Alliance Universities
For the first time, nine of the nation's most prominent universities are engaging in joint mentorship, scientific collaboration, career development and guidance of advanced PhD students and postdoctoral fellows.
Institution Contributions
The Research University Alliance brings together nine very high research (R1) universities with the goal of developing, implementing, evaluating, and disseminating a model that increases the number of historically underrepresented minorities (URM) in the Mathematical, Physical, and Environmental Sciences, and Engineering (MPESE) among the nation’s postdoctoral ranks and on the faculty. The partnership involves the University of California Berkeley (Berkeley), the University of California Los Angeles (UCLA), Stanford University (Stanford), the California Institute of Technology (Caltech), the University of Washington, the University of Texas at Austin, the University of Michigan, Harvard University and the Georgia Institute of Technology. The Alliance team is expanding and improving activities that have previously been piloted by a partnership between Berkeley, UCLA, Stanford and Caltech (the California Alliance). Each RUA partner has responsibility for leading the alliance in the establishment of one or more specific components of the model.
RUA employs multiple participant-focused interventions to facilitate the advancement of URM doctoral candidates, postdoctoral scholars and early-career faculty in MPESE disciplines: A doctoral candidate and postdoctoral scholar research exchange across partnering institutions; an on-line portal to facilitate placement and hiring of postdoctoral scholars; a faculty advancement initiative for postdoctoral scholars transitioning into early-career faculty positions; and a suite of academic community-building activities to enhance faculty career pathways, such as targeted professional development, cohort building and network development. The primary outcomes of this AGEP Alliance Model project are increased rates of doctoral candidates transitioning into postdoctoral scholar positions and postdoctoral scholars transitioning into early-career faculty employment, as well as the scaling of the research exchange and postdoctoral on-line portal beyond the nine partnering institutions.
Berkeley leads and coordinates RUA, and is responsible for management of the Research Exchange, development of new partnerships with R1 universities, scholarly social science research related to URM advancement in STEM, and publication and dissemination of RUA’s model and research findings.
Caltech is designing, establishing, and managing RUA’s new Postdoctoral Concierge office. The Postdoc Concierge serves as the point of contact for inquiries to the RUA postdoctoral portal and works closely with prospective postdocs to facilitate matching them with postdoctoral opportunities at the RUA partner institutions.
Georgia Tech is establishing authentic relationships with minority serving institutions (MSIs) and Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs). Georgia Tech works to increase the number of URM faculty in MPESE fields by creating best collaborative practices and strategies in partnerships between the RUA R1 universities, and MSIs and HBCUs.
Harvard University is responsible for developing and organizing the RUA Annual Conferences. Our conferences and events are designed to directly support our participants, engage alumni in the RUA network, build community, and refine and disseminate our RUA model.
UC Los Angeles organizes and manages the Community Engagement Board (CEB) composed of AGEP graduates and prospective participants from RUA partner institutions at different career levels. The CEB guides RUA in efforts to build community among the AGEP Alliance graduate students, postdocs, faculty, and alumni.
The University of Michigan organizes and manages the RUA External Advisory Board, oversees the RUA external evaluation, and along with Berkeley, focuses on the continued development of the Research Exchange.
Stanford University provides professional development that is tailored to a variety of types and breadths of audiences across RUA, creating communities that cross intersectional lines, disciplinary lines, and institutional lines in ways that enhance the experience of RUA participants and enrich their professional networks.
University of Texas at Austin develops resources for faculty hiring that focus on ways to increase diversity through fair and inclusive hiring practices.
The University of Washington is creating and establishing the RUA Postdoc Portal. The aim of the online portal is to highlight, elevate and connect individuals from underrepresented groups who are looking for postdoctoral opportunities with faculty who have postdoctoral opportunities.
Alliance University Contacts
Contact a RUA representative at one of alliance universities with any specific program inquiries. If you are affiliated with one RUA university please connect with your local RUA representatives.