About the Center for Biomedical Career Development
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About the Center for Biomedical Career Development
The success of today’s scientific enterprise demands preparing Ph.D. scientists for a variety of research and research-related careers. Multiple national reports and policy papers have called for the need to overhaul doctoral and postdoctoral training programs to realign them with the needs of today’s broader scientific enterprise.
The Center for Biomedical Career Development (cBCD) in the Morningside Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences takes an interdisciplinary, scholarly approach to developing, implementing, and evaluating new curricula, resources, and programs to support the career and professional development of our doctoral students and postdocs. We seek to bolster a culture that recognizes the varied ways our PhD trainees can contribute to science and society, and to participate in the national dialog around these important issues.
Our goal is to empower students and postdoctoral scholars to take action toward career development throughout their graduate or postdoctoral training, creating and implementing an informed, strategic plan for building the skills, knowledge, and experience needed to reach their career objectives. To do so, the cBCD leverages UMass Chan’s expertise in career and professional development, doctoral and postdoctoral education, biomedical research, and drug and biologics development, as well as the expertise of our partners and alumni. We rigorously evaluate our programs to identify best practices, measure outcomes and impact, and understand unintended consequences.
The Center for Biomedical Career Development is supported by the Morningside Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences, alumni and other private donations, and grant funding. Notably, UMass Chan was one of only ten institutions awarded an inaugural BEST (“Broadening Experiences in Scientific Training”) grant, funded through the Office of the Director at the National Institutes of Health. Initial programs were also piloted with funding from a Career Guidance Grant from the Burroughs Wellcome Fund.
Read more about our new programs funded by the NIH BEST grant >