Our programmes at California State University address the challenges of bringing undergraduates into research labs (see Nature 518, 127–128; 2015). The students are then better equipped for admission to the top professional training programmes in the United States and worldwide.

More than 100 undergraduate research students are trained every year under our programmes, which have been running for 43 years and have garnered a US Presidential Award for Mentoring, among other honours. We aim to make students proficient in doing quality research experiments and in statistically analysing and publishing them.

All new undergrads are trained by peer undergraduates (not graduate students or postdocs) experienced in the research, ensuring that the newcomers immediately feel comfortable in the research setting; their work is regularly checked by senior staff.

The burden of heavy course loads is mitigated by an open-lab policy that allows students to pursue their research out of hours and during university vacations.

Our undergraduates have co-authored hundreds of publications and national presentations. And, to stimulate pre-college students' interest in research, we established a journal of student research abstracts almost 20 years ago (now open access), and annual symposia for student research posters (see go.nature.com/dwox6d).