The Mission of the CLIMB Program

MISSION: The CLIMB Program guides a select, diverse group of bioscience PhD students at Northwestern University to develop advanced skills for collaborating, communicating, mentoring and conducting research across disciplines, and accelerate their professional development. This will be accomplished through a two-year complement to their training in their primary PhD programs.

VISION: The CLIMB Program is predicated on the vision that the future of science rests with those who are most adept at understanding, drawing from and communicating with others across diverse scientific, intellectual, ethnic, socioeconomic and cultural domains.

MENTORING: Within the CLIMB Program, mentoring will be integrated across structured group mentoring (led by the CLIMB leadership), peer mentoring (building an early network of professional colleagues) and traditional mentoring by primary disciplinary research mentors.

CLIMB Scholars: Each year, up to 12 students beginning one of the five bioscience PhD programs (IGP, IBIS, NUIN, BME and ChBE) will be recruited into CLIMB. This peer group will be purposefully constructed to include individuals committed to collaboration and interdisciplinary science. The group will be enriched with individuals from groups traditionally underrepresented in the biosciences to increase the opportunity for their perspectives and experiences to be brought to the group. The two-year sequence will include a first-year summer laboratory rotation and weekly two-hour group mentoring sessions with the following sequence and focus:

Year 1 - Summer Quarter

• Whenever possible, a summer lab rotation to get a jump-start on the transition into graduate school (assistance provided for finding funding for this early start)
  

Year 1 - Fall Quarter - Transitions

• The transition from undergraduate to PhD science and learning – understanding and supporting the unique evolution each student experiences in courses and research
  
• Skills for learning about, and from, the interests, experiences and expertise of a diverse group of young scientists
  
• Finding mentors that "fit" each student's interests and approaches to science and research
  
• Options for individualized curricula to maximize scientific development and interdisciplinary knowledge
  

Year 1 - Winter and Spring Quarters - Oral Communication Skills

• Instruction on creating and giving outstanding talks
  
• Practice giving presentations, video recorded with extensive feedback
  
• Presenting to diverse audiences, from experts to colleagues to the public
  
• Creating and talking to others at scientific poster presentations
  
• Preparing for and attending scientific meetings
  
• Starting to build a professional network
  

Year 2 - Fall, Winter and Spring Quarters - Written Communication Skills

• Year-long, structured group sequence focused on research proposal writing skills, leading up to each person's dissertation proposal
  
• Participation in the evolution of 12 research proposals rather than just one – their own
  
• Learning to give and receive helpful feedback on writing
  
• Focused instruction on technical writing skills within the dissertation proposal context and applications for fellowships and training grants
  
• Introduction to the NIH grant review processes and the technique of 'writing for reviewers'
  

PARTICIPANTS in CLIMB will include bioscience PhD students who are:

• Supported by the NIGMS-funded Initiative for Maximizing Student Diversity (IMSD)
  
• Identified and supported by bioscience PhD programs to enable their participation
  
• Accepted into and commit to CLIMB, based on their interests in the Mission and Vision of CLIMB and the creation of a diverse community of peer scientists
  
  

LEADERSHIP of CLIMB: CLIMB and all of its activities are led by Rick McGee, PhD, Program Director for CLIMB and IMSD, and Steve Lee, PhD, Assistant Director for CLIMB. Expertise also will be provided by leading academic scientists in the Northwestern University bioscience PhD programs.