Moore Undergraduate Research Apprentice Program

**Mission** The mission of the Moore Undergraduate Research Apprentice Program (MURAP) is to contribute in a significant way to achieving diversity and inclusive excellence in higher education by increasing the number of students in the US who pursue doctoral degrees in the social sciences, humanities, and fine arts. **Focus** The Moore Undergraduate Research Apprentice Program (MURAP) at the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill is a paid summer fellowship designed to foster the entrance of talented students from diverse backgrounds within the humanities, social sciences, and fine arts into PhD programs and faculty positions in U.S. colleges and universities. A program of the [Institute of African American Research](https://iaar.unc.edu/), MURAP seeks to increase the number of individuals holding faculty positions within the academy who are from diverse racial and ethnic groups. The program serves the related goals of providing scholarly role models for youth and structuring campus environments so that they will be more conducive to improved racial and ethnic relations. MURAP aims to achieve its mission by identifying and supporting students of great promise and helping them to become scholars of the highest distinction. Each summer, the program brings a cohort of 20 undergraduates (rising juniors and seniors) from colleges and universities in the U.S. to the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill campus for an intensive, ten-week research and graduate school professional development experience. Students work with faculty mentors who guide student participants in an original research project. Students also attend writing workshops, receive training in research communication skills, take GRE classes, and participate in other professional development activities to prepare them for success in graduate school and academic careers. **History** The Moore Undergraduate Research Apprentice Program (MURAP) was sparked in 1989 when three students who were majoring in humanities disciplines applied to the Summer Pre-Graduate Research Apprentice Program (a program for STEM research) and expressed interest in a summer research experience at UNC-Chapel Hill. The three students were housed in UNC’s [Institute for the Arts and Humanities](http://iah.unc.edu/) while pursuing research projects with a faculty mentor. Over the next few years, the program grew to support students in social sciences and humanities each year and officially became the Minority Undergraduate Research Apprentice Program. In 1996, a grant from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation provided substantial support for expanding and sustaining the program. In 2002, the program was moved to the [Institute of African American Research (IAAR)](https://stonecenter.unc.edu/institute-of-african-american-research/), where it is currently housed. In 2003, MURAP retained its acronym but was renamed to honor the program’s first Ph.D. recipient, Dr. Mignon Moore. After 24 years of generous support from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, support for the program is now provided by the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, and the program continues to thrive.