- About the Bio-1 Life Science Fellowship Training Program
- Bio-1 Fellowship Objective
- Bio-1’s Partners in the Bio-1 Fellowship
- Recruiting Companies/Schools and Creating a Fellow Training Plan
- Recruiting Fellows and Matching Them to a Fellowship Position
- Bio-1 Fellow Training Expectations
- Company/School Expectations for Hosting the Bio-1 Fellows
- Documentation and Reporting Provided to Partners of the Bio-1 Fellowship
- Bio-1 Fellowship Goals
- Eligibility Requirements for Fellow Participation
- Eligibility Requirements to Become a Host Company/Host School
- Life Sciences Criteria for 2009 Graduates
- Possible Fields of Study Associated with Fellow Positions
1. About the Bio-1 Life Science Fellowship Training Program
WIRED Bio-1 – through its programs in workforce development – understands the needs of the science industry/schools and the region’s college graduates seeking employment in these companies or schools. One of the major problems facing recent graduates is the need for hands-on experience to compete for these 21st century life science related jobs. In this respect, Bio-1 hopes to better prepare graduating students through the Bio-1 Life Science Fellowship Training Program.
2. Bio-1 Fellowship Objective
Bio-1 will organize and implement a three-month training program for recent science graduates (“fellows”). These fellows will apply for science-related positions in participating life science companies or schools (K-12) around the NJ region and will be supervised by a Fellowship Coordinator employed by the company/school. At the culmination of the training program, Bio-1 intends to have prepared graduates to make the transition from college to career. Fellows will be able to use their training experience to better qualify for open positions with life science companies or to gain interest in a science-related teaching profession.
3. Bio-1’s Partners in the Bio-1 Fellowship
Bio-1 will have various partners in developing and implementing the Bio-1 Life Science Fellowship Training Program. Here is a breakdown of the roles and responsibilities of Bio-1 and its partners.
- WIRED Bio-1- will be responsible for developing and administering the fellowship training program. In accord with the program implementation, Bio-1 will:
- Create the Bio-1 Life Science Fellowship Training Program.
- Develop the necessary media material in order to promote the program and describe the benefits of training.
- Written material, such as flyers, pamphlets.
- Web-based material to be placed on the Bio-1 website.
- Recruit graduating science students.
- The Bio-1 program will reach out to relevant college and university departments and career offices. With their support, the training program will be promoted to the graduating student body.
- Application to the Bio-1 program will be handled on the Bio-1 Fellowship Website. On this website, Fellow Postings will be placed for students to review and directly apply to participating companies.
- Manage an interactive community forum on the Bio-1 website where all fellows will be required to post updates on their training progress.
This will have two functions:
- Bio-1 will be able to have oversight on how the fellows and the program are progressing.
- Fellows will be able to interact with one another and learn about each other’s training experience.
- Organize two Life Science Career Workshops, which will focus on topics such as resume writing, how to find jobs in their field, the benefits of networking and how to prepare for an interview. Keynote speakers – from Bio-1 or our life science-affiliated associations (i.e., NJ Commission on Science and Technology, BioNJ, Heldrich Center) – will also be asked to address the fellows on the state of the life science industry.
- Complete a final Program Report.
- Provide Certificates of Completion for each fellow who successfully completes the Bio-1 program.
- Organize a Bio-1 Fellow Poster Event where each fellow can showcase their experiences in the program. At the end of the event, each fellow can be ceremoniously awarded their completion certificates.
- Reach out to NJ schools (Kindergarten to 12th grade) that would like to host fellows as teaching assistants or student mentors in their science programs/projects.
- New Jersey Commission on Science and Technology, BioNJ and NJEDA- will assist in recruiting the life science companies that will offer training programs to the fellows. Specifically, the partners will:
- Promote the Bio-1 Life Science Fellowship Training Program to its member life science companies.
- Hand out information about the Bio-1 program at upcoming events hosted by their affiliations .
- Place media material on the Bio-1 Fellowship on their websites.
- Publicize the Bio-1 Life Science Fellowship Training Program in their newsletters.
- Life Science Companies or Schools (K-12) - who choose to participate in the Bio-1 Life Science Fellowship Training Program. Supervised by each company’s or school's Fellowship Coordinator, the companies or schools will ensure that the fellows’ training is hands-on, intensive and on-site.
Specifically:
- Develop a Fellow Posting that will be placed on the Bio-1 website. The Fellow Posting will map out the training plan, including training-position roles, learning outcomes and minimum education requirements for the fellowship.
- Select someone within the company or school to act as Life Science Fellowship Training Coordinator. Their function is to supervise all fellows working with the company or school and be the point-of-contact to Bio-1.
- Review potential applicants and select a fellow.
- Fellow will receive hands-on, on-site training as outlined in the Fellow Posting and be trained for a minimum of 20 hours per week for three months under the Fellowship Training Coordinator.
- Fellow will be provided with the appropriate space, equipment and training tools for he/she to successfully complete their training.
- At the end of each month of training, the company or school will oversee Progress Reviews of each fellow, for a total of three Progress Reviews per fellow. These reviews will be shared with Bio-1 for oversight on how the fellows are doing and how the Bio-1 program itself can be improved.
- Complete and sign the Fellowship Training Plan, which lists benchmarks the fellow made in his experiences at the company. A signed copy of the Fellowship Training Plan will be given to the fellow him/her to sign off on.
- Based on the three Progress Reviews, the company or school will provide a recommendation letter to each fellow.
4. Recruiting Companies/Schools and Creating a Fellow Training Plan
Company/School Recruitment, Training Development and Fellow Posting on Bio-1 Website.
- The NJ Commission on Science and Technology, BioNJ and NJEDA will assist in recruiting companies that will participate in the Bio-1 program. Bio-1 will also have a hand in promoting the training program to the member life science companies of the partners and to the life science companies Bio-1 associates with.
- Bio-1 will reach out to its contacts at the schools (K-12) in the 5-county Bio-1 region through distribution of promotional material; in-person, email or telephone methods and through promotion of our fellowship website.
- Once the company/school participants have been selected, the companies/schools will create a Training Plan for each fellowship position they are offering. The Training Plan will outline the position’s roles/functions, the learning outcome of the fellowship position and the minimum educational requirements for the fellowship. Bio-1 will approve all training plans and place them on their website for graduates to apply (Fellow Postings).
- Each company/school will also select a Life Science Fellowship Training Coordinator to be the liaison with Bio-1 and to supervise all the fellows working with the company/school.
5. Recruiting Fellows and Matching Them to a Fellowship Position
- Bio-1 will reach out to its college and university contacts – which will include life science clubs and organizations, department heads and career planning offices – in order to promote the program to recent graduates in the life sciences.
- Those graduates who are interested will go on the Bio-1 Internship and Job Matching website (Fellow Postings section) to search the Training Plans created by participating companies. They will apply directly to the companies by sending in their resume with a cover letter.
- Companies/Schools will decide who is best suited to work as a fellow in the position they designed.
6. Bio-1 Fellow Training Expectations
- Day 1 of the fellowship begins with the first Life Science Career Workshop (hosted by Bio-1), which will orient the fellows with the program. The workshop will give them an idea of what to expect on their first day of training as well as general safety and ethical procedures. Fellows will also be able to meet with their peers, as they all will be networking on the Bio-1 forum throughout their 3-month program.
- Fellows will receive hands-on training as outlined in the Training Plan. At the end of each of the three months, they will be given progress reviews by the Fellowship Training Coordinator.
- Fellows will also be required to document their experiences on the Bio-1 Fellowship Forum, where they can interact with other fellows and learn from each other’s experiences. Fellows will be required to post on the Fellow Forum once a week (due by the end of their work week) and respond to at least two other Fellow Forum posts of their choosing. The fellow’s forum post can be anything from weekly experiences in the fellowship, difficulties/setbacks they’re experiencing, ideas to improve their training, etc. Having a diverse set of forum posts will allow other fellows to make two responses to these topics (i.e., Support on their peer’s experiences and criticisms, advice on their peer’s work difficulties, etc.).
- Fellows will attend two Life Science Career Workshops, on topics such as resume writing, job searching, interviewing skills, networking and the state of the life science industry in NJ. Bio-1 will host these workshops.
- Fellows will participate in the Bio-1 Fellow Poster Event, where they can display their work and experiences throughout the training program. The poster event will take place in the second Life Science Career Workshop.
7. Company/School Expectations for Hosting the Bio-1 Fellows
- A strong life science workforce benefits the industry and in turn every company that calls NJ its home. The Bio-1 Fellowship will give companies/schools the opportunity to provide “real workplace” experience to recent graduates.
- Companies – from growing to established firms – and schools (K-12) can benefit from the extra-hands to help with their programs and projects.
- Companies looking to hire can utilize the fellowship as a probationary period to see if a particular fellow is a good fit for a full-time position.
- Companies and Schools can receive a stipend totaling $3,000 per fellow to offset training costs. This stipend will be sent out in three-month installments ($1,000/month for three months). If for any reason the fellow at the company/school can no longer continue his/her training, any partial payment of the full stipend the company/school receives, the company/school will get to keep. The company/school would not be entitled to any further payments for that particular fellowship if he/she leaves for any reason.
- Each company/school can choose to make the fellowship position paid or unpaid, which must be specified in the Fellow Posting the company/school coordinator submits.
8. Documentation and Reporting Provided to Partners of the Bio-1 Fellowship
- At the successful completion of training, life science companies and schools will provide each fellow with a letter of recommendation and a signed copy of the Training Plan. A copy of these documents will also be sent to Bio-1 for recording purposes.
- At the end of training, Bio-1 will provide Certificates of Completion.
- Bio-1 will also keep a record of each fellow’s three month training. This Project Report will be used for quality assurance and sustainability purposes for future training programs.
9. Bio-1 Fellowship Goals
The Bio-1 Life Science Fellowship Training Program will meet these goals:
- Fellows – recent life science graduates – will receive intensive, hands-on and on-site training in an area of life science (biology, chemistry, physics, biotechnology, bioengineering, bioinformatics). Together with the help of participating life science companies and schools (K-12) , these recent graduates will be more prepared for the transition from college to career.
- Fellows will be given monthly progress reviews (3 total), a letter of recommendation and a Certificate of Completion.
- Fellows will attend two Life Science Career Workshops to better prepare them for entering the workforce.
- Fellows will network with their peers through an online interactive community forum and through the Fellow Poster Event (part of Life Science Career Workshop #2).
- A Final Project Report – containing progress reviews, signed training plans, recommendation letters and any other necessary documentation produced over the three month period – will be kept by Bio-1 as a reference for future projects.
10. Eligibility Requirements for Fellow Participation
- Must have received (or plan to receive) a degree in any life science discipline (associate's, bachelor's, master's or Ph.D.) within January 2009 to October 2009 from a New Jersey College/University. Extenuating circumstances may be accepted.
- Ph.D. candidates who have received their degrees outside of NJ but have postdoctoral training within NJ will also be considered.
- Must be in good standing with your affiliated college or university.
- Must continue to live in New Jersey while holding this fellowship.
- Must be 1.) U.S. Citizen; or 2.) Legal Permanent Resident; or 3.) Individuals with all of the following: a valid immigrant visa, a valid Employment Authorization Document and an I-485 pending with the United States Citizenship and Immigration Service.
- Must be able to work a minimum of 20 hours per week from October 26, 2009 to January 29, 2010, supervised by the host company’s Fellowship Training Coordinator.
11. Eligibility Requirements to Become a Host Company/Host School
- Company must be a life science affiliated company (consisting of, but not exclusive to, biology, chemistry, physics, biotechnology, bioengineering or bioinformatics).
- Schools (K-12) must offer a fellow position related to the sciences.
- Principal base of business is New Jersey. Schools must be located in New Jersey.
- Companies: Minimum of three employees/consultants, each employed 25 hours per week.
- Company must not be a home-based operation; Schools must be certified institutions from Kindergarten to 12th grade.
- Must be able to designate one of its employees as the Fellowship Training Coordinator.
- Must be able to provide fellows with intensive, hands-on and on-site training for a minimum of 20 hours per week from October 26, 2009 to January 29, 2010.
Note: Fellowships can be paid or unpaid at the company’s discretion, but this must be noted in the Training Plan.
12. Life Sciences Criteria for 2009 Graduates
This program will provide skills development in the life sciences – consisting of, but not exclusive to, biology, chemistry, physics, biotechnology, bioengineering or bioinformatics – that cannot be obtained in the college classroom setting.
13. Possible Fields of Study Associated with Fellow Positions
Some examples are:
- Computer and Information Sciences and Support Services
- Chemistry
- Biological and Biomedical sciences
- Pharmacy, Pharmaceutical Science and Administration
- Clinical/Medical Laboratory Science and Allied Professions
- Biological and Physical Sciences
- Neuroscience
- Biopsychology
- Biomedical/Medical Engineering
- Biotechnology
- Bioengineering
- Bioinformatics
- Physics
- R&D
- Program Management
- Quality Assurance
- Teaching Assistance
- Student Mentoring
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