National Institutes of Health
Los Angeles Basin Bridges to the PhD (LABB_PhD)
A Partnership between
California State University, Los Angeles
and USC, UCLA, and UC Irvine
LABB-PhD GRADUATE RESEARCH ASSISTANTSHIP California State University, Los Angeles is accepting applications for two-year graduate research assistantship positions in the new Los Angeles Basin Bridges to the PhD Program. The program is supported by a grant from the National Institute of General Medical Sciences, National Institutes of Health. Applications for admission to the program, presently able to accommodate six students, are invited from regularly admitted Master's students, and those presently applying, in the Departments of Chemistry & Biochemistry and Biology & Microbiology.
Objectives of the Program
The aim is to increase the number of PhD researchers among the vast pool of untapped, underrepresented talent in the Los Angeles area. The program extends to the graduate level CSLA's efforts to further its role as a prime national source of well-trained minority biomedical scientists and complements existing transitional and undergraduate training programs with similar objectives.
Previous CSLA students in other programs, both at the graduate and undergraduate levels, have gone on to PhD programs at major research universities nationwide, including the three campuses associated with the LABB_PhD Program.
Program Description
Cal State LA, USC, UCLA and UC Irvine offer a cooperative program leading to the MS degree at CSLA and the PhD degree at either of the other three schools. Students are admitted to the MS program at CSLA and simultaneously conditionally admitted to the PhD program of their choice at either of the cooperating institutions. On admission to the program, the Graduate Students are integrated into active research groups under the direction of the training faculty. The student selects his/her own research adviser at CSLA, and the nature and scope of the research project are arranged to suit the student's level and interests via consultation between the adviser and the student. All of the Cal State LA faculty members involved in the program are engaged in biomedical research, and normally the project selected by the student will lie in the general area of the adviser's current research interests. Also upon admission, the student chooses a co-mentor at the PhD-granting institution whose research interests will roughly coincide with those of the primary advisor. Through this co-mentor, the student will be exposed to the research environment of the doctoral institution by conducting research in the co-mentor's laboratory in the summer. Following completion of the MS program with a strong achievement level, the student is guaranteed admission to the PhD institution for their doctoral studies, with financial support.
A salary of $15,000 per year and fringe benefits for each Graduate Student is provided. In addition, the program provides: (l) payment of student registration fees; (2) $2,500 per year for research supplies, and (3) a travel allowance for students to attend scientific meetings to present research papers.
A participant's tenure in the program is a maximum of 2 years.
Research Training Faculty
Twenty-five laboratories under the direction of the training faculty are available for the conduct of research. A list of these research principal investigators and a brief description of their research interests is given at Research Training Faculty. These faculty members are among the best teacher-scholars at the University. If you are looking for a research group to join, make appointments to talk to several faculty members before you choose a laboratory. You should also talk to some of the students in each research group you are interested in joining.
Graduate Student Research Assistantship Selection
Interested students will be required to submit an application form and two letters of recommendation from science faculty. The following criteria will be used in selections:
(l) Majors in the broad biomedical sciences (chemistry, biochemistry, biology, microbiology, and related fields).
(2) Admission to the Master's program in either the Department of Chemistry & Biochemistry or the Department of Biology & Microbiology.
(3) Demonstration of a determination to enter graduate programs leading to the Ph.D. in biomedical science.
(4) Compliance with the national goals of the NIH-Bridges to the Future Program
and the Cal State LA Los Angeles Basin Bridges to the PhD Program completed application.