General Info

Cal-Bridge creates opportunities for members of historically underrepresented (HU) groups, including women, underrepresented minorities (URMs), members of the LGBTQ+ community, those with disabilities, and first generation students, to participate and advance in STEM fields including physics, astronomy, computer science/engineering, and mathematics, to increase their numbers in PhD programs targeting our UC and other partner institutions. Cal-Bridge consists of two programs: a CSU-UC PhD Bridge program and the Cal-Bridge Summer research program.

Main Cal-Bridge Academic Year Program

The main Cal-Bridge program (www.calbridge.org) is a partnership between 9 University of California (UC), 22 California State University (CSU), and the 116 community college campuses in California, with over 200 faculty from the three systems participating. Scholars are recruited from CSU and community college campuses across the state, with the help of local faculty and/or staff liaisons at each campus. Community college students transfer to a participating CSU to join the program.

The program uses research-validated selection methods to identify students from groups historically underrepresented and excluded from STEM disciplines who display strong socioemotional competencies, along with academic potential, and provides them with the support necessary to successfully matriculate to a PhD program, targeted at the UC campuses in the Cal-Bridge network. Once selected, Cal-Bridge Scholars benefit from financial support, intensive, joint mentoring by CSU and UC faculty, professional development workshops, and exposure to a wide variety of research opportunities, including at the participating UC campuses.

Cal-Bridge Summer Research Program

In the Cal-Bridge Summer program students are selected from the same network of all 23 CSUs and all 116 community college campuses in California to spend 8-10 weeks conducting research in STEM disciplines at one of 20 major research institutions in California and across the country. Click on the "More" button in the Cal-Bridge Summer box below for more information and to apply.

Eligibility Requirements

To be eligible for either Cal-Bridge program, an applicant must be:

• At least 18 years of age by the beginning of the program.
• For the main Cal-Bridge program, be enrolled in a CSU campus, majoring in physics, astronomy, computer science/computer engineering, or mathematics, and able to graduate within two years of enrolling in the program; community college students in the process of transferring to a 4-year institution are eligible to apply.
• For Cal-Bridge Summer, enrolled in either a CSU or a California community college.

For questions, contact the Cal-Bridge program at calbridge@cpp.edu.

Acknowledgment Of Funding Sources

NSF; State of California