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Immunology Institute Heersink School of Medicine

About AMC21

What is the AMC21 Scholars Award?

The AMC21 Scholars Award is a program designed to attract the top graduate student applicants to UAB. Up to 6 awards are given per year to recruit the top candidates to the UAB Graduate Biomedical Sciences (GBS).

What are the goals of the AMC21 Scholars Award?

  • Recruit students that have exhibited high-achieving scientific experience and potential.
  • Increase their competitiveness for academic fellowship and positions.
  • Provide them with funding and opportunities to advance their research careers.
  • Serve as a networking platform to boost their careers.

What does this Award mean to you?

  • You will receive a $2,500 cash award when you matriculate in the UAB GBS program in the Fall of 2024. 
  • You will receive $3,750 per year for two years ($7,500 total) in scientific discretionary funds. These discretionary funds, which will be provided ~16-18 months after enrolling in GBS and selecting a mentor, will be available to you throughout your graduate career at UAB. These funds will supplement your training and education opportunities, allow you to network with scientists at other institutions and help you to reach your short and long-term career goals. Under current UAB guidelines, you can use these funds to attend scientific meetings of your choice, take courses to advance your education, to learn a new technique in another lab, travel to another institution to give a lecture, and/or purchase a computer and software for your research. 
  • Your chosen mentor will receive 2 years of stipend support ($7,500/year), to begin after the GBS stipend support is complete (~16-18 months after entering the program). This will make you very competitive for the top lab of your choice and will give you the flexibility to select a lab that may have a limited number of available slots. 
  • You’ll be assigned to an AMC21 scientific mentoring committee. This committee will commit to reading and critiquing any fellowship applications that you write while at UAB. This will increase your likelihood of success in obtaining those highly competitive fellowships that can propel you into the best post-graduate positions. The AMC21 mentoring committee members will be there for you when you need advice and those critical letters of support as you advance in your career. 
  • You will be invited to the annual UAB AMC21 symposium and will have an opportunity to meet and have dinner with the external AMC21 speakers. The senior AMC21 Scholars Awardees (4th year and above) will be invited to present their research in an annual AMC21 symposium. 
  • Upon arriving at UAB, AMC21 Scholars will be invited to an annual reception with the Dean and have the opportunity to meet faculty members from across the campus. 
  • A prestigious award that can go on your CV and will make you more competitive for fellowships and post-doctoral positions 
  • New AMC21 Scholars Award recipients will be announced in the UAB School of Medicine News at the time of enrollment to UAB. 
  • The AMC21 scientific mentoring committee will also provide letters of recommendation for grant and post-doctoral fellowship applications. 
  • All students will be coming to an institution that is actively investing in graduate education, recruiting/retaining top scientists, and research initiatives.

Why should you take the AMC21 Scholars Award and select UAB for the next step in your career? There are many reasons – but here are just a few.

  • First, the AMC21 Scholars Award was developed by the UAB Heersink School of Medicine (HSOM) specifically to support the education and training mission of the school. The UAB HSOM is investing significantly in the academic mission of the school. Graduate education is a priority here and not an afterthought. 
  • Second, UAB provides an outstanding educational experience, gives you the freedom to identify the scientific questions that are most interesting to you and has an extraordinary and diverse group of faculty who are great mentors and looking forward to welcoming you to their labs. 
  • Third, unlike many universities that are struggling to maintain their research portfolio, UAB is in a period of historic growth. Over the last nine years, the UAB research portfolio (NIH, CDC, DoD, DOE and industry-sponsors) has expanded by 73%. We remain in the top 1% of all NIH-funded organizations (public, private and international); ranked #11 among public U.S. universities and #25 among all U.S. academic institutions. All six UAB health-related schools are ranked in the top 15 among NIH-ranked public research institutions and we believe that we can offer you an outstanding education and cutting-edge research training. More importantly for you, research at UAB is powered by graduate students and the training environment is designed to help you achieve your research and career goals. As an AMC21 Scholar, you’ll be able to select the research lab that best fits your scientific interests and will be exposed to unique opportunities to interact with UAB and visiting scientists. The UAB HSOM is committed to this program and excited to support the training of the very best next generation of scientists. 
  • Fourth, UAB is an exciting place to work and a great launchpad for students aspiring to a multitude of careers in science. Most importantly, our students receive outstanding training at every step and are highly competitive for the best jobs and post-doctoral fellowships.

Expectations

  • The funding of the AMC21 Scholars Award is contingent upon the scholar maintaining a good academic standing, identifying a lab for their dissertation project, successfully completing their qualifying exam, and continuing to make progress toward their degree.