Program

Program Description

Program

The U-RISE at NJIT is a comprehensive research training program combining the strengths of Biomedical Engineering, Biological Sciences and Chemistry and Environmental Science Departments. This program seeks to support three undergraduate students per year to participate in a three-year biomedical research immersion comprised of didactic training, career development activities, individualized mentorship, and two semesters of research for credit culminating in an undergraduate thesis and scientific dissemination. This program recruits students in their freshman year, permitting the students the time to complete the whole research process from literature review, designing and performing experiments, collecting data, analyzing results and being involved in dissemination (often manuscript preparation). 

While this U-RISE program financially support three students per year, the research training program is available to any student committed to undergraduate biomedical research.  Please consult with your UG program advisor on how to participate in this training program.

Didactic Training

  1. Curricular requirements (8 courses) focused on research training that are matched to their degree requirements: designed to correspond with their UG year (sophomore, junior or senior).
    1. U-RISE training workshops and modules. Scholars will receive extracurricular training in areas of research conduct such as laboratory safety, human subjects research, use of animals for research, ethics and responsible conduct in research. Workshops will also focus on providing practice and feedback in communicating science.

 

Career and Professional Development

Scholars will attend U-RISE training workshops during semesters and summer sessions focused on their career development. Regular topics will include:

  1. The Lifecycle of a PhD Student. Students will be introduced to stages on how they will grow in a PhD Program.
  2. Preparing and applying to graduate school.
  3. Where does scientific funding come from and how does it work? We will introduce the students to the various avenues of research funding, including federal and private, emphasizing how to identify and apply to Predoctoral Fellowships such as the Individual National Research Service Awards.
  4. Why does having a PhD make a difference in the industry? We will do a comparison of salaries and upwards mobility for the students that have PhDs and those that do not. We will discuss the career possibilities that are associated with levels of degrees.
  1. Diversity and inclusion training. In these workshops we will create a safe space where students can discuss their experiences. We will work on activities to build empathy and to spark one-on-one conversations about topics people may ordinarily feel uncomfortable approaching.
  2. U-RISE training seminars. Once a month the training program will sponsor a career and professional development focused seminar
  3. Attendance of scientific department seminars. Trainees will be advised by their mentors to attend departmental seminars in BME, BS or CES relevant to their work and produce a short report.

 

Dissemination of Trainee Research

  1. Teach the Art of Dissemination workshops. Will be held regularly (or as needed). Students will attend as frequently as needed for their training. Description below.
  2. Attendance at local and/or national conferences. The training program will provide support for trainees to attend one regional conference per year and an appropriate national conference if presenting research. Trainees will be expected to attend and report on professional development sessions offered by the conference.

 

Summer Research Experience (SRE)

  1. Trainees will participate in research during the summer of the research training period (after sophomore and junior years). Freshmen recruited by faculty often apply for NJIT summer funds and spend the summer after their freshman year in a research lab - a very important time for them to develop into productive researchers as UG students. - which will be encouraged by this program. The subsequent goal of the program will be for each trainee to spend one 10-week SRE at an external institution and the final summer in their host NJIT laboratory. Our NJIT departments have established relationships with several research institutions in the area including The New Jersey Medical School at Rutgers University, Kessler Rehabilitation Institute, The University of Pennsylvania, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, and Albert Einstein College of Medicine. Please see letters of support.

 

Embracing the diversity of students at NJIT, this program will emphasize the training of underrepresented groups, with the goal of increasing participation in research and the transitioning to graduate programs.