NSF NC-LSAMP Bridge to the Doctorate Fellowship Program
The NC State Bridge to the Doctorate (BD) Fellowship Program goal is to increase the quantity of underrepresented students who complete doctoral degrees in all STEM majors (College of Science and College of Engineering) by addressing the factors that affect the pursuit, matriculation and completion of underrepresented students in STEM graduate programs. Fellows will be integrated into the campus community, engage in a suite of academic and research enhancement workshops, build a mentoring network and develop professional development and leadership skills to pursue research careers.
About
North Carolina Alliance of the Louis Stokes Alliance for Minority Participation (NC-LSAMP)
NC State University is one of eight UNC System institutions that is a member of the National Science Foundation (NSF) North Carolina Louis Stokes Alliance for Minority Participation (NC-LSAMP), which is led by North Carolina A&T State University. The purpose of NC-LSAMP is to (i) increase the number of underrepresented students with science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) bachelor’s degrees; (ii) promote retention and baccalaureate degree attainment in STEM academic programs; and (iii) increase the number of students who matriculate into STEM graduate programs.
Bridge to the Doctorate (BD) Fellowship
The BD Fellowship award supports 12 dedicated graduate students from domestic underrepresented minority backgrounds who are pursuing graduate studies in STEM programs at NC State University in the colleges of Engineering and Sciences.
Benefits and Features
- Stipend of $32,000 annually for first two years
- Tuition, fees and student health insurance waiver for first two years
- Continued funding at unit level for up to three additional years for qualified Ph.D. candidates
- Personalized mentoring
- Up to $4,000 travel funding for professional conferences
- Links to research and professional opportunities
- Enriched academic services and support
- Summer Orientation Program
- Academic and research enhancement
Another benefit is the caliber of our university and students. NC State is a powerhouse in STEM and a leader in agriculture, education, textiles, business and natural resources management. Our more than 33,000 undergraduate and graduate students learn by doing. They pursue original research and start new companies. They forge connections with top employers and serve local, state and global communities.
Eligibility
To be eligible for BD Fellowship consideration, you must meet the following criteria:
- U.S. citizen, U.S. national or permanent resident
- Traditionally underrepresented in STEM (African Americans, Hispanic Americans, American Indians, Alaska Natives, Native Hawaiians and Native Pacific Islanders)
- Attend a university that is a part of an LSAMP Alliance program
- Admitted to a graduate program at NC State
- Seeking to obtain Ph.D. in STEM degree program
- First graduate school experience
Programmatic Benefits of NC State’s BD Program
- The BD program at NC State is designed to support students through the critical first two years of graduate study.
- Fellows are welcomed to campus with an exciting summer orientation, which addresses the transition from undergraduate to graduate education and builds a community with other minority graduate student organizations.
- After completing the BD program, Fellows will be prepared and motivated to complete doctoral degrees and pursue careers.
| NC LSAMP BD Graduate Training Workshops | ||
|---|---|---|
| Semester | Year 1 | Year 2 |
| Summer | Orientation: Graduate expectations, time and study management, goal setting | Funding opportunities, proposal writing |
| Fall | Study strategies, research ethics, managing and maximizing your advising and mentoring experiences | Apply to NSF GRFP, networking, technical communication |
| Spring | Research design methods, data management, graduation milestones | Publishing, peer review process, internship opportunities |
NC State Special and Unique Opportunities for our Fellows
- Preparing the Professoriate (PTP) is a nationally recognized program designed to give exceptional doctoral students an immersive mentoring, teaching and future faculty preparation experience. It provides fellows with a hands-on teaching opportunity under the direction of a distinguished faculty mentor recognized for their teaching skills.
- Accelerate to Industry (A2i) is designed to accelerate a graduate student’s transition to industry. The A2i approach will support Fellows to make the academia-to-industry transition through a variety of modules that offer a range of training experiences. These modules will help secure industry jobs and to empower fellows to hit the ground running in the corporate environment by demonstrating key competencies that are not usually learned through graduate training.
Programs of Study
Students can focus in a number of STEM fields. Programs that are associated with the BD Fellowship include:
College of Engineering Graduate Degrees
- Aerospace
- Biological and Agricultural Engineering (College of Agriculture and Life Sciences)
- Biomedical Engineering
- Chemical Engineering
- Civil Engineering
- Computer Engineering
- Computer Science
- Electrical Engineering
- Environmental Engineering
- Forest Biomaterials (College of Natural Resources )
- Industrial and Systems Engineering
- Materials Science and Engineering
- Mechanical Engineering
- Nuclear Engineering
- Operations Research
College of Sciences Graduate Degrees
- Applied Mathematics
- Bioinformatics
- Biology
- Biomathematics
- Chemistry
- Climate Change and Society
- Financial Mathematics
- Functional Genomics
- Genetics
- Marine, Earth and Atmospheric Sciences
- Mathematics
- Operations Research
- Physics
- Statistics
- Toxicology
Raleigh, NC
NC State University is located in Raleigh, NC, a nationally recognized leading urban center:
- No. 2 easiest city to find a job (Forbes, 2015)
- No. 2 hot spot for tech jobs (Forbes, 2016)
- No. 3 best city for young professionals (Forbes, 2016)
- No. 13 best place to live (U.S. News & World Report)
- Best big city in the Southeast (Time, 2016)
With Durham and Chapel Hill, Raleigh anchors the Research Triangle, a national hotspot for high-tech enterprise. The top companies in the region — including IBM, Cisco Systems, SAS Institute, Biogen Idec and GlaxoSmithKline — are among the country’s best employers. They also lead the way in hiring new NC State graduates.
