BUMP Biology is a brand new trainee-run program created under the auspices of the Department of Biological Sciences at Columbia University, along with the Black Alumni Council (BAC), and supported by the Addressing Racism Seed Grant Initiative of the office of Dr. Dennis Mitchell, Vice Provost for Faculty Advancement. Our program aims to address the systemic underrepresentation of Black doctors and scientists by building mentorship networks to support Black undergraduate students in the biological and biomedical sciences at multiple levels within and beyond Columbia University. By leveraging the existing scientific and professional networks in the Biology Department and in the BAC, we aim to provide assistance to Black undergraduates in navigating educational trajectories and careers in STEM research and medicine. Each participant will receive a Career Mentor from the Black Alumni Council, as well as a Research Mentor from the Columbia research community.
BAC Career Mentors will come from the biomedical fields and will serve as role models to program participants, providing Black undergraduate cohort with guidance on navigating the academic and professional worlds, and make participants aware of the full scope of possibilities that await them after graduation. Career Mentors will also provide BUMP participants with a support system based on shared experience and representation. Trainee Research Mentors will be recruited from postdocs and graduate students in coordination with the Department of Biological Sciences and ZI. Each student will be paired with at least one graduate student or postdoc within a Columbia University lab. The mentors will help the Black undergraduates gain access to and support within research spaces at the University, and explore and develop their scientific interests. These activities will enhance the academic and career advising by faculty members that is already available to all undergraduates in Biological Sciences. Trainee Research Mentors will assist BUMP Mentees in applying for existing, paid research opportunities and fellowships at Columbia University. Trainee Research Mentors will use their research networks to direct their BUMP mentee to appropriate available opportunities based on the BUMP mentee’s research interests.
- Email BUMP Biology Coordinators: [email protected]
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