The National Institutes of Health Academic Research Enhancement Award (AREA) program introduces research funding into regional universities and liberal arts colleges where hurdles to successful pursuit of research programs are substantial. Nevertheless, the authors of papers in this issue competed successfully and have benefited undergraduates in their respective institutions, as evidenced both by heightened retention rates and the numbers of student assistants who advance to graduate school. We discuss the role of a summer institute in helping to advance the work of these investigators, and suggest that the network which evolved may be extended as a model for collaborative and interdisciplinary research. We also describe details of the AREA program and where to obtain additional information about it. (Contains 1 table.)