The The Louis Stokes Alliances for Minority Participation (LSAMP) program assists universities and colleges in diversifying the STEM workforce through the development of highly competitive students from groups historically underrepresented in STEM disciplines: African-Americans, Alaska Natives, American Indians, Hispanic Americans, Native Hawaiians, and Native Pacific Islanders. The goal of the LSAMP Bridge to the Doctorate (BD) Activity is to increase the quantity and quality of STEM graduate students from underrepresented populations, with emphasis on Ph.D. matriculation and completion. BD programs implemented in the nation's institutions of higher education contribute to addressing one of the objectives in NSF's 2014-2018 Strategic Plan, namely to "integrate education and research to support development of a diverse STEM workforce with cutting-edge capabilities." Since national security and economic vitality of the United States require a highly trained domestic STEM workforce, institutions engaged in the most advanced levels of research and innovation must do their part to train tomorrow's leaders in STEM.
The University of Puerto Rico (Rio Piedras), lead institution for the Puerto Rico Louis Stokes Alliance for Minority Participation (PR-LSAMP), will administer its eleventh (11th) Bridge to the Doctorate (BD) Program during the 2016-2018 academic years. Implementation of the UPR-LSAMP 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 provides 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. 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 participate in a series of development activities that provides or facilitates 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 travel to and present at national and international scientific meetings and complete summer research internships at national and international partner research centers of PR EPSCoR and the Institute of Tropical Ecology (ITES). In addition, UPR's BD program implements activities that develop mentoring and teambuilding skills. The Role Model Seminar series brings 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.
