The application will ask for:

• Basic demographic information
• Personal statement (800 words, single spaced) answering the following prompts:
• How has your background, experiences, and academic journey prepared you for a career in science? Or: How has your background, experiences, and academic journey shaped your aspirations to pursue a science career?
• What do you expect to get from the MSK Bridge program and research experience?
• How does MSK Bridge fit into your career journey?
• Curriculum vitae (CV) or resume (3 pages maximum). Make sure to indicate anything else you consider important for a judgment of your abilities such as articles, theses, books, other published materials, patented inventions, academic honors, prizes, scholarships and leadership activities, etc. Information about previous work experience is also welcomed on your CV.
• Unofficial transcripts must be submitted with the application. Upon acceptance, official transcript from each of the Scholar’s college or university(s) will be required. For every school you enter in the application, you must provide an unofficial transcript. If there are discrepancies between the official and unofficial transcripts, the program will rescind the acceptance.
• The names and emails of two faculty members or employers who are familiar with the candidate’s credentials related to laboratory research or relevant work experience. They will be sent a link and must provide a letter of recommendation by the deadline above. (Please note recommendations from family members or friends are not appropriate.)

GRE scores are not required, but candidates who have taken the MCAT should indicate so on their application. 

Applicants to MSK Bridge must be about to complete or must have a baccalaureate in a biomedically relevant science discipline from an accredited college or university awarded no more than 36 months prior to applying and must not be currently enrolled in a terminal degree program. Those who have completed master’s degrees are eligible to apply if they are within 36 months of the completion of their bachelor’s (or equivalent) degree. If the undergraduate degree was not in the life or physical sciences, candidates can still apply, but must demonstrate fluency in biology/ biochemistry/ engineering/ computational biology.

Parental or medical leave is not included in the 3-year eligibility limit, nor is national service (e.g., Peace Corps, or service in the National Guard or Armed Forces Reserves). Applicants can check with the MSK Bridge leadership in advance of applying if they have questions about eligibility ([email protected]). MSK Bridge Scholars should intend to apply to research-focused biomedical doctoral degree programs (PhD or MD-PhD) during or immediately following completion of MSK Bridge. This program is not intended for those applying for medical, dental, nursing, or veterinary school.

You will also need to provide the names and emails of two recommenders who are familiar with your credentials related to academic trajectory, laboratory research, or relevant work experience — they will be sent a link to upload a letter of recommendation for you. If you have not yet engaged in any research experience, please provide the names of professors and/or academic advisors who can write about your potential for succeeding in such a program. Please note recommendations recommendation letters from family members or friends are not appropriate. After you enter your recommenders’ email addresses, the application will prompt an email to the recommender to submit the letter of recommendation directly; applicants cannot upload their own recommendation letters.

Requests for your recommendation letter(s) will be sent to the recommender only after you submit your application.

You can change a recommender in the application form, only if you have not formally submitted your application. After the application has been submitted, you cannot make any changes. If you need to replace an existing recommender, please email us at [email protected] with the new name and email, and also notify the original recommender that you no longer require a letter from them. The new name and email will have to be manually entered by our team.

The potential reasons for why your recommender(s) may not have received the system-generated email request for a letter of recommendation. 

• Log on to the application system and check that the email address you entered is accurate, then resend the request for a letter.
• Ask your recommender to check their SPAM or Junk folder.

If the email message is still not received after trying the steps listed above and you suspect there is a technical problem, please email us at [email protected].

It is your responsibility to ensure that the program receives your letters of recommendation by the deadline. If the recommender is having issues uploading the letter, please have them email the letters in PDF format directly to the Bridge Leadership at [email protected].

All letters must be received by the deadline in that given year (usually in late February).

Yes, request for recommendation letter(s) will be sent to the recommender once you submit your application. Please formally submit your application as soon as you have completed all the required elements to allow your recommenders enough time to submit their letter(s) before the deadline, February 24.

No, after you have submitted an application, you cannot make any changes. If you have any issues or questions, email us at [email protected].

You will receive an email confirming that your application is complete when all elements have been received including your letters of recommendation. Note: Applications that remain incomplete after the deadline will not be reviewed.

Everyone who submitted a completed application will be receive a decision letter via e-mail by the end of March.

If you see “Application with this email address is not found,” it is likely that you are logging in with an email that is different from the one the program has on record. If you have more than one email address, make sure you are logging in using the same address you used to register. Applicants with two accounts risk having application documents logged in two different places and risk the application not marked as complete. Email [email protected] for additional help.

Some of these issues can be solved by switching browsers (Chrome, Firefox), clearing your browser cache, and disabling your pop-up blockers. If you are still encountering issues, please contact us immediately at [email protected].

Log into https://mskbp.mskcc.org, click on sign in, and the click on “forgot your password” link to reset your password.

Yes, you may reapply to the MSK Bridge program if you remain eligible (see the Eligibility section above).

The MSK Bridge program will take place in person at the research buildings of Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center in the Upper East Side of New York City. Scholars will be hosted by one of the MSK labs listed on the MSK Bridge program website.

Yes, MSK Bridge Scholars will receive a stipend of $45,000 per year for the 2023 - 2025 academic years, paid on a bi-weekly basis.

MSK offers a wide range of benefits for MSK Bridge Scholars, which includes health coverage (medical, prescription, vision, and dental), LifeCare information and referral service, as well as an employee discount program.

Yes, housing will be available to rent in the same buildings as other MSK trainees. Housing may be shared accommodation with a same-sex Scholar.

Yes, relocation expenses will be covered. Accepted Scholars will receive the guidelines and limits about relocation expenses upon acceptance. 

The MSK Bridge program is intended to be a two-year commitment to a lab and to the courses paced across a 24 month stay. While circumstances may arise that necessitate an early departure, MSK Bridge Scholars are expected to commit two years to the program.

The MSK Bridge program is intended to be a two-year commitment to a lab and to the courses paced across a 24 month stay. 

In the first year of the program, MSK Bridge Scholars will take a course modeled after the Gerstner Sloan Kettering Graduate School (GSK) cancer biology core course and facilitated by an MSK faculty or a postdoc.

Year 1:

• Summer: Arriving MSK Bridge Scholars will join summer interns in a variety of professional development, poster sessions, and educational lectures. Scholars will also take the required lab safety training courses as follows: Responsible Conduct of Research (RCR), Biosafety and Fire Safety, Radiation Safety, Animal use and care, and C-14 laboratory certification.
• Fall: The Fall semester will have multiple scientific skills-building workshops which include, but may not be limited to, proteomics, animal models, imaging handling & analysis, and computational biology.
• Winter: Scholars will take a modified version of the 10-week Gerstner Sloan Kettering Graduate School (GSK) cancer biology core course mentored by GSK upper class students.
• Spring: The spring semester will be dominated by professional development coursework: communication, networking, presenting at conferences, conflict resolution, and grantsmanship.

Year 2:

• MSK Bridge Scholars will start year two in the program working with incoming Bridge Scholars, leading the journal club that was established in year 1, and identifying schools to which they will apply.
• Fall: Scholars will participate in an intensive three-day Demystifying the Graduate School Application Process event, as well as other application submission and interview prep workshops.
• One on one mentorship will be provided related to personal statements and other application materials.

Further coursework will be at the Scholar’s discretion.

Once an applicant is accepted into the MSK Bridge program, the program leadership will match the accepted Scholar with a potential principal investigator (PI) from among those listed on the program website. The matching will be determined based on applicant’s qualifications and research interests that align with the PI’s, alongside an interview in advance a member of program leadership team. All Bridge-specific PIs have pledged a commitment to hosting and providing mentoring to Bridge Scholars to build a strong foundation in biomedical wet-lab and/or computational research. Information about the scientific focus of participating labs can be found by visiting their respective web pages as noted above in the program faculty webpages. MSK Bridge program leadership will take an active role in working with each accepted applicant to find a scientific home.

Participation in the MSK Bridge program does not guarantee admissions into Gerstner Sloan Kettering Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences (GSK), the Weill Cornell Graduate School, or the Tri-Institutional PhD Programs in Chemical Biology (TPCB), Computational Biology and Medicine (CBM), or MD-PhD Program. MSK Bridge Scholars interested in graduate programs at MSK would need to apply to the programs during their second year in the MSK Bridge program. However, during the program, Scholars will have ample opportunities to interact with deans, directors, faculty, and those on admissions committees, which may improve their chances of admissions into the graduate program(s).

Scholars will receive extensive individual academic and professional guidance. This will include individual monthly meetings with their PI; oversight by a day-to-day mentor (postdoc, grad student and/or other lab member), and quarterly meetings with the Office of Scientific Education & Training (OSET) team and MSK Bridge program’s leadership.

MSK Bridge Scholars that are committed to applying to MD-PhD programs will be matched to a physician for shadowing experience in the winter/spring of their first year as a scholar.

MSK Bridge Scholars that are committed to applying to MD-PhD programs will receive up to $1,500 to cover MCAT preparation expenses. Scholars will be able to choose the materials or course of their preference.