# Bridges to the Baccalaureate Research Training Program at University of California, Riverside

> **NIH NIH T34** · UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA RIVERSIDE · 2023 · $291,261

## Abstract

The University of California Riverside (UCR) and Riverside City College (RCC) propose to create a
Bridges to the Baccalaureate (B2B) research education program to facilitate transfer of
community college students into university biomedical and behavioral science majors, with the
ultimate goal of increasing participation of underrepresented in medicine and science (URiMS)
groups in research-oriented careers in these areas. Many URiMS students have less access to
high quality science instruction, resources and enriching opportunities at all stages of public
education. African-Americans, Chicano/Latinos, Native Americans, Hawaiian and Alaskan
Natives, Pacific Islanders or socio-economically disadvantaged students make up a small
percentage of science teachers in K-12 as well as higher education, and are even more
underrepresented in biomedical and behavioral science fields requiring post-graduate degrees.
The proposed B2B program will identify community college students at RCC committed to
pursuing a career in science and facilitate their transfer and successful completion of
Baccalaureate degrees in science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) majors. The
program contains interventions and support services designed to help B2B scholars achieve
graduation in a normative two-year window following matriculation at UCR and to address the
causes of URiMS attrition in STEM programs. Specific program components include:
compensated research experiences to stimulate greater awareness of career options in the
biomedical and behavioral sciences and to reduce the necessity of working in non-academic jobs;
peer and faculty mentoring that begins before RCC/B2B scholars transfer to UCR; and a summer
boot camp to familiarize incoming students with UCR’s course structure and student support
services. By creating a program that bridges the community college and university education and
provides enhanced preparation before and mentoring after transfer, we believe we can
overcome these disadvantages and improve the success and persistence of URiMS transfer
students in biomedical and behavioral sciences.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10674969
- **Project number:** 5T34GM146637-02
- **Recipient organization:** UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA RIVERSIDE
- **Principal Investigator:** MARTIN I. GARCIA-CASTRO
- **Activity code:** T34 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2023
- **Award amount:** $291,261
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2022-08-01 → 2027-07-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10674969

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10674969, Bridges to the Baccalaureate Research Training Program at University of California, Riverside (5T34GM146637-02). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-23 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10674969. Licensed CC0.

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