UT System LSAMP Bridge to the Doctorate Program (Cohort 2013-15)

德克萨斯大学系统路易斯·斯托克斯少数民族参与联盟（LSAMP）提议在德克萨斯大学埃尔帕索分校（该联盟的牵头机构，也是美国唯一一所墨西哥裔美国学生占多数的博士研究密集型机构）举办一个通往博士项目（BD）的桥梁。12名高素质的研究生研究员将获得全额资助，用于其研究生学习的头两年。这将增加来自代表性不足的少数民族（URM）群体的有才华的学生人数，他们将获得科学、技术、工程和数学（STEM）学科的博士学位，并在完成后进入学术界或加入技术队伍。基于从德克萨斯大学埃尔帕索分校和其他联盟机构的先前BD队列中收集的经验，该计划将包括以下关键组成部分：(1)该计划将针对LSAMP机构中具有本科研究经验的学生，这些学生将进入STEM学科的博士学位快速通道。(2)将在2013年秋季开始在UTEP进行研究生学习，并作为本科生参加LSAMP活动的高素质申请者将被广泛征集。(3)申请人将被仔细筛选；申请过程将包括大量的申请作品集，然后由项目管理员进行个人面试。(4)被BD项目录取的学生必须已经确定了一名教师导师和一个研究课题，或者在研究生的第一学期就确定了。(5)除全额资助外，研究员将获得高质量的建议和指导，以帮助他们实现学术目标，帮助他们克服攻读博士学位的障碍，并为他们成为知识渊博、胜任的专业人士做好准备。项目主任还将建议BD研究员准备一份全面的研究计划。(6)符合条件的BD研究员将通过NSF研究生奖学金计划、GEM奖学金计划等申请持续支持。建议的计划将导致加强URM研究生成功的成功策略，适用于与UTEP（城市研究型大学，URM入学率高）相似的其他高等教育机构。它还将有助于实现国家目标，即增加STEM学科中代表性不足的少数民族学生在其专业领域获得最终学位的人数。

The University of Texas System Louis Stokes Alliance for Minority Participation (LSAMP) proposes to host a Bridge to the Doctorate Program (BD) at the University of Texas at El Paso, the lead institution of the Alliance and the only doctoral research intensive institution in the US with a Mexican American student majority. Twelve highly qualified graduate fellows will be fully funded for the first two years of their graduate studies. This will increase the number of talented students from under-represented minority (URM) groups who will obtain doctoral degrees in the science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) disciplines, and upon completion either enter a career in academia or join the technical workforce.Building on the experience gathered from previous BD cohorts at the University of Texas at El Paso and other alliance institutions, the program will include the following critical components: (1) The program will target students at LSAMP institutions with prior undergraduate research experience who enroll in the fast track to the Ph.D. in a STEM discipline. (2) A wide pool of highly qualified applicants who have participated in LSAMP activities as undergraduates and who will begin their graduate studies at UTEP in the fall of 2013 will be solicited. (3) Applicants will be carefully screened; the application process will include a substantial application portfolio followed by personal interviews conducted by the program administrators. (4) Students accepted into the BD program will already have identified a faculty mentor and a research topic or will do so during their first semester as graduate students. (5) Besides full financial support, fellows will receive quality advising and mentoring to help them achieve their academic goals, to give them support in overcoming obstacles to the doctorate, and to prepare them to be knowledgeable and competent professionals. The program directors will also advise the BD fellows to prepare a comprehensive research plan. (6) Eligible BD fellows will apply for continuing support through the NSF Graduate Fellowship Program, the GEM Fellowship program, etc. The proposed program will lead to the enhancement of successful strategies for URM graduate student success that are applicable to other institutions of higher learning with characteristics similar to those of UTEP (urban research university, high proportion of URM enrollment). It will also contribute to the national goal of increasing the number of under-represented minority students in STEM disciplines with terminal degrees in their area of expertise.