The 2020 Scientist Mentoring & Diversity Programs for Biotechnology (SMDP Biotech) and Medical Technology (SMDP MedTech) pair students with industry mentors to learn about career opportunities in industry and receive career development coaching.
As part of the program, students and their mentors create personalized mentoring plans, which they implement over the course of the year following the training session. The mentor-mentee teams communicate regularly by telephone and email, aided by International Center for Professional Development staff and the internet-based SMDP Mentoring Portal.
With their mentors, scholars attend a 5-day training session to learn about career opportunities in the biotech or medtech industry and receive career development coaching, as well as attending a major industry conference.
Successful applicants receive:
- One-year personalized career mentoring & guidance
- Conference accommodations, meals and conference registration
- Registration for a major industry conference
- Up to $350 in travel reimbursements
- Membership to online career oriented portal
- Networking & career opportunities
SMDP Biotech | San Diego (June 6-10, 2020)
- Pairs ethnically diverse graduate students and post-doctoral researchers with industry mentors who work at biotech and consumer healthcare companies.
- Eligibility: Graduate students and post-doctoral researchers with degrees in life sciences.
SMDP MedTech | Toronto (October 3-7, 2020)
- Pairs ethnically diverse undergraduate and graduate students with mentors who work at medical device and consumer healthcare companies.
- Eligibility: Undergraduate Juniors and Seniors in Engineering, or BS degree, MS degree, Ph.D.
Interested candidates are invited to apply online at http://smdp.icpdprograms.org/. Successful applicants will receive fellowships to attend one of the programs and virtually all expenses for the one-year SMDP. Special consideration is given to how many weeks prior to the April 3, 2020, deadline students apply. Applicants must be from racial and ethnic groups underrepresented in the biotech industry and able to work in the US: Hispanic Americans, Pacific Islanders, African Americans,and Native Americans.
Published on January 23rd, 2020
Last updated on January 23rd, 2020