By Dr. Jill Huerta
Dr. Jill Huerta and Dr. Aura Young of the Center for Graduate Life (CGL) are recipients of a Career Guidance for Trainees grant from Burroughs Wellcome Fund, which will support the launch of the STEM Communication Fellowship Program in the CGL.
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Burroughs Wellcome Fund (BWF) is a nonprofit organization that supports research and training in the biomedical sciences. The Career Guidance for Trainees grant program officer, Dr. Victoria McGovern, hosts a Piedmont Career Development and Training Group, which brings together universities from the Research Triangle to network and exchange professional development practices and initiatives. UNC Charlotte joined this group 3 years ago and has benefited immensely from the relationship.
The Career Guidance for Trainees grant provides $30,000-$50,000 funding for programs that prepare Ph.D. students and postdoctoral scholars to transition to successful careers within and outside of academia. BWF awards 7 of these grants each year through a highly competitive process. Though many of the recipients received partial funding this year, Huerta and Young’s proposal received the full amount they requested, nearly $50,000.
The program they will launch will create a cohort of eight STEM Communication Fellows who will represent multiple programs and disciplines. The Fellows will receive intense communication training and experiential learning opportunities, as well as a stipend of $3,000 for the 2020-21 academic year. The fellows will be chosen through a competitive application process, with the application opening to STEM doctoral students and postdoctoral scholars at the very start of the fall semester.
More information on Career Guidance for Trainees is available from Buroughs Wellcome.