The application submitted by Dr. Julian E. Thomas, Tuskegee University, requests support of a """"""""Bridges"""""""" program between Tuskegee and Michigan State University.The long term objective of the proposed program is to increase the number of Tuskegee M.S. and B.S. graduates who enter biomedical research careers. To accomplish this long-term objective, support is requested for two years in the excess of $565,000. The project proposes to reinforce and expand Tuskegee's undergraduate and graduate instruction in biology and chemistry with the aid of faculty exchanges and videotaped lectures created expressly for interactive courses and audiographic conferences. In addition, it also intends to provide continuous laboratory research training through personal collaborations between Tuskegee and Michigan State University faculty again assisted by audiographic conferences. Further, it plans to increase laboratory mentoring by research faculty, in part by relieving them of overburdens in routine advising and to assure that M.S. and B.S. graduates of Tuskegee's Biology and Chemistry degree programs have completed the laboratory and academic work required for highest probability of success in Ph.D. programs and subsequent competitive research careers.
