: The Graduate Center of the City University of New York (GC/CUNY) administers all of the doctoral degrees for a consortium of 21 educational institutions. With a view to increasing minority representation among students in the biomedical sciences, we submit this Competing Continuation Application to build a Bridge to the Doctorate. Through this Competing Continuation Application GC/CUNY will continue the consortial partnership with five CUNY master's institutions (Brooklyn, City, Hunter, Lehman, Queens Colleges) and will add a sixth (The College of Staten Island) in order to a) increase the numbers of African-American/Latino students attracted to doctoral programs leading to careers in biomedical sciences, b) facilitate their acceptance into doctoral programs, and c) provide academic and financial support to make matriculation feasible. Faculty from eight doctoral programs (Biology, Biochemistry, Chemistry, Computer Science, Earth and Environmental Sciences, Physics, Psychology, Speech and Hearing Sciences) have prepared a format to meet these goals and accept into the doctoral programs talented minority students selected from the master's programs at partner colleges. An Advisory Committee, consisting of a program coordinator from each campus and doctoral program executive officers (chairs), will select students and provide regular evaluation of student progress. There are three program components: CUNY Outreach (recruitment of students), Bridge Activities (faculty and peer mentoring, scientific research, professional development), and Bridge Support Services (tuition, travel, equipment, supplies, wages for lab work). This CUNY Graduate Center Competing Continuation Application offers considerable in-kind contributions, which indicate the University's commitment to institutionalization, extension and dissemination.
