Our Commitment
Diversity and Inclusion
The Office of Graduate Education and the Biological and Biomedical Sciences Program are deeply committed to diversity and inclusion. We strive to foster an environment in which all graduate students can succeed. Since BBSP began in 2007, we have built a vibrant, diverse, and passionate community of students who are training to be tomorrow’s leaders. The cornerstone of our diversity and inclusion efforts is our longstanding NIH-funded UNC Initiative for Maximizing Development (IMSD) program which aims to increase the number of successful scientists from groups that have historically had limited opportunities in biomedical research.
Additionally, our office has sponsored the formation of two STEM focused affinity groups: STEM Pride, for LGBTQ identified scientists and allies, and Women in Science (WinS) which aims to highlight the contributions of women scientists at UNC. We also actively partner with other groups on campus (see below for a list).
Our office is part of a larger, diverse UNC campus that serves a wide variety of students, faculty, and staff. The LGBTQ center is very active on campus and has developed a SafeZone training program to build awareness of and skills for working with people of all gender and sexual orientations. HAVEN/Safe@UNC offers an interpersonal violence awareness and prevention program, and Opening Doors is a national diversity/inclusion training program sponsored by the School of Medicine but open to anyone on campus, including graduate students. Many staff participate in these SafeZone, HAVEN and Opening Doors training programs to become allies for all UNC community members; including those who are differently-abled, with various gender and sexual orientations, struggling with interpersonal violence or mental health concerns, or from different religious backgrounds.
Graduate Student Groups
UNC has many programs for specific interest groups including women, ethnic groups, international students and more. See below for links to a selection of programs/services available to UNC graduate students.
- SACNAS: UNC chapter of Society for the Advancement of Chicanos/Hispanics and Native American Scientists
- SBBS: Society for Black Biomedical Scientists
- STEM Pride: LGBTQ+ and allied individuals in STEM disciplines
- UNC AM-WISE: Allies for Minorities and Women in Science and Engineering
- WinS: Women in Science
- BGPSA: Black Graduate and Professional Student Association
- Carolina Grad Students F1rsts: First generation graduate students
- First Nations Graduate Circle: American Indian graduate and professional students
- Global Grads: for international graduate students
- Military-Affiliated Grad Students: for Active Duty, Veterans, Reservists, or National Guard graduate students
- Queer Graduate and Professional Students: for Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer, Intersex, and Asexual-identified grad students
- Welcoming Ethnic & Racial Inclusion for Student Equity (WE RISE): for graduate students from racially/ethnically diverse backgrounds
- Advocates for Carolina: a disability advocacy group
- ATLAS-Link: a Slack group for UNC students living with chronic illnesses
- CF-Link: a Slack group for UNC students living with Cystic Fibrosis