Application Process

Application Process

Eligibility

UCI, Hampton, Tuskegee, Alabama A & M, Alcorn State and North Carolina A & T have together developed eligibility criteria for students’ participation in the UCI Access to Careers in Engineering and Sciences (ACES) and the Biomedical Research Innovation Gateway for Health Technologies (BRIGHT) programs.  Each student-participant must:

  • be enrolled and in good standing at one of the above HBCU’s.
  • have a GPA of 3.0 or higher.

Procedures

Applications will be reviewed, and selections made by the UCI ACES and BRIGHT Faculty: Drs. Bernard Choi, Eric Potma and Sari Mahon, and associated UCI, HU, AAMU, Alcorn, TU and NCAT program leaders and faculty mentors.

Completed applications are due on January 8, 2024, with all selections made and summer student commitments completed by February 1, 2024.

Submit the online application here 

In addition to completing the online application, please email the following to ewmiller@hs.uci.edu or mail them to Erin Miller, Beckman Laser Institute, University of California, Irvine, 1002 Health Sciences Road, Irvine, CA 92612

  • Personal Statement addressing the following points:
    • How did you become interested in your field of study?
    • What are your educational and career goals?
    • What experiences have contributed toward your preparation for your educational and career goals?
    • What are your research interests and potential motivations to go to graduate school?
    • Why are you applying to the UCI Access to Careers in Engineering and Sciences (ACES) program and/or the Biomedical Research Innovation Gateway for Health Technologies (BRIGHT) program?
    • How are you a good “match” for the ACES and/or BRIGHT program?
  • CV/Resume
  • Two (2) Letters of Recommendation from a counselor, faculty member, research mentor, or principal investigator. The letter should address the following questions:
    • What is your relationship to the applicant? Please include information on how long you have known the applicant and the extent of your interactions.
    • What is the applicant’s current research topic? If not actively involved in research, what are the applicant’s interests?
    • Please comment on the applicant’s academic merit and motivation including his/her aptitude for pursuing a Ph.D.
    • In your opinion, why and how would the applicant benefit from participating in the UCI Access to Careers in Engineering and Sciences  (ACES) Program and/or the Biomedical Research Innovation Gateway for Health Technologies (BRIGHT) program?
    • What is it about the applicant that leads you to recommend him/her for the UCI ACES and/or BRIGHT program?
  • A copy of current Academic Transcripts (unofficial are OK)

A second summer of participation is strongly encouraged to deepen the participant’s research experience in a particular lab, with the aim of becoming a co-author on a publication and increasing their competitiveness for graduate admissions.  If a participant is applying for a second summer at UC Irvine, one of the two letters of recommendation must be from the UCI faculty mentor from the previous summer.