Graduate Summer Bridge

The Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry offers the Graduate Summer Bridge program (GSBP) in an effort to give incoming graduate students a head start on their graduate studies. Participating students will have the advantage of becoming familiar with the UMBC campus and becoming acclimated to the Department before classes begin. The GSBP is an eight-week program starting in early to mid-June, consisting of four discussion and problem solving sessions per week. These sessions will focus on a review of the principles of Organic and Physical Chemistry. Participants in the GSBP will also complete a research rotation in a faculty member’s laboratory. The Department strongly encourages all students to participate in the GSBP, but it is not required, as some students might prefer to pursue other, off-campus, activities. The guidelines for the program are as follows:

  • All students accepted into the Chemistry and Biochemistry Graduate program are automatically eligible to participate in the GSBP. In addition, Meyerhoff students will be invited to participate in the discussion sessions, as well as the activities. Interested students should contact the Program Director as soon as they are accepted into the Graduate Program.
  • The GSBP is an eight-week program starting in early to mid-June. This is viewed as the minimum time allowed to the program; students wishing to get a head start on summer research may join at anytime after June 1st. The discussion sessions (two each) are generally from 9 AM-12 noon or 10 AM-1 PM on M-Th. The sessions will begin with a brief overview of a topic of interest, followed by intensive group problem solving. Afternoons following the discussion sessions, as well as all day Friday and the weekends, will be free to allow time for the research rotation. The aim of these discussions is to prepare the student for the graduate core classes using a friendly, discussion based approach. In addition, incoming graduate students, including GSBP participants, are required to take placement examinations before classes start in the fall. Our statistics show that students participating in the GSBP score higher on the placement exams, since the students are exposed to problems that far exceed the minimum requirements set out for these placement tests.
  • Participants in the GSBP will be on full support for the summer, with no teaching duties until the fall semester starts. The level of support is commensurate with the incoming graduate stipends.
  • Participants are asked to review the Departmental website for information pertaining to the individual research projects of the faculty before they arrive on campus. Students are encouraged to meet with several faculty and the current research groups before making a choice on which group to join for a rotation. It is normal for students to participate in several research rotations and participation does not imply permanent membership in that particular group. Students must complete at least two rotations within different groups in the first year before making the final choice on which group to join.

Please contact the Program Director, Dr. Paul Smith, for further information.