Bridges to the Doctorate

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DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): This proposal is for a Competitive Renewal of the UMD Bridges to the Doctoral Degree. The established Doctoral Bridge Program unites the University of Minnesota Duluth (UMD) through the Masters Graduate Programs with the Doctoral Programs at the University of Minnesota Twin Cities (UMTC). The Doctoral Program will provide support for four students per year to work towards a MS degree in Biology, Chemistry, Biochemistry, Physiology, Pharmacology or Toxicology at UMD. An emphasis will be placed on students being accepted into the MS and Ph.D. graduate programs simultaneously. Once the students have completed their Masters degrees, they will be prepared to enter a doctoral program at the UMTC. A seminar series has been established at UMD to showcase the different doctoral programs at UMTC. The Directors of Graduate Studies (DGS) will present seminars based on their research interests, and then meet with prospective undergraduate and Masters level graduate students. The meeting with the DGS faculty will provide information about prospective programs and to alert the UMTC graduate programs as to potential candidates. The DGS seminars will also provide a mechanism to increase cooperative activities between UMD and the UMTC faculty. A seamless transfer into the doctoral program will be facilitated by including a member of the target doctoral program at UMTC. Additional graduate training at UMD will include the development of two courses for credit: 1) Critical Concepts, to promote academic inquiry into health issues; 2) Responsible Conduct in Research, to promote ethical behavior and exploration of philosophical concepts in biomedical research. The program objective is to place at least two students per year into a biomedical research graduate program at UMTC. These students will be established in the principals of investigative work, the scientific method, and appreciate the importance of research in minority health disparities.