BUMP Biology Updates

March 01, 2021

  1. Expanded the BUMP Biology Steering Committee and clearly designated the following roles and responsibilities: Team Manager (Raisa), Mentorship Liaisons (Beka and Yasmin), Department Liaison (Raffi), Black Alumni Council Representatives (Neci and Riley), Student Representatives (Ponce, Dahiana, and Monique), and Faculty Representatives (Dr. Robert Pollack and Dr. Bussemaker).

  2. Awarded the $5,000 Provost’s Seed Grant for Addressing Racism in November of 2020.
  3. Held our first event for interested Black undergraduates at Columbia on 11/4/20, during which they were introduced to professionals from the Black Alumni Council (BAC) who spoke about their experiences at Columbia and provided career advice pertaining to their respective career paths in medicine and research. Around 30 undergraduates and 10 BAC potential mentors attended this event.

  4. Launched our mentorship program in January of 2021, which began with the opening of our Mentee, Trainee Research Mentor, and BAC Career Mentor applications. 27 Black undergraduates from Columbia have applied to be BUMP Mentees, 13 professionals from the BAC have applied to be BAC Career Mentors, and 37 graduate students and postdoctorates from the Biology Department and the Zuckerman Institute have applied to be Trainee Research Mentors.

  5. Paired our first cohort of BUMP Mentees (all 27 who applied were granted admission into BUMP) with their Trainee Research Mentors (TRM). Some TRMs were paired early to assist with applications for summer research programs and fellowships, and afterwards handed off their mentees to TRMs who have committed to their mentorship for the year.

  6. Applied to the Graduate Equity Initiative, a grant offered by the Columbia University Faculty of Arts and Sciences, to expand BUMP Biology and fund undergraduate research.

  7. Began building community within the BUMP Biology Program by creating a Slack server for mentors and mentees to collaborate and network, developing a code of conduct, a mentee training guide, and a mentor training guide.

  8. Developed an online presence via Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter, and a BUMP Biology website.

Applications (rolling):

Black undergraduate mentee: https://forms.gle/CnhGsVsXhiDSPNVq5

Research Trainee Mentor: https://forms.gle/nneazBqcjoUbycm3A

Black Alumni Council Career Mentor: https://forms.gle/mgcsQ4jGVvv5AEnV8