Our commitment to DEI
The University of Iowa is committed to promoting inclusion and openness across all aspects of university life and across a variety of dimensions, including race, age, ethnicity, religion, gender, gender identity, sexual orientation, ability status, and national origin. This commitment can be seen in the wide range of programs and communities that the university supports. The Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences is also whole-heartedly committed to inclusion, and adopts a proactive approach to promoting and supporting diversity and equality in all aspects of our research, teaching, and service. As part of this approach, the department maintains a number of committees and initiatives that are specifically intended to support minority and first-generation students, including: The Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) committee composed of faculty, staff, and students; the Bridging the Gap in Psyience (BGP) program, designed to provide a safe, inclusive, and collaborative space for BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, and people of color) graduate students and postdocs; the Our Collective Brains (OCB) program, designed specifically to support first-generation and under-represented undergraduate students; and the Gateway To Psyience program, which aims to make the department supportive and accessible to BIPOC and other high-school students.
In addition, many of our faculty actively contribute to the mentoring of students from underrepresented groups in our laboratories, including undergraduates in the Summer Research Opportunities Program (SROP) and the Iowa Biosciences Academy (IBA). Our NIH-sponsored Behavioral-Biomedical Interface Training Program (BBIP) also provides training opportunities for graduate students from diverse backgrounds.
We are also developing programs to support the community of BIPOC members of the department as a whole (students, staff, and faculty), via meet-and-greets, mechanisms for providing more useful and systematic feedback, and mentorship programs.
Student, faculty, and alumni organizations
- Bridging the Gap in Psyience (BGP)
- Black Graduate and Professional Students Association (BGAPS)
- Graduate Women in Science (GWIS)
- Amigos de Immigrante/Friends of Immigrants
- Latino and Native American Alumni Alliance
- Association of Latinos Moving Ahead (ALMA)
- Arab Student Association
- African American Council (AAC)
- Association of Multicultural Scientists (AMS)
- University of Iowa Muslim Student Association
- Women in Science and Engineering
- Our Collective Brains
Campus offices and diversity programs
- Office of Graduate Inclusion (OGI)
- Student Disability Services (SDS)
- Council on Disability Awareness
- First Generation Task Force
- Office of Cultural Affairs and Diversity Initiatives (Carver College of Medicine)
- International Student and Scholar Services
- Office of Teaching and Technology's Inclusive Teaching and Diversity
- Center For Student Involvement & Leadership
- Community of Persons with Disabilities
- Hawkeye Accessibility Ambassador Program
- Equal Opportunity and Diversity
- Building University of Iowa Leadership for Diversity (BUILD)
- Center for Diversity & Enrichment
- Multicultural Programs
Research training opportunities and scholarships
- UI Summer Research Opportunities Program (SROP)
- Iowa Biosciences Academy (IBA)
- Post-Baccalaureate Research Education Program (PREP)
- Lulu Merle Johnson Recruitment Fellowship Program
- Iowa Center for Research by Undergraduates (ICRU)
- Behavioral-Biomedical Interface Training Program (BBIP)*
- Diversity Awards & Scholarships
- First Gen Brain Research Workshop
*Graduate Students