South Texas Doctoral Bridge Program

描述（由申请人提供）：德克萨斯大学健康科学中心在圣安东尼奥（UTHSCSA）和它的合作伙伴在这个桥梁博士学位课程申请，得克萨斯州立大学圣马科斯（TxState）位于南德克萨斯州，一个地区的70%的人口被指定为代表性不足的少数民族（URM）人口的成员。这两个机构被指定为西班牙裔服务机构，并积极支持和促进各种外展计划，针对URM学生在南德克萨斯州。UTHSCSA，博士-授予机构和TxState，硕士学位授予机构（一个主要的本科院校，只提供数量有限的研究生课程）建议建立南得克萨斯州博士桥梁计划（STDBP），合作伙伴关系，旨在提供一个机会，合格的URM学生，谁是有能力，但往往没有充分准备，以提高他们的学术竞争力和准备进入，并取得顶级博士学位程序.主要目标是通过利用南德克萨斯州大量的URM人口，增加获得博士学位毕业并从事生物医学研究职业的URM学生数量。这一目标将通过以下具体目标来实现：（1）增加URM学生完成基于论文的MS的数量。在TxState的学位，并准备进入强大的博士课程录取; 2.）提高TxState Bridge学者的竞争力，并获得进入强大的博士课程，如UTHSCSA的IMGP的能力。这些目标将通过一系列的计划活动，结合研究经验，由专门的教师导师和TxState的改进课程提供，涉及批判性思维和实验设计，期刊俱乐部，指导，研讨会和研究生教师和学生在UTHSCSA的持续互动严格的教学课程。桥梁学者预计的广泛成果包括：1。M.S.生物化学/化学学位，经过一段时间的研究生课程和高质量和重要的论文研究; 2.）GRE考试的竞争力分数，以提高接受到强大的博士课程的机会; 3。参与各种重要的研究经验，并获得必要的写作和口头陈述技能，以交流这些经验的结果，例如在国家科学会议上以论文、平台/海报展示的形式，以及在同行评审的期刊文章中共同撰写; 4）持续的咨询，培养和指导支持（通过不断接触到同行URM学生，STDBP校友和成功的URM教师在UTHSCSA和会议），以建立必要的信心，在研究生院取得成功，并最终在生物医学研究事业。我们预计，总体而言，STDBP的各种元素将使高度积极的URM学生在TxState的MS的桥梁。进入UTHSCSA博士课程或其他一流的博士课程，确保他们在未来的博士研究和生物医学研究事业的成功。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): The University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio (UTHSCSA) and its partner in this Bridge-to the-Doctorate Program application, Texas State University-San Marcos (TxState) are located in South Texas, a region with 70% of its population designated as members of underrepresented minority (URM) populations. Both institutions are designated Hispanic-Serving Institutions and actively support and promote various outreach programs targeting URM students within South Texas. UTHSCSA, a Ph.D.-granting institution and TxState, the master's degree-granting institution (a predominantly undergraduate institution that offers only a limited number of graduate courses) propose to establish the South Texas Doctoral Bridge Program (STDBP), a cooperative partnership that aims to provide an opportunity to qualified URM students, who are capable but often not adequately prepared, to increase their academic competitiveness and preparedness for entry into, and success in top-tier Ph.D. programs. The principal goal is to increase the number of URM students that graduate with doctoral degrees and pursue biomedical research careers, by capitalizing on the substantial URM population in South Texas. This goal will be accomplished through the following Specific Aims: 1.) Increase the number of URM students completing thesis-based M.S. degrees at TxState and ready to matriculate into strong doctoral programs; 2.) Enhance the capability of the TxState Bridge Scholars to be competitive for, and gain admission into strong doctoral programs, such as the IMGP at UTHSCSA. These aims will be achieved through a series of programmatic activities, in conjunction with research experiences to be provided by dedicated faculty mentors and a revamped curriculum at TxState, that involve rigorous didactic coursework in critical thinking and experimental design, journal clubs, mentoring, workshops and continuous interactions with graduate faculty and students at UTHSCSA. Broad outcomes projected for Bridge Scholars include: 1.) M.S. degree in biochemistry/chemistry following a period of graduate coursework and high quality and significant thesis research; 2.) Competitive scores on the GRE to enhance chances of acceptance into strong doctoral programs; 3.) Participation in varied and significant research experiences and acquisition of writing and oral presentation skills necessary to communicate results of those experiences, e.g. in form of theses, platform/poster presentations at national scientific meetings and co-authorship in peer-reviewed journal articles; 4.) Continuous counseling, nurturing and mentoring support (via continuous exposure to peer URM students, STDBP alumni and successful URM faculty at UTHSCSA and at conferences) in order to build confidence necessary for success in graduate school and ultimately in biomedical research careers. We anticipate that, overall, the various elements of the STDBP will enable bridging of highly motivated URM students in TxState's M.S. program into the UTHSCSA Ph.D. or other first-rate Ph.D programs, ensuring their success in future doctoral studies and biomedical research careers.