The BRIDGE Program
The NCCU-WFU Biomedical Sciences BRIDGE Partnership is a Bridges to the Future initiative for the training of M.S. students in the Department of Biology at North Carolina Central University (NCCU) to continue in their Ph.D. training at Wake Forest University (WFU). The goal of the program is to motivate, train, and challenge underrepresented minority students to obtain Ph.D. degrees in order to promote diversity and to overcome disparities in the biomedical sciences.
Graduate Assistantship
Participants in the BRIDGE Program will receive annual compensation of $15,000 to be distributed in twelve monthly installments. Students will also receive health insurance and tuition remission for a total of 30 credit hours toward the M.S. at NCCU. Students who successfully complete the M.S. degree and matriculate in the WFU Ph.D. program will receive the graduate assistantship package being offered at the time of enrollment.
Work Schedule
Each NCCU-WFU Biomedical BRIDGE Graduate Assistant is expected to be affiliated with a NCCU-WFU BRIDGE faculty member's or by arrangement, an NCCU faculty member's laboratory. Students are expected to be in the research laboratory when not attending class. No other employment is permitted while the student is receiving funding from the NCCU-WFU Biomedical BRIDGE Program. Graduate Assistants are expected to spend 15 hrs/week during the Fall/Spring semester and 40 hrs/week in the summer conducting research. Graduate Assistants are also required to attend seminars/lectures and weekly journal club meetings.
Evaluation
NCCU-WFU Biomedical BRIDGE Graduate Assistants will be expected to prepare a laboratory or literature search report after each semester and after the summer. This report will constitute the progress report on the project, and will be approved by the research advisor and kept on file in the Education and Training Office.
Professional Scientific Meetings
NCCU-WFU Biomedical BRIDGE Graduate Assistants will be eligible to attend one scientific meeting per year to report their research findings.
Maintaining the Fellowship
In order to continue the NCCU-WFU Biomedical BRIDGE Graduate Assistantship, students must remain in good academic standing with a 3.0 GPA. Continuation of the graduate assistantship will be contingent upon academic performance, laboratory research performance, conduct becoming of a professional, and satisfactory progress towards the degree program.
Coursework and the JLC-BBRI Seminar Series
NCCU-WFU Biomedical BRIDGE Students will adhere to all requirements to fulfill the M.S. degree in Biology at NCCU. In addition:
The NCCU-WFU Biomedical BRIDGE Program accepts applications 3 times a year:
A completed application should contain:
The completed Application Packet should be returned to:
Office of Education and Training
NCCU
JLC-BBRI
700 George Street
Durham , NC 27707