals with disabilities, who are defined as those with a physical or mental impairment that substantially limits one or more major life activities, as described in the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990, as amended.
- Individuals from disadvantaged backgrounds, defined as those who meet two or more of the following criteria:
- Were or currently are homeless, as defined by the McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act (Definition: https://nche.ed.gov/mckinney-vento/);
- Were or currently are in the foster care system, as defined by the Administration for Children and Families (Definition: https://www.acf.hhs.gov/cb/focus-areas/foster-care);
- Were eligible for the Federal Free and Reduced Lunch Program for two or more years (Definition: https://www.fns.usda.gov/school-meals/income-eligibility-guidelines);
- Have/had no parents or legal guardians who completed a bachelor’s degree (see https://nces.ed.gov/pubs2018/2018009.pdf);
- Were or currently are eligible for Federal Pell grants (Definition: https://www2.ed.gov/programs/fpg/eligibility.html);
- Received support from the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants and Children (WIC) as a parent or child (Definition: https://www.fns.usda.gov/wic/wic-eligibility-requirements).
- Grew up in one of the following areas: a) a U.S. rural area, as designated by the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) Rural Health Grants Eligibility Analyzer (https://data.hrsa.gov/tools/rural-health), or b) a Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services-designated Low-Income and Health Professional Shortage Areas (qualifying zipcodes are included in the file).
EEOP Application Instructions
The EEOP Upper Division Application may be used to apply for the following undergraduate junior and senior programs:
- ADAR Honors Program for Aging Research
- CURE Program for Research in Cancer Biology
- MARC (Maximizing Access to Research Careers) Program
If you are an incoming freshman, please complete the application for BUSP.
To successfully complete this application, you will need the following information:
- Your UCD ID number [optional for new transfer student applicants]
- Your current cumulative college GPA
- Number of units completed toward your UCD degree
- Recommender name, phone, and email address (we highly recommend that this be your current research mentor if you have one)
- Description of how program participation will help you attain your career goal(s) (700 characters, including spaces)
- Personal statement (5,000 characters, including spaces), including your background, the area(s) of research that interest you the most, your research experience, your future goals, and your reasons for wanting to pursue these goals.
All applicants will need one letter of recommendation. If you are currently in a lab, we encourage you to obtain a letter from the Principal Investigator of that lab. If you are not in a lab, the letter should be from someone who knows you in an academic setting (as an instructor, TA, or advisor), in a work environment (your supervisor), or in a volunteer environment (your supervisor).
Your application will not be considered complete until we receive the recommendation.
Instructions for Letter Writers
- Once the candidate submits their application, letter writers will be emailed with instructions about how to submit their letter of recommendation.
- There is no maximum length for the letter, however, letters longer than 2 pages are not necessary.
- Please comment on:
- How long you have known the applicant and in what capacity.
- The suitability of the candidate for engaging in undergraduate research and a structured undergraduate research program.
- The educational and professional goals of the candidate, if established.
- If you are the current research mentor for the candidate, your willingness to continue hosting the student in your research group and intention to be supportive of the candidate’s engagement in program activities.