Moore Undergraduate Research Apprentice Program (MURAP)

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, MURAP seeks to increase the number of individuals holding faculty positions within the academy who are from underrepresented racial and ethnic groups or demonstrate a commitment to diversity. 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, take GRE classes and participate in other professional development activities to prepare them for graduate school and academic careers.