Minority Institution Research Collaborative (MIRC)

The Minority Institution Research Collaborative (MIRC) is a virtual collaboration of more than 20 minority-serving institutions (MSIs), non-MSIs, and companies dedicated to significantly increasing the representation and participation of Individuals from Historically Underrepresented Groups in STEM (IHUGS) in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics within academia institutions, government agencies, and private corporations.

MIRC is primarily focused on providing research opportunities for IHUGS, including: faculty exchanges (e.g., from teaching-oriented MSIs to “Research 1” institutions); student exchanges between MIRC-affiliated universities; faculty-student team exchanges; and, international research opportunities for students.  Mechanisms such as the NSF Research Experiences for Undergraduates (REU) programs, NSF Research Coordination Network (RCN) grants, NSF International Research Experiences for Students (IRES) projects; NSF Research Opportunity Awards (ROA); and other core NSF, NIH, NASA funding mechanisms are used to support research exchange.