Author: 
Brianna Blaser & Maya Cakmak

AccessComputing has received funding from the Computing Research Association’s Undergraduate Research to PhD Mentoring (UR2PhD) program. UR2PhD builds “capacity in computer science to advance the representation of women and gender-marginalized students, especially those who identify as Black, Latinx, and Native/Indigenous.” Through a variety of programs with undergrads, graduate students, and faculty, UR2PhD aims to sustain student interest in research. 

AccessComputing’s Ur2PhD-funded project, AccessUR2PhD, supports women and gender-marginalized individuals with disabilities (WGMD) on the pathway from being an undergraduate researcher to earning a PhD in a computing field. To realize this goal, the project will work toward two objectives:

  1. To provide direct support for WGMD students interested in computing research through mentoring, leadership, and training activities.
  2. To develop and disseminate resources to support (1) WGMD students in computing research and (2) faculty and graduate students who are mentoring WGMD students.

AccessUR2PhD’s activities will include mentoring, webinars, and a national capacity-building institute. 

Four other organizations received UR2PhD awards as well; you can read about them in the CRA News article CRA Awards ~$1.5M via the UR2PhD Program to 5 Organizations To Support Initiatives That Will Broaden Participation in Computing.