Inter-University Doctoral Degree:Puerto Rico to Rutgers

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DESCRIPTION(provided by applicant):This proposal seeks to renew the "Bridge to the Doctoral Degree: UPR to UMDNJ", which has been assisting underrepresented minority (URM) graduate students in making the transition from the M.S. Program in Biology at the University of Puerto Rico-Mayaguez Campus into the Ph.D. Programs in the Molecular Biosciences a UMDNJ-Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences (GSBS), Piscataway Campus. These Ph.D. programs represent a collaborative effort between UMDNJ-GSBS and the contiguous Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey. The M.S. in Biology Program at UPR-Mayaguez has a student population that is predominantly Puerto Rican, and there is no Ph.D. program there to encourage these students to continue toward the Ph.D. in preparation for career is senior investigators in the biomedical sciences. However, UPR-Mayaguez has a long record of producing excellent candidates for the Ph.D. at other institutions, including at UMDNJ-GSBS, Piscataway. To facilitate the transition of M.S. candidates at UPR-Mayaguez, this three-year Program was established, consisting of one year of course work at UPR-Mayaguez, followed by course work and research at UMDNJ. Students completing this Bridge program receive the M.S. degree from UPR and are admitted with advanced standing into the Ph.D. programs at UMDNJ-GSBS, interfacing with the existing UMDNJ-Rutgers University Pipeline Program, which supports URM candidates for the Ph.D. in their initial years of study. Now in the 3rd year of an initial 3-year funding period, we have enrolled six students in the program: two, nearing completion of the 3-year program, have accelerated beyond the original pace, and are expecting to enter the Ph.D. program with advanced standing at the end of this year; 2 left the Bridge program, but have continued at UPR-Mayaguez toward their M.S. degree; 2 first-year students at Mayaguez are expected to enter the UMDNJ component this summer. Several elements of the Program, involving program and recruitment, have been modified based on the initial experience. The successes and lessons of the initial period will strengthen the potential of this Program to attract students into this Program and to support and train them through to the Ph.D. degree, thereby expanding the range of students entering biomedical research careers at the Ph.D. level.