BUMMP Research Apprenticeship Program (BRAP)

About

The BUMMP Research Apprenticeship Program (BRAP) will be awarded to students pursuing research during the Fall, Winter, and Spring quarters of the academic year, with a preference to support students with financial need and/or students who are first generation in their family to attend college. This award does not consider race, color, national origin, religion, sex, disability, and/or other protected categories as part of the application and/or selection process.

The Scholarship

This scholarship is intended to expose BUMMP mentees to cutting-edge research in labs at UC San Diego under the guidance of a principal investigator. Applicants can be of any class standing and of any citizenship status. Students who receive a BUMMP scholarship will receive a scholarship of $1,800 per quarter, up to $5,400 per academic year, disbursed as a fellowship.

Eligibility.

• Majoring in a degree within Biological Sciences, or a related field (general biology, bioengineering, etc).
• Be a paired BUMMP mentee. 
• Have a research mentor (faculty, grad student, postdoc, etc.) during the application period who will guide their research. Please note that a BUMMP mentor is usually not a research advisor for the BRAP scholarship. Make sure that the research mentor for your BRAP application agrees to oversee your project prior to adding them to your application.
• Currently working toward a Bachelor’s or Master's Degree.
• Students who have not received BUMMP funding before will be prioritized.
• No citizenship status requirement.

Requirements if the student is selected as one of the recipients of the award

• Be able to commit to 10-12 hours of research per week during the quarters in which you receive your scholarship.
• Attend the required biweekly meetings/workshops during Winter and Spring (details on these meetings will be provided at the BRAP orientation)
• Submit quarterly research reports at the end of each quarter during the award period.
• Present a research poster at BUMMP Annual Student Symposium (BASS) during Spring 2026.
• Fill out an exit survey upon completion of BRAP.

UCSD Competencies

Through BRAP, students will gain tangible skills that will set them up for success in a research career. A few of the UCSD competencies (determined by UCSD Engaged Learning Tools) that the student will work on as an apprentice are:

Research Ability

Through BRAP students will gain a holistic research experience: students will lead their own research project and communicate their findings through a deliverable due at the end of the year.

Critical Thinking and Problem Solving

By leading an independent project, students will learn to identify open questions to pursue and develop experiments that will address those questions.

Career Development

By participating in research, students will gain hands-on experience in the lab and learn transferable skills and techniques. BUMMP events will also prepare students for their transition from their undergraduate or master's degree.

Get Started in Research

Guide to getting started in research