Chicago State-Northwestern MS-PhD Bridge to the Future

描述（由申请人提供）：西北大学（NU）和芝加哥州立大学（CSU）提议在芝加哥州立大学（CSU）开发一个生命科学硕士学位桥梁项目（BP），该项目将识别和录取来自芝加哥地区的高素质少数族裔学生，这些学生有能力、有抱负和勤奋攻读博士学位，但他们之前的学术资格不会使他们在高质量的博士课程中具有竞争力。该计划旨在提供学术技能，实验室培训和熟悉博士课程环境，使学生能够在西北大学（NU）或类似机构完成博士课程。拟议的项目将大大扩展CSU现有的生物学硕士项目，并具有新的特点：对生物化学和分子生物学的额外要求，在科罗拉多州立大学教授的以定量生物学为重点的特殊课程，以及在西北师范大学攻读博士课程所需的技能和学术背景，在西北师范大学攻读博士课程的核心课程，并在一个季度内参加实验室轮转，准备一篇研究论文发表并在全国会议上发表，认真指导学生，监督他们的进步，GRE准备，并分享科罗拉多州立大学现有少数民族项目的几个组成部分。成功的预测被认为是很好的，因为芝加哥大都市区有大量才华横溢的少数族裔学生，他们接受高等教育的愿望因经济限制而受挫，而且这个提议的项目是两所大学教职员工几年来互动的结果，在这段时间里，他们分析了目前攻读NU博士学位的少数族裔研究生的进展和需求科罗拉多州立大学的课程。此外，该项目将受益于外部顾问和评估人员的定期审查。

DESCRIPTION (provided by the applicant): Northwestern University (NU) and Chicago State University propose to develop a Master's degree bridge program (BP) at Chicago State University (CSU) in the life sciences that will identify and admit highly able under-represented minority students from the Chicago area who have the ability, aspiration and industry for the doctoral degree but whose prior academic qualifications would not otherwise make them competitive for quality PhD programs. The program is designed to provide the academic skills, laboratory training, and familiarity with the PhD program environment that will allow the students to complete, with distinction, doctoral programs at Northwestern University (NU) or similar institutions. The proposed program would substantially expand the existing MS program in biology at CSU with new features: additional requirements in biochemistry and molecular biology, special courses at CSU taught by NU faculty that will focus on quantitative biology and on the skills and academic background needed for success in the doctoral programs at NU, enrollment in PhD program core courses and participation in laboratory rotations during a quarter in residence at NU, preparation of a research thesis for publication and presentation at a national meeting, careful mentoring of students and monitoring of their progress, GRE preparation, and sharing of several components of existing minority programs at CSU. Prognosis for success is deemed excellent because of the large number of highly talented under-represented minority students in the Chicago metropolitan area whose aspirations for higher education are frustrated by financial constraints and because the proposed program is the culmination of several years of interactions between faculty members of the the two universities during which they have analyzed the progress and needs of current minority graduate students who have gone on to NU doctoral programs from CSU. In addition, the program will benefit from periodic scrutiny by external advisors and evaluators.