CSHL PREP

The goal of the Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory (CSHL) Postbaccalaureate Research Education Program (PREP) is to prepare trainees for matriculation into highly competitive and rigorous Ph.D. graduate programs and for future success in science-related fields. CSHL PREP will provide world-class research experience, professional development, and development of scientific identity and community to its participants. Funding is requested for four PREP Scholars to conduct a year of research in cancer, neuroscience, genomics, quantitative biology, or plant biology, under the mentorship of a CSHL PREP faculty member. Scholars will create an individual development plan to define their research interests, identify relevant coursework, and establish goals and timelines for the duration of the program and their future careers. They will participate in the Skills Development course, designed exclusively for them, that includes writing and oral presentation workshops, and guidance in preparing for graduate school applications. They will also attend the PREP Bootcamp course to broaden their knowledge base in the biosciences. Scholars will have numerous opportunities to attend graduate level courses. They will participate in campus-wide seminars, meetings and journal clubs with their research laboratories, national conferences, and the student-run Graduate Seminar Series. They will interact and network exclusively with select invited external speakers among the approximately 10,000 scientists that visit CSHL annually as part of the Meetings and Courses program. They will benefit from having a Research Mentor, a Direct Mentor (a graduate student or postdoc in their research laboratories) and a Near-Peer Mentor (a graduate student) who will play an active role in integrating the Scholars into the local scientific community and at large. The PREP Committee will have oversight of CSHL PREP. The committee will meet with the Scholar and their Research Mentor in quarterly Progress Meetings. Moreover, the Program Director and Program Coordinator will have Check-In meetings with individual Scholars monthly. Effectiveness of CSHL PREP will be evaluated internally by CSHL’s School administrators and the Advisory Committee, and externally by the Center for the Improvement of Mentored Experiences in Research through a combination of survey results, confidential reports by Research Mentors, and exit interviews.