FGLSAMP@FIU Bridge to the Doctorate 2013

Florida Agricultural And Mechanical University, Tallahassee FL

Investigators

Abstract

The Florida Georgia Louis Stokes Alliance for Minority Participation (FGLSAMP) seeks to establish a 2013-2015 Bridge to the Doctorate site at Florida International University (FIU). The primary objective of the FIU BD will be to increase the number of LSAMP graduates who obtain STEM doctoral degrees, and successfully transition them into post-graduate careers in industry, government, or academia. The goal of the FIU BD is to produce 17 STEM PhDs within the next 5-7 years from this cohort, and develop a critical mass of minority graduate students to impact the national graduation of minority PhD trained scientists and engineers as a whole. The FIU Bridge to the Doctorate project will build upon the proven best practices of nine previous cohorts within the Alliance that have graduated 30 PhD students since the first FGLSAMP BD cohort in 2003. We propose a multi-faceted, student-centered initiative that will leverage FGLSAMP past successes while leveraging resources from external partners (Florida Education Fund's McKnight Doctoral Fellowship Program), national labs (Brookhaven, Naval Research Laboratory, etc.), other signature NSF programs (CREST, NERC, ASSIST, PIRE, etc.) and institutional investments at FIU. Through the implementation of FGLSAMP academic intervention strategies that have previously fostered high levels of achievement among graduate students and served as a model throughout the larger LSAMP community, FIU will be well positioned to become a national leader in the annual production of minority PhD graduates in STEM. It is anticipated that the combined activities of this integrated research-education program will have transformative impact toward increasing the pipeline of the next generation of minority scientists and engineers.