LSAMP Bridge to the Doctorate

Jackson State University, Jackson MS

Investigators

Abstract

Bridge to the Doctorate: Mississippi-LSAMP, Cohort 15 The Louis Stokes Mississippi Alliance for Minority Participation (LSMAMP) Bridge to the Doctorate (BD) program is a program that is committed and determined to aggressively answer the call for increasing the number of underrepresented minority PhD recipients in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM). The continued success of our LSMAMP-BD program is based upon the premise that the provision of adequate financial support for participants throughout their MS degree matriculation and purposeful mentoring will increase the likelihood that the BD Fellows will bridge to and complete doctoral studies. Funding for Cohort Fifteen (15) will provide the necessary resources to support an additional 12 BD Fellows to bridge to their STEM PhD program. The vision of the LSMAMP-BD program is to train BD Fellows who go beyond just gathering information and knowledge to applying that knowledge in innovative ways and contributing to the diversity of culture and ideas necessary for making innovative discoveries. The Louis Stokes Mississippi Alliance for Minority Participation (LSMAMP), led by Jackson State University (JSU), will support Cohort 15 of the Bridge to the Doctorate. The goal of the LSMAMP Bridge to the Doctorate (BD) program focuses on increasing the quality and quantity of underrepresented minorities (URM) earning MS degrees in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM), and bridging to PhD programs to pursue and earn PhDs in a STEM discipline. This goal is consistent with the vision of NSF. These students ultimately enter the workforce and contribute to the growth of the US economy. The LSMAMP-BD is privileged to make significant contributions in assisting the NSF in its goals of creating an inclusive workforce which is diverse in talent, skills, and in experience. This has been accomplished through the creation and utilization of a comprehensive program that develops a Cohort of BD Fellows to not only complete their MS degree requirements, but also the PhD. Furthermore, through the continual use of our "best practices" and "lessons learned," our BD program takes advantage of a two-pronged approach that combines rigorous training in the laboratory with compassionate and firm mentoring from research advisors and the BD Program's Principal Investigator and Director. Also, mentoring from invited experts, seminars, speaker series, journal club, and participation in scientific conferences contribute to the effectiveness and graduation of our students. Faculty who mentor our BD Fellows have external funding and they are actively engaged in research activities that boosts our student's readiness for PhD programs. Equally, our students are exposed to soft skills such as scientific writing, public speaking, creativity, innovation, determination, patience, confidence, focus, and adaptability. These qualities are more complex and challenging to quantify and develop in a laboratory or an environment that may not be inclusive. The LSMAMP-BD Program specializes in developing the "hard" and "soft" skills of our BD Fellows and at the same time takes advantage of the cohort concept of student engagement and development by creating a climate of community for all participants. This project is jointly funded by the Louis Stokes Alliances for Minority Participation (LSAMP) program and the Established Program to Stimulate Competitive Research (EPSCoR). This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.