Development of Research And Writing Skills (DRAWS): A tool for broader assessment to enhance research and research training

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Summary A Bridges to the Doctorate program between the two major Hispanic Serving Institutions (HSI) in California's Central Valley is proposed. This program will assist under-represented minority (URM) students from the California State University, Fresno (Fresno State) with completing a Master's program in the biomedical sciences before continuing and completing their Ph.D. program at the University of California, Davis (UC Davis), a research-intensive institution. This proposal will build on major research themes, activities and facilities at the two institutions including Research Infrastructure in Minority Institutions Program (RIMI) at Fresno State, the UC Davis Comprehensive Cancer Center, and the Clinical and Translational Science Center (CTSC) at UC Davis. Faculty members from the Colleges of Science and Mathematics (CSM) at Fresno State and biomedical research focused graduate groups at UC Davis will create a highly interactive training program. The overall aim of the Fresno State Bridges to Doctorate (B2D) program is to increase the number of URM graduate students entering and earning doctoral degrees in biomedical sciences. The program will recruit five graduate students each year with potential interests in pursuing research as a career and provide individually designed academic and research training plans to each. The B2D program consists of the following specific goals: • Enhance educational capabilities by developing their ability to read and critically analyze scientific literature, especially peer-reviewed papers; • Develop the appreciation for and understanding of the scientific method by demonstrating the capacity to propose hypothesis-driven, experimental protocols with appropriate controls that solve problems in a logical, stepwise fashion; • Refine professional skill sets through multiple opportunities to practice their oral and written skills and to network with other peers; actively participate and present at national/international research conferences to improve identification as a researcher and increase self-efficacy and science identity. • Develop an understanding of and appreciation for their responsible conduct in research through supplemental responsible conduct in research (RCR) training course as well as for instructions on enhancing scientific reproducibility; • Strengthening and improving science literacy by providing additional writing instruction, mentorship, and grantsmanship skills that will result in direct benefits in critical and analytical thinking. Finally, • Provide summer research at research-intensive labs at UC Davis for the B2D students to integrate research experience that mirrors what they will experience in graduate school. The Program Directors from both campuses have gathered a team of Faculty Mentors, an Advisory Committee and staff members, who are committed to the successful development of the program. All components of the Fresno-Davis Bridges program will be rigorously evaluated by an ongoing evaluation process to assess the success of the program. Addressing our objectives will allow us to achieve our short- and long-range objectives, which are: • To ensure that 90% of the B2D Scholars submit a graduate school application, with half the students being accepted into graduate Ph.D. programs in biomedical sciences in the first five years of the grant (short-range); • Over the next decade we expect to maximize (80%) our B2D Scholars to join a Ph.D. program and pursue a career in biomedical research (long-range); and • Over the next ten years, create a culture to expand and enhance the biomedical science curriculum developed by the B2D-Scholars program by the institutionalization of these practices (long-range). The Fresno-Davis B2D program will support the Scholars and lay the essential groundwork required to face the rigors of graduate school education in a highly competitive atmosphere. This B2D program will be part of a firm foundation for our students in the Central Valley to seek and earn their Ph.D. and establish careers as independent investigators and assume leadership positions in American science.