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The purpose of the APS Bridge Program is to welcome, train, and successfully send off students to do a Ph.D. in physics. The students joining the program are identified as having a strong potential and drive to succeed in this endeavor but were not given the right opportunities to prepare for entry into a Ph.D. program. All students are welcome to apply.

The Physics and Astronomy Department at CSU Long Beach is one of only 5 nationally funded Bridge Sites of the American Physical Society. Since 2014 we offer Bridge fellows and Bridge students the opportunity to be part of one of the largest Master's program nationwide and prepare to enter a Ph.D. program.

Funded by the National Science Foundation through the American Physical Society at first, we have partnered with Google Inc. since 2020 to support the efforts of the Bridge Program.

Our Bridge fellows/students have successfully joined the Ph.D. program at University Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, the Ohio State University, Stanford University, UC Berkeley, Florida State University, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, and the University of Oregon. Our first Bridge student, Daniel Diaz, received his Ph.D. in Fall 2020 from Florida State University / CERN (Switzerland) and is now a postdoc at Fermi Lab / UC San Diego. Marc Salinas graduated from Florida State University, Yonas Getachew graduated from The Ohio State University. A new webpage will be created soon listing all alumni of the É«ÖÐÉ« program with their career paths. More are on the way! Others decided to use their Master's degree to go to industry or become a lecturer and are content with their experience.

Read more about the impact the APS Bridge Program has had on students: How É«ÖÐÉ« is creating a more inclusive workforce.

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Bridge Master's Outcomes

The Master's degree you will earn in the Bridge Program is both stand-alone and thesis/research-driven, and prepares you well to begin doctoral studies, work in industry, or teaching at the secondary and community college level. Bridge Program students who have completed our program are in excellent Ph.D. programs all across the US: The Ohio State University, Stanford University, UC Berkeley, San Diego, Santa Cruz and Riverside, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Florida State University, CERN, Michigan State, among others.

The Physics and Astronomy Department at É«ÖÐÉ« (É«ÖÐÉ«) has been named among the three largest terminal Master's degree granting institutions in the country  each year since 2013. We have about 50 active Master's students and thus provide a true graduate experience to our students. Details of the Master's program and the research interests of individual faculty members can be found under Graduate Programs.

What We Provide

The APS Bridge Program at É«ÖÐÉ« provides support to the Fellows and Students of the Program through various channels. The students are fully integrated into the cohort. We offer additional opportunities to overcome some of the challenges APS Bridge students face by providing caring faculty mentors, one-to-one mentorship to each student, involvement in research topics that may lead to publications in peer-reviewed journals, etc.

The following financial support can be obtained as funds are available:

• Students who are selected by our APS Bridge Program will receive a Google Bridge fellowship for two years, $15,000 each year
• Out-of-state students are eligible to apply for a reduction of their tuition from out-of-state to in-state tuition
• Travel fellowships (up to $1,000) to attend conferences
• Financial support to apply to Ph.D. programs

The partnership with Google also provides annual funds for four student summer research assistantships. The department has further resources in form of graduate REU from Partnership for Research and Education in Materials (PREM), endowed scholarships, and assistantships. All these resources are open to all students of the department.

Additionally, students are encouraged to apply for internal funding such as the Graduate Research Fellowships of the University and the College of Natural Sciences and Mathematics. See Department Funding and On-Campus Funding for more information.

Who Should Apply

The APS Bridge Program at É«ÖÐÉ« is for you if you:

• have a strong drive and vision to do a Ph.D. in Physics.
• have unsuccessfully applied to Ph.D. programs, and/or
• need some brush up of your physics knowledge.
• need some additional research experience with possibly a publication.
• are a US citizen or permanent resident.
• are committed to improve the population diversity in Physics.

How to Apply

To be considered for the APS Bridge Program at É«ÖÐÉ«, you need to first at the American Physical Society (APS). All information and eligibility requirements are provided on that site. Application deadline is typically in March of each year.

Once the application has been reviewed, the APS Bridge Program forwards applicants to APS Bridge Sites such as ours for evaluation. We take a holistic view of the student's file and her/his motivations and do not place the limitations of the standardized test scores or intended research fields. We then contact students and interview them. The final offers are made in May and application to our University must be submitted before June 1 of each year.

For questions please contact us or use the office hours of the APS bridge program on the link above.