The HHMI-NIH Research Scholars Program, also known as the Cloister Program, was established in 1985 to give outstanding students at U.S. medical schools the opportunity to receive research training at the National Institutes of Health in Bethesda, Maryland.

Students in good standing at U.S. medical, dental, and veterinary schools are eligible to apply to the program. Research Scholars spend nine months to a year on the NIH campus, conducting basic, translational or applied biomedical research under the direct mentorship of senior NIH research scientists.

The Howard Hughes Medical Institute provides the administration and funding for the program, including the salaries and benefits for the Research Scholars. The NIH provides advisors, mentors, laboratory space, and equipment and supplies for laboratory work.

Should You Apply?
If you're interested in biomedical research, there is no better place to experience the excitement of scientific discovery and innovation, among the world's most brilliant current and future scientific leaders than at the National Institutes of Health. After second or third year of medical, dental, or veterinary school is an ideal time to determine how biomedical research could play a part in your career, before you formulate your plans for residency or postgraduate training.

If you are one of the 42 medical, dental, or veterinary students selected to become Research Scholars, you will choose a preceptor from over 1,200 tenured or tenure-track intramural scientists working on more than 2,500 research projects. The NIH environment provides state-of-the-art resources and the chance to do research that is often impossible to do elsewhere.

• Select a project and mentor after arrival on campus
• Become part of a special community at the Cloister, the Scholars' residence on campus, where you'll live among other medical, dental, and veterinary students who share your interest in research
• Meet and talk with eminent investigators at weekly science lectures for Research Scholars
• Learn new techniques, technology, and approaches from world-renowned mentors
• Attend HHMI scientific meetings where the Institute's investigators present their work at HHMI's Janelia Farm Research Campus in Ashburn, Virginia or Headquarters in Chevy Chase, Maryland
• Attend national scientific meetings, NIH conferences, and workshops

Photo: Kay Chernush