{"id":62,"date":"2019-08-29T18:03:45","date_gmt":"2019-08-29T18:03:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/units.cals.ncsu.edu\/grad-aid-for-ag-nrt\/?page_id=62"},"modified":"2025-11-12T15:28:22","modified_gmt":"2025-11-12T20:28:22","slug":"about","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/units.cals.ncsu.edu\/grad-aid-for-ag-nrt\/about\/","title":{"rendered":"Summer Graduate Bridge Program"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\n\n\n\n

This 3-week required summer program takes on a pivotal role in equipping incoming trainees with a multifaceted foundation, combining data science, agriculture and lab bench skills.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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WEEK ONE: Industry Visitations Experience<\/h2>

Jul 28 \u2013 Aug 1<\/strong>

Students will tour nearby partner Ag biotech and analytics companies such as Novozymes, Bayer, Inari, Envu, Raleigh Bioscience, Pairwise Plants, Microsoft, SAS and IBM. They will also visit the 2,245-acre Cherry Research Station, which is primarily focused on sustainable agriculture and is affiliated with the NC State Center for Environmental Farming Systems (CEFS).<\/p><\/div>\n\n\n\n

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Students work in the lab of Dr. Rohan Shirwaiker in the 3D Tissue Manufacturing Lab in the Fitts-Woolard engineering building on centennial campus. Photo by Marc Hall<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n
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WEEK TWO: On-farm Experience in Eastern NC<\/h2>

Aug 4 \u2013 8<\/strong>

During this week, students will be housed at the Pocosin Arts School of Fine Craft in Columbia, North Carolina, which will enable them to travel throughout the week and visit 10-12 farms to gain insight into the challenges and needs of growers. They will begin working with growers to explore if and how AI might be used to address some of those challenges.<\/p><\/div>\n\n\n\n

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Students work in the lab of Dr. Rohan Shirwaiker in the 3D Tissue Manufacturing Lab in the Fitts-Woolard engineering building on centennial campus. Photo by Marc Hall<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n
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WEEK THREE: Camp Converge<\/h2>

Aug 11 \u2013 15<\/strong>

The 3rd week of the bridge program will consist of two mini-courses co-taught by trainer and director of the Integrative Microbial and Plant Systems Research Experience for Undergraduates (IMPS REU), Dr. Imara Perera, alongside Dr. Dani Jones, trainer and director of the Ag Data Science Certificate program, and other instructors.<\/p><\/div>\n\n\n\n

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Program Details<\/h3>\n \n\n \t \t

Includes a detailed program structure, information on cohorts, and the most relevant academic programs for eligibility.<\/p>\n\t \t \n

Learn more \n \n \n <\/svg><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n <\/div>\n\n <\/a>\n\n\n\n \n\n \n

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Courses<\/h3>\n \n\n \t \t

Each semester, students are required to take one course across various disciplines, including a Capstone Project Seminar Course.<\/p>\n\t \t \n

Learn more \n \n \n <\/svg><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n <\/div>\n\n <\/a>\n\n\n\n \n\n \n

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Professional Development<\/h3>\n \n\n \t \t

The many opportunities offered by the program include mentorship, internships and externships, networking, and workshops.<\/p>\n\t \t \n

Learn more \n \n \n <\/svg><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n <\/div>\n\n <\/a>\n<\/div>\n\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

This 3-week required summer program takes on a pivotal role in equipping incoming trainees with a multifaceted foundation, combining data science, agriculture and lab bench skills.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":185,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_tec_requires_first_save":true,"ncst_dynamicHeaderBlockName":"ncst\/split-header","ncst_dynamicHeaderData":"{\"backgroundColor\":\"gray_800\",\"imageID\":672,\"imageURL\":\"https:\/\/units.cals.ncsu.edu\/grad-aid-for-ag-nrt\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/24\/2025\/10\/Adobe-Express-file-3-1.png\",\"pageIntro\":\"Required 3-week summer session \",\"imageAlt\":\"\",\"focalPoint\":{\"x\":0.47,\"y\":0.62}}","ncst_content_audit_freq":"","ncst_content_audit_date":"","_EventAllDay":false,"_EventTimezone":"","_EventStartDate":"","_EventEndDate":"","_EventStartDateUTC":"","_EventEndDateUTC":"","_EventShowMap":false,"_EventShowMapLink":false,"_EventURL":"","_EventCost":"","_EventCostDescription":"","_EventCurrencySymbol":"","_EventCurrencyCode":"","_EventCurrencyPosition":"","_EventDateTimeSeparator":"","_EventTimeRangeSeparator":"","_EventOrganizerID":[],"_EventVenueID":[],"_OrganizerEmail":"","_OrganizerPhone":"","_OrganizerWebsite":"","_VenueAddress":"","_VenueCity":"","_VenueCountry":"","_VenueProvince":"","_VenueState":"","_VenueZip":"","_VenuePhone":"","_VenueURL":"","_VenueStateProvince":"","_VenueLat":"","_VenueLng":"","_VenueShowMap":false,"_VenueShowMapLink":false,"_tribe_blocks_recurrence_rules":"","_tribe_blocks_recurrence_description":"","_tribe_blocks_recurrence_exclusions":"","footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"class_list":["post-62","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/units.cals.ncsu.edu\/grad-aid-for-ag-nrt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/62","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/units.cals.ncsu.edu\/grad-aid-for-ag-nrt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/units.cals.ncsu.edu\/grad-aid-for-ag-nrt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/units.cals.ncsu.edu\/grad-aid-for-ag-nrt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/185"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/units.cals.ncsu.edu\/grad-aid-for-ag-nrt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=62"}],"version-history":[{"count":14,"href":"https:\/\/units.cals.ncsu.edu\/grad-aid-for-ag-nrt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/62\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":710,"href":"https:\/\/units.cals.ncsu.edu\/grad-aid-for-ag-nrt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/62\/revisions\/710"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/units.cals.ncsu.edu\/grad-aid-for-ag-nrt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=62"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}