Hi, Dr. Bell.

Thank you for your question.

The Bridge to the Doctorate at UIC (BD at UIC) Summer Institute is the the vehicle used to facilitate transition of the incoming BD Fellows. The institute runs from mid June to just before the start of the fall term in August. The Fellows are interacting with faculty mentors in their respective academic departments (ALL STEM at UIC included) through initial development of an individual development plan (IDP-updated each semester through graduation), research lab rotations and short course offerings. Followup is ongoing from their arrival in summer to graduation, well after the 2-year funding period. Academic and professional support supplement mentor activities. it must be noted that the BD at UIC is the graduate wing of the Illinois LSAMP. Without their guidance and support the BD at UIC would not be possible.

Hi, Dr. Labov.

Thank you very much for your thoughtful comments and questions!

I will answer in the order asked:

1. The Louis Stokes Alliance for Minority Participation (LSAMP) has been around since the early 90s! The best resource for national information can be found at http://lsmrce.org. This is the website of the Louis Sokes Midwest Regional Center of Excellence. They are specifically charged with the dissemination of information about all things LSAMP!. On that website visitors will find background/historical information about LSAMP, Alliance locations and membership, BD locations and contact information, in addition to a plethora of resources and information for faculty and students alike. A solid source of LSAMP info to be sure.

2. The LSAMP and BD awards search page on tlhe National Science Foundation website (http://nsf.gov/awardsearch) provides links to all LSAMP awardees. Each link routes visitors to the abstracts for each project awarded including alliance and BD awards. There are more than 50 alliances from as far west as Hawaii and as far east as Puerto Rico. I am a proponent for the application of a "good fit"methodology for any student pursuing a STEM doctoral degree. Each BD project/institution has its own strengths and I would strongly encourage aspiring STEM scientists to reach out to any and all BD programs to determine if their academic program offerings, learning environment, etc meet that "good fit" criteria. We are, at the end of the day, seeking to Broaden Participation in STEM.

3. The specific emphasis and graduate academic level of the fellows is determined by each respective Bridge to the Doctorate program. The National Science Foundation awards support to approximately 12 BD programs annually across the country. Some are masters programs, some are doctoral programs  and some are hybrids. Funding support is at the level of $1,075,000 to fund 12 fellows for 2 years. The BD at UIC was one of the 1st ALL STEM PhD Bridge to the Doctorate programs, resulting in a 100% rate of students enrolled in PhD programs. Our goal was to provide a true bridge to the PhD.

To date BD at UIC Fellows' academic disciplines have included: Anatomy & Cell Biology, Biochemistry & Molecular Genetics, Bio-engineering, Chemical Engineering, Chemistry (Analytical, General, & Organic), Civil & Materials Engineering, Electrical Engineering & Computer Science, Mathematics, Statistics & Computer Science, Mechanical Engineering, Medicinal Chemistry & Pharmacognosy, Microbiology & Immunology, Pathology, Pharmacology, Physics, Physiology & Biophysics.

4.The aspiring independent scientists come from all over the country! Our 64 BD at UIC Fellows have hailed from 19 separate regional LSAMP alliances. The subjects in our video: Dr. Geovannie Ojeda Torres, UIC PhD class of 2015. His field is analytical chemistry and his undergraduate institution was the University of Puerto Rico - Rio Piedras; Dr. Thessicar Antoine-Reid UIC PhD class of 2014. Her field is microbiology and immunology. Dr. Antoine-Reid earned her baccalaureate degree in biology from Oakwood University in Alabama. By the way, Dr. Antoine-Reid completed her PhD studies in 4.5 years with 11 publications!; BD at UIC alum and Chemical Engineering PhD candidate Deisy Arrington is currently doing collaborative international research at the University of Bordeaux (France) and will return to the United States with a dissertation chapter and publishable results.

We would be happy to answer any questions. Best contacts are Denise Yates (BD at UIC Director and Site Coordinator) at dyates@uic.edu , Dr. William Walden (Professor, Microbiology & Immunology and BD at UIC Executive Directro) at wwalden@edu or Dr. Christopher Botanga (Illinois LSAMP Project Director at lead institution Chicago State University) at cbotanga@csu.edu.

5.  in the spirit of broadening participation in STEM and toward increasing the number of persons entering STEM PhD programs, STEM PhDs earned and persons entering the STEM workforce BD at UIC is very proud of the following: of the 64 fellows funded by the program all 64 entered PhD programs. To date there have been 30 earned PhD degrees, 9 earned Masters degrees, 21 remain in PhD study. 4 students left the program prior to earning any degree and of those 2 were dropped from their academic programs for lack of academic progress. Of the 30 earned PhDs: 27 have entered STEM-related careers. The remaining 3 are iin the process of identifying the best placement match to start the next chapter in their career.

For those looking for the LSAMP information, please visit the pilot project website: http://lsmce.org 

We have launched the new LSMRCE website (just funded in Sept 2018) and the site is under development. 

Hi, Ms. Quirke.

Thank you for your comment!

Please keep up the referrals to your students and provide our contact information so that we can answer any questions about the graduate school experience at UIC or anywhere they desire to go. Although we clearly want students to consider UIC we offer encouragement  to find the best possi le educational match for themselves.

Hi, Judith 

Thank you for your comments and questions.

Our IDP is actually comprised of a long form completed by the students providing a self-assessment of  their research and academic skills.  There is a short form checklist completed by the faculty mentor. The checklist lists skills along with skill mastery expectations. Mentor and student discuss to merge input toward development of initial IDP.  Joint update required each semester through graduation.

Summer  institute courses have included technical writing, critical thinking skills development, mathematics for science review, short courses in respective disciplines to introduce students to doctoral level lecture, examination and performance expectations, intoduction to library resources, and introduction to department of grants and contracts database and proposal development resources.