Bridge to the Doctorate at University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

项目摘要 历史上，少数种族和少数民族以及妇女在数量科学领域的代表性不足。甚至 在生物学中，数量分支的多样性远低于实验分支， 历史数据清楚地表明，一门学科需要的数学和计算技能越多， 减少这些代表性不足的学生的入学人数。拟议的培训计划旨在改善 通过建立一个流线型的桥梁， 在菲斯克大学的硕士课程和伊利诺伊大学厄巴纳分校的博士课程之间- 尚潘（UIUC）。我们的桥梁计划旨在培养多样化的未来一代活跃的头脑 特别是在生物医学数据科学和定量生物学领域，被命名为FUTURE-MINDS-QB（菲斯克- 数据科学和定量生物学中代表性不足的头脑的UIUC培训），其中定量 生物学包括生物信息学、计算生物学、基因组生物学和生物物理学。本次培训 该计划将大大有助于多样化的博士池。研究人员包括那些目前在- 代表了生物医学的发现和领导 为达致这个目标，我们会在短期及中期内， 20个菲斯克多发性硬化症患者学生到UIUC博士五年多来， 有机会加强他们在相关领域的背景，并获得核心计算和数学 技能组合;（B）确保受训者及时获得博士学位。在硕士学位后5年内实现;（c）加速 攻读博士学位并完成学业创建一个新的4+1 M.S.在菲斯克赛道上严格准备 本科生缩短1年硕士学位在菲斯克和成功完成博士学位。在UIUC; (d)通过培养学生和教师的平等，创造一个包容和多样化的机构间环境， 专注的教学，指导，同伴互动，严谨，可重复性和负责任的研究行为; (e)制定有效的职业发展计划和机会;（f）对 发展个别受训人员，并传播现有受训人员，毕业生和教师的开放网络; 以及（g）使FUTURE-MINDS-QB成为一个动态实体，通过整合来自 学员，教师，监督委员会和独立评估员。作为我们培训的成果，我们希望 我们无缝的基础设施和吸引人的包容性环境将大大增加招聘， 代表性不足的学生，以定量生物医学科学和加强学术和 心理准备将增加完成博士学位的代表性不足的学生， 最终提高他们在生物医学科学中的长期保留率。因此，我们希望未来的头脑-QB 为培养代表性不足的研究生建立示范基础并进行持久的 科学和社会经济影响源于他们在职业生涯中的坚持和领导力。

PROJECT SUMMARY Racial and ethnic minorities and women have been historically under-represented in quantitative sciences. Even within biology, diversity in quantitative sub-branches is much lower than that in experimental counterparts, with the historical data clearly showing that the more mathematical and computational skills a discipline requires, the fewer the enrollment of these under-represented students. The proposed training program seeks to ameliorate these especially pronounced disparities with the biomedical sciences by establishing a streamlined bridge between Master’s programs at Fisk University and doctoral programs at the University of Illinois, Urbana- Champaign (UIUC). Our bridge program designed to nurture a diverse future generation of active minds specifically in the areas of biomedical data science and quantitative biology is named FUTURE-MINDS-QB (Fisk- UIUC Training of Under-represented Minds in Data Science and Quantitative Biology), where quantitative biology encompasses bioinformatics, computational biology, genomic biology, and biophysics. This training program will significantly contribute to diversifying the pool of Ph.D. researchers to include those currently under- represented in biomedical discovery and leadership To achieve our goal, we will accomplish the following short-term and medium-term objectives: (a) establish pathways for transitioning 20 Fisk M.S. students to UIUC Ph.D. programs over five years by providing ample opportunities to strengthen their background in relevant fields and acquire core computational and mathematical skill sets; (b) ensure the trainees’ timely Ph.D. attainment within 5 years after Master’s degree; (c) accelerate the admission to and completion of Ph.D. programs by creating a new 4+1 M.S. track at Fisk, rigorously preparing undergraduates for a shortened 1-year M.S degree at Fisk and successful completion of a Ph.D. degree at UIUC; (d) create an inclusive and diverse inter-institutional environment by training both students and faculty in equity- focused teaching, mentoring, peer interactions, rigor, reproducibility, and the responsible conduct of research; (e) devise effective career development plans and opportunities; (f) implement a longitudinal survey of the development of individual trainees, and disseminate an open network of current trainees, graduates, and faculty; and, (g) make FUTURE-MINDS-QB a dynamic entity that continually improves by integrating feedback from trainees, faculty, oversight committees, and independent evaluators. As outcomes of our training, we expect that our seamless infrastructure and appealing inclusive environment will significantly increase the recruitment of under-represented students to quantitative biomedical sciences and that the reinforced academic and psychological preparation will increase the completion of doctoral degrees by under-represented students and ultimately improve their long-term retention in biomedical sciences. We thus expect FUTURE-MINDS-QB to establish an exemplary foundation for training under-represented graduate students and have a long-lasting scientific and socioeconomic impact stemming from their persistence and leadership in their careers.