Alcorn State University: Penn State University Bridges to the Doctorate Program

描述(申请人提供)：美国经济的持续增长将严重依赖于一批经过科学培训的工人。目前的预测表明，学生对科学和工程的参与度正在下降。然而，存在着在这些领域传统上代表性不足的学生群体，即少数族裔学生。大力招收和培训这类学生可能会增加这些群体在科学和工程领域的代表性，还将增加美国受过科学培训的工人的数量和人才库。目前增加传统上不在科学领域任职的群体参与的努力包括旨在增加这类学生的招生和为进入研究生院做准备的活动。然而，在留住这类学生方面几乎没有做出什么努力。这项计划的目标是实施宾夕法尼亚州立大学和阿尔康州立大学之间的一个项目，准备并更重要的是留住在美国生物医学科学领域传统上代表性较低的学生。为了实现这一目标，这项申请的目标是开发一个全面的项目，有效地增加精选阿尔康州立大学学生的培训机会和技能，增加他们为严苛的研究生院做准备，增加阿尔康州立大学精选教师的研究机会。我们的理由是，更有效的准备和保留战略将导致传统上在生物医学科学中代表性不足的少数族裔学生数量增加。我们有两个具体目标：1)招聘阿尔康州立大学精选的生物科学硕士学位项目学生，参加阿尔康州立大学和宾夕法尼亚州立大学的布里奇斯项目；2)促进阿尔康州立大学和宾夕法尼亚州立大学之间的教师交流，以更新研究技能，提高阿尔康州立大学教师的研究广度。使用旨在加强少数族裔学生在研究生院留住的一系列战略，我们预计这将使更多的学生从阿尔科恩州立大学的硕士项目过渡到博士项目，特别是在宾夕法尼亚州立大学。更重要的是，我们预计这些努力将导致传统上在生物医学科学领域代表性较低的学生更多地保留和接受博士学位。这将对美国受过科学培训的工人队伍的增加产生重大影响，这些人可以为持续的研究和开发做出贡献。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): Continued economic growth in the U.S. will be critically dependent on a pool of scientifically trained workers. Current predictions suggest that student participation in science and engineering is decreasing. However, there exist of pool of students that have traditionally been underrepresented in these fields, minority students. Significant efforts to recruit and train such students could lead to increased representation of these groups in science and engineering, and will also increase the number and pool of scientifically trained workers in the U.S. Current efforts to increased participation of groups traditionally not represented in science include activities that aim at increasing recruitment and preparation of such students for graduate school entrance. However, little effort has been made in retention of such students. The goal of this proposal is to implement a program between The Pennsylvania State University and Alcorn State University, to prepare and more importantly, retain students traditionally underrepresented in biomedical sciences in the U.S. In pursuit of that goal, the objective of this application is to develop a comprehensive program that effectively increases the training opportunities and skill set of select Alcorn State University students, increasing their preparation for the rigors of graduate school, enhancing the research opportunities of select faculty at Alcorn State. Our rationale is that more effective preparation and retention strategies will lead to increased numbers of minority students who are traditionally underrepresented in the biomedical sciences. We have two specific objectives: 1) Recruitment of select Biological Sciences Masters degree program students at Alcorn State University to participate in the Bridges program at Alcorn State and Penn State, and 2) facilitate faculty exchanges between Alcorn State and Penn State in order to update research skills and enhance research breadth of faculty at Alcorn State. Using a combination of strategies designed to enhance retention of minority students in graduate school, we expect that to attain increased numbers of students transitioning from the Masters program at Alcorn State into PhD programs, particularly at Penn State. More importantly, we expect that these efforts will result in increased retention and receipt of PhD by students traditionally underrepresented in biomedical sciences. This will have a significant impact on the increase in the pool of scientifically trained workers in the U.S. who can contribute to continued research and development.