The University of Puerto Rico (Rio Piedras), lead institution for the Louis Stokes Alliance for Minority Participation (PR-LSAMP), will administer its tenth (10th) Bridge to the Doctorate (BD) Program. The current UPR BD Program occurs in the context of the important and significant contributions of the UPR system STEM undergraduate programs. Sixteen percent of the Hispanic doctorate recipients in Science and Mathematics, and twenty percent of the Hispanic doctorate recipients in Engineering during the period 2005-2010 in the United States received their bachelor's degrees from a PR-LSAMP member institution. The economic strength of the United States, its ability to remain competitive in a global economy, and the sense of social health in American society is reliant on the successful incorporation of every ethnicity in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) fields. The capability of the nation for innovation and competitiveness depends on its ability to recruit and retain the best talent across racial and socioeconomic groups. The implementation of the UPR BD Activity develops a highly competitive STEM education and research enterprise required to advance Puerto Rico's economic development and meets the national need for diverse STEM professionals.
UPR's BD program will provide multidisciplinary training in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) disciplines at the Ph.D. level to enable a seamless transition from the STEM baccalaureate degree to STEM graduate studies. Twelve students who received STEM baccalaureate degrees from PR-LSAMP institutions or from mainland LSAMP institutions will be selected and supported as BD Fellows at the University of Puerto Rico, Rio Piedras campus. The program will continue to coordinate its activities with other NSF-funded projects that are managed by the Resource Center for Science and Engineering (RCSE) and by pertinent UPR graduate programs. The activities implemented will increase the number of Puerto Rican STEM undergraduate students who apply and are admitted to STEM PhD programs, and increase the number of these students who obtain STEM doctoral degrees. The total number of BD Fellows supported by PR-LSAMP since its inception would increase to 118. BD Fellows will participate in a series of development activities that will be provided or facilitated by the BD Program including: scientific seminars on interdisciplinary or frontier research topics; seminars in ethics of science; and workshops to develop scientific research skills as well as written and oral communication skills. Fellows will be encouraged to travel to and present at national and international scientific meetings and to complete a summer research internship at national and international partner research centers of PR EPSCoR and the Institute of Tropical Ecology (ITES). In addition, UPR's BD program will implement activities that develop mentoring and teambuilding skills. The Role Model Seminar series will bring the BD Fellows into contact with successful nationally and internationally recognized researchers thereby creating a mentoring environment that further equips the Fellows to fruitfully incorporate themselves into the greater research/industrial community.
