Cal-Bridge

Partnerships

The Cal-Bridge UC Network

The Cal-Bridge UC Network comprises 9 institutions from the University of California system. Cal-Bridge Scholars are paired with two mentors - from their home Cal-State campus and one from a regional UC Campus. Scholars also attend workshops and seminars on various UC campuses throughout their enrollment in the program. 

The Cal-Bridge Partner Program

We pursue partnerships between the Cal-Bridge program and PhD programs outside of the UC system that seek to create a more diverse, equitable, and inclusive environment for all their graduate students, thus making these ideal places for Cal-Bridge scholars to pursue their PhD. When the Cal-Bridge program enters into agreements with these non-UC PhD programs, those programs are designated Cal-Bridge Partners.

The Cal-Bridge Partner program is designed to create partnerships between the Cal-Bridge program and PhD programs in physics and/or astronomy that seek to create a more diverse, equitable, and inclusive environment for all their graduate students, thus making these ideal places for Cal-Bridge scholars to pursue their PhD. In addition to the UC PhD programs that are part of and help run the program (UC Berkeley, UC Davis, UC Irvine, UCLA, UC Merced, UC Riverside, UC San Diego, UC Santa Barbara, UC Santa Cruz), a number of non-UC PhD programs elect to join our network.

When the Cal-Bridge program enters into agreements with these non-UC PhD programs, those programs are designated Cal-Bridge Partners .

There are currently eight non-UC Cal-Bridge Partners:

  1. University of Arizona, Department of Astronomy
  2. Caltech, Department of Astronomy and Department of Physics
  3. The Ohio State University, Department of Physics
  4. The Pennsylvania State University, Department of Physics
  5. University of Florida, Department of Astronomy
  6. University of Pennsylvania, Department of Physics and Astronomy
  7. University of Rochester, Department of Physics and Astronomy
  8. University of Wyoming, Department of Physics and Astronomy

The benefits to a PhD program being designated as a Cal-Bridge Partner include:

  1. Cal-Bridge scholars are strongly encouraged to apply to the partner PhD program.
  2. The program is featured on the Cal-Bridge website as a Cal-Bridge Partner.
  3. Faculty and staff of the Cal-Bridge program will work with the partner PhD program faculty and staff to promote the creation of a more inclusive environment in their department, through such activities as seminars and workshops.

In exchange for the designation as a Cal-Bridge Partner, the partner PhD program agrees that:

  1. An explicit application fee waiver will automatically be given to all Cal-Bridge scholars, if an application fee is charged.
  2. Every Cal-Bridge scholar who applies to the partner PhD program will be granted an interview, if interviews are conducted. In cases of large numbers of applicants, this number may be capped.
  3. The partner PhD program attests that they either do not use or deemphasize consideration of physics and general GRE scores in PhD admissions evaluations.
  4. Every application from a Cal-Bridge scholar to the partner PhD program advances to the final round of consideration to be read by the entire admissions committee, with no pre-filtering for GRE (physics or general) or GPA. In cases of large numbers of Cal-Bridge applicants, this number may be capped, and a smaller subset of the committee may screen Cal-Bridge applicants, but no GRE or GPA cutoff will be applied in any case.
  5. To the extent possible, Cal-Bridge scholars accepted to the partner PhD program will be put forward for any diversity scholarships offered by the partner university, and for other university graduate fellowships as appropriate. 
  6. The Cal-Bridge program will be featured prominently on the partner PhD program website.

This material is based upon work supported by the National Science Foundation under Grant DUE-1741863