Student Access & Recruitment

Inaugurated in 2019, AGU's Bridge Program was initiated to develop, adopt, and share inclusive practices for recruiting, admitting and retaining women and underrepresented students in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics graduate programs. AGU members are encouraged to share information about the AGU Bridge Program with any current or prospective students who may have an interest in pursuing graduate degrees in the Earth and space sciences. African American, Hispanic, American Indian, Pacific Islander, Alaskan Native and Native Hawaiian students who want to join the Bridge Program can take advantage of a free common graduate school application that will be shared with multiple partner institutions. UCI's Department of Earth System Science was one of the inaugural partners of the AGU Bridge Program.

On June 25, 2021, the UCI Department of Physics & Astronomy became a Bridge Partner Institution of the American Physical Society (APS).  The Bridge Program offers institution membership to colleges and universities as well as national labs, non-profits, and educational organizations that play supporting roles in improving diversity in physics education. Becoming a Bridge Partner Institution means the department’s now a place where physics students from underrepresented groups can come and get the experience they need to get them ready to apply to doctoral programs. This includes completing coursework the students may not have had access to before, as well as getting the kind of research experience they need to start an academic career.

The American Chemical Society Bridge Program (ACS-BP) is an effort to increase the number of chemical science PhDs awarded to underrepresented (UR) students defined by the project as primarily Black, Latinx, and Indigenous students. As part of a national effort, the Inclusive Graduate Education Network (IGEN), ACS-BP is doing this by creating sustainable transition (bridge) programs and a national network of doctoral-granting institutions that provide substantial mentoring for students to successfully complete PhD programs. 

The Cal-Bridge program is designed for California State University (CSU) students interested in pursuing a Ph.D. in physics, astronomy, or a related field. The program utilizes research-validated selection methods to identify students from underrepresented groups who display strong skills along with academic potential - and provides them with the support necessary to successfully matriculate to a Ph.D program, ideally at a UC campus.

For interested students please reach out to the contacts below. 

Cal-Bridge Physics & Astronomy: Mu-Chun Chen (muchunc@uci.edu)

Cal- Bridge Mathematics: Christopher Miles (cemiles@uci.edu)

The UCI S-STEM Physics Scholars program, sponsored by the National Science Foundation, aims to increase retention and graduation rates of physics and applied physics majors at UCI, with a focus on students from low-income backgrounds. The program provides opportunities for peer mentoring, increased academic support, and research and industry networking. The program will also provide at least 60 scholarships to financially-eligible and academically meritorious students at UCI who are majoring in physics or applied physics. 

For more information about the program, contact Professor Tucker (tucker@uci.edu).

Through the UC-HBCU Initiative, the Office of the President encourages UC faculty to actively engage in collaboration and cooperation with faculty and students at HBCUs. Such efforts serve to strengthen and enrich our mission of teaching, research and public service. UC faculty grants are available to support HBCU students conducting summer research and graduate school preparation with UC faculty at a UC campus. Grants simultaneously support departmental efforts to facilitate greater faculty collaboration between UC and HBCU institutions and to increase applications from HBCU scholars to UC PhD programs.