Undergraduate researchers at UTSA are uncertain about their futures in research, as federal funding cuts have discontinued funding for the Maximizing Access to Research Careers Program after May. 

Nicolas Prather is a third year undergraduate majoring in Molecular Microbiology & Immunology. He has worked in two vaccine labs at UTSA for the past two years because of the MARC Program. He notes that, in his first year, he emailed professors every week to try to get into their labs to no avail, but once he received MARC funding, he got in immediately.

However, he is uncertain of future research opportunities due to the funding cuts.

“It’s a lot harder to pursue it now because a lot of people just don’t have that kind of funding, especially with those keywords — certain keywords aren’t getting funded anymore,” Prather stated.

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The “keywords” he referred to originate from a leaked memo to the National Science Foundation which intends to deny funding towards grant proposals that contain them. Some of the keywords include “female,” “LGBT,” “racism” and “trauma.”

He continued, “So I have applied to nine summer research programs. I have been turned down from four so far — and that’s the only ones that I’ve heard back from. And two of those, they just aren’t doing their program. They just are canceling it for the time being. 

“I’ve kind of just been coping with the reality that I might not get into summer research. I had a certain plan lined out, and I’m having to kind of come up with alternatives to that plan. And I know a lot of my peers are too.”

According to Prather, the MARC program has built him up significantly with its mentorship opportunities. He has overcome impostor syndrome and become much more confident as a researcher. Prather has also become an author in his time in the program and notes how the loss of it will hinder student success. 

“I even have a publication now. And that’s really only because of MARC because I wouldn’t have been in this lab otherwise,” he said. “Taking these programs away is just gonna take away those opportunities from students to be as successful as they could be.”

Andrea Valero, an American citizen raised in Mexico, decided to pursue research and a degree in chemical engineering at UTSA due to the difficulty of doing so in her hometown. She can do so through the MARC program, but she has shared what she would have done without it.
“I think my job opportunities or my research opportunities would have looked very different,” Valero said. “I would have never fell in love with research, potentially, because that’s something I discovered here, and I know that from my friends in Mexico, they don’t have many possibilities of doing research over there. So, being here allowed me to do research and find my passion.”

Valero brought up the funding that the MARC programs gives to its students and its significance to them.

“I think financial support is one of the biggest parts of this program because once you alleviate that financial burden, you’re giving a student a chance to do research or getting paid to do that research. Therefore, they don’t have to be worrying about going to other part time jobs or looking for a full time job, which is the reality of most of the students here at UTSA.”

While Valero is a senior and will receive funding through her final semester, she is unsure if the same will be offered to MARC scholars as a result of the federal funding cuts.  

“I don’t know what their future is gonna look like,” Valero said. “I do worry about the other students, and I’m looking for opportunities for them.”

Jacob Arras, a junior MARC student majoring in biomedical engineering and minoring in chemistry, has taken political action to help support current and future student researchers. 

“I went to Austin to go and speak to one of the congressmen there and gave a talk at the Stand Up for Science protest. I spoke to people there to just share my story in order to at least be a bit more politically engaged and raise awareness,” he said.

He has also met up with student researchers in different colleges and organizations to brainstorm ways to find alternate funding sources for student researchers at UTSA. 

“We were all discussing maybe having a town hall meeting between both the College of Sciences and the College of Engineering [to consider] creating a new program, just in general, with whatever funds that may be available between the two colleges,” he said. 

Arras stated the MARC program has made him a competitive candidate for PhD programs by giving him the opportunity to gain four years of experience working in a lab, attend internships at government agencies and present his findings at various conferences. 

He acknowledged that the students and administrators are unaware of what the future holds for research programs like MARC but highlighted how significant DEI programs are to science. 

“Having diverse perspectives ensures not only that the science we make is equitable, but also that it helps us come up with new ideas and better ideas,” he said. “It’s important that we fund these programs and that we support science throughout everything that’s happening because that’s going to have ramifications for all walks of life in the United States. Please consider the important role that NIH funds and DEI programs have to science as an institution.”

Additional student researchers have come forward with their concerns and efforts to combat the possible funding cuts to their programs. Their stories will be published in the following weeks at paisano-online.com.