(Taken from the Application) Continued support is sought for the Bioengineering Graduate Training Program at the University of California at San Francisco and the University of California at Berkeley. This unique program draws on the expertise in engineering, science, and health-sciences of two world-class campuses to educate bioengineering students through the Joint UCSF-UCB Graduate Group, an official degree-granting program of the University. The students in this program acquire proficiency in both engineering and biomedical sciences by taking courses and working with faculty on both campuses. Students conduct their doctoral research on either campus under the mentorship of Graduate Group members who are drawn from both campuses. These unique opportunities attract the top students from the USA and around the world who are intrigued by both the opportunity to work with top researchers, as well as the diversity of research and courses offered at the two institutions. The Bioengineering Training Program is now in its sixteenth year, and the NIH-supported Training Grant, which is in its fifteenth year, has been a major factor in the program?s success. In the past five years, we have graduated 22 Ph.D.?s, who are all successfully continuing their careers in academia, industry, and national laboratories. There are currently 59 graduate students in the program. Of these, 9 are supported by the current training grant, which is used primarily to support first and second year students. Because of the number of faculty and diversity of research areas, early support is critical for students to take classes, select a research area, and find a research mentor. The training grant provides the only source whereby the program can guarantee this two-year support package, which allows the flexibility that the entering students require. Other university fellowships guarantee only one year of support. Thus, the NIH-funded training grant provides a critical foundation and stability to the Bioengineering program and its students. Unfortunately, every year we must turn away exceptionally qualified candidates, since we can accept less than 10% of our applicants. Because of the quality and success of its students, the Graduate Training Program has been allowed additional slots to expand to 100 students. To help support these additional students, we request a modest increase in the number of NIH-funded training slots from 9 to 15. This goal is consistent with the size, the stature, and the opportunities provided to the students by the excellent extramural funding of the Joint Graduate Group faculty.
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