About the CUBE Program
Above: Brief video from Tosin Ogunmayowa sharing his experience working with the Center for Biostatistics and Health Data Science (CBHDS) for the past two years as a graduate student intern and his enthusiasm to serve as a CUBE mentor for Summer 2023.
The Collaborative Undergraduate Biostatistics Experience (CUBE) is an 8-week training program designed to give motivated, underrepresented undergraduate students in STEM the opportunity to engage in a full-time (~40 hours/week) collaborative data science experience, along with related professional development activities. CUBE is aimed at promoting diversity, equity, and inclusion in the STEM fields. The CUBE program is built on the following four pillars: 1) training in introductory biostatistics; 2) training in R programming; 3) professional development (PD); and 4) a collaborative research project addressing research questions in various disciplines.
The goal is to offer students an experience working with a real-world dataset under the mentorship of experienced collaborative data scientists, as well as clinical experts, to help them determine if they want to pursue a career in collaborative applied data science, while they develop skills for the workforce or graduate school.
The program includes weekly research and professional development seminars, periodic social events, and a final symposium during which students will present their research. Students will be hosted at either Virginia Tech or University of Virginia during Summer 2023, and will be compensated $4,800 for their participation in the program.** Housing and social outings will also be provided, pandemic permitting***. Students will be responsible for food/meals and roundtrip travel to and from the site.
The CUBE 2022 program was featured in iTHRIV's February 2022 newsletter, VTx News, Amstat New’s JEDI Corner, and This is Statistics blog post written by CUBE 2022 alum, Kayla Williams.
CUBE 2023 is currently funded by the National Institutes of Health's (NIH) NIDA/NIAAA institutes under award number 1R25DA058482-01, the integrated Translational Health Research Institute of Virginia (iTHRIV), Merck, as well as by Virginia Tech’s Fralin Life Sciences Institute (FLSI), and the Institute for Society, Culture, and Environment (ISCE).
**Note: Payment is taxable income to participating students who are current US Citizens or have a working visa within the US. Please review IRS publication 970, Tax Benefits for Education for additional information.
***Note: Virginia Tech and University of Virginia are planning for in-person educational opportunities in Summer 2023. However, these opportunities will be subject to any state, federal, and university regulations related to the COVID-19 pandemic. We will keep applicants posted as new regulations emerge. All CUBE participants will be expected to abide by each university's public health regulations.