About our program
The Costa Rica - U.S. Bridge project was created on September 2016 to provide academic guidance to undergraduate students interested in physics and astronomy from Costa Rica. Through multiple summer internships in the National Astronomy Consortium (NAC) program at the National Radio Astronomy Observatory, we adopted a meeting format, where students participate in a monthly webinar series as a community with a guest speaker, usually an astronomer. The program is based on a similar structure used by the NAC, with continuing mentorship.
Collaborations with members of the Astrofísica en Centroamérica allowed us to establish an international workforce to not only provide guidance to Costa Rican undergraduates to achieve their academic goals, but also work with Centroamérican undergraduates with similar goals. Students from all backgrounds are encouraged to participate. Our goal is to expand physics and astronomy research opportunities in Centroamérica in addition to promoting graduate opportunities to nontraditional students in the U.S. For students interested in participating in the program either from Centroamérica or in the U.S. who can benefit from a program like this, please contact me at: antonio{dot}j{dot}porras{at}vanderbilt{dot}edu
Collaborations with members of the Astrofísica en Centroamérica allowed us to establish an international workforce to not only provide guidance to Costa Rican undergraduates to achieve their academic goals, but also work with Centroamérican undergraduates with similar goals. Students from all backgrounds are encouraged to participate. Our goal is to expand physics and astronomy research opportunities in Centroamérica in addition to promoting graduate opportunities to nontraditional students in the U.S. For students interested in participating in the program either from Centroamérica or in the U.S. who can benefit from a program like this, please contact me at: antonio{dot}j{dot}porras{at}vanderbilt{dot}edu
Overview
We invite scientists who represent different branches of astronomy and physics. These guest speakers talk about their scientific journey, their research focus, basics of graduate school applications, summer international internships, and other career development skills. Every month, we meet via Zoom for 1 to 1.5 hours to talk about the scheduled topic. In addition to the webinars, we provide ongoing mentoring. We review personal statements for students who apply to astronomy schools, summer international internships, and other programs. If necessary, we help them acquire their visa by drafting a letter to the ambassador of their country. Furthermore, every couple of months, we provide coding workshops for students who have not had any experience in terminal, python, and github. To learn more about our workshops, visit my github account here.
Project goals
- Expand academic research opportunities in Centroamerica
- Increase the number of women and Centroamerican students interested in Astronomy and Physics
- Provide tools needed to be successful such as integrated programming lessons, information regarding international internships, conferences, workshops
- Establish an international network of friends, potential mentors, and professional contacts for potential interest in graduate school overseas
- Integrate professional development component. Guide students throughout application process, include workshops on how to build a resume, how to find an academic mentor, requesting letters of recommendation, what is graduate school, financing while in school, stress and time management
- Discuss social justice, racial and gender inequalities present in our field as well as in society. Information about imposter syndrome, stereotype threats, social contingencies