During the current R24 funding cycle, we piloted an Internship Program for workforce development of undergraduate students, graduate students, and postdoctoral researchers. The program was not part of the initial R24 submission but developed post-funding to fill a workforce development gap in the field of proteomics and more generally biomedical research. The mission of the Internship Program is to provide a unique opportunity for the next generation of scientists to explore an alternative career option in biomedical research by gaining experience in a national resource and core facility environment. For this program, we will annually identify two undergraduate students to spend 10 weeks on-site at the National Resource during the summer, and annually select two graduate students or postdoctoral researchers to spend 2 weeks on-site at the National Resource during the fall semester. The National Resource has budgeted for and will cover all expenses related to travel, accommodations, and meals for interns, creating a unique and free opportunity for workforce development. Graduate students and postdoctoral researchers will be encouraged to bring proteomics samples related to their project, which will enable them to gain hands-on experience while also supporting their research project and career goals. Note that we will utilize a newly developed training facility for hands-on experience with two dedicated LC-MS systems (see Facilities and Other Resources form).
Pre-application
Application Submission
Review and prioritization
Drs. Tackett, Beenken, and Province will review and prioritize applications within two weeks of the application deadline. They will prioritize meritorious applications from under-resourced investigators, investigators from under-resourced institutions, and those from diverse backgrounds, including individuals from groups underrepresented in the biomedical sciences. Aligning with our PEDP, we will reserve half of intern slots for those underserved, underrepresented, and from diverse backgrounds. Dr. Tackett will notify awardees and also provide feedback to those not selected to encourage them to apply in the future.
Administration of Internships
The National Resource administrative staff will make all travel, lodging, and food reimbursement arrangements for interns. Dr. Beenken (identifies as female) or Province (identifies as male) will serve as daily mentors and interns will be allowed to select their preference on mentor. Once on-site the intern will work with their mentor to be folded into the daily activities of the National Resource including sample preparation meetings and project review, so they get to experience what it would be like to work in a national level facility. Interns will work through all three phases of our workflow (sample prep, data collection, and bioinformatics). At the beginning of the internship, the interns will present orally to the National Resource team on their research project and career goals. At the end, interns will orally present to the National Resource team on their experience and receive a certificate of participation. Interns will be required to acknowledge NIGMS and the National Resource grant number in all reporting of data collected.
Post-award requirements
Interns will be required to participate in an evaluation of the Internship Program, which will inform future iterations of the opportunity. They will be required to participate in annual updates for up to five years that will request information on how the internship impacted their research and career path, enabled manuscripts, supported current NIH grants, and enabled new NIH grants.
