Molecular Biology Across Scales Training Program

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Project Summary / Abstract Molecular Biology Across Scales (MBAS) is a new multidisciplinary predoctoral training program that will develop the next generation of researchers discovering how molecules, cells, and tissues interact to create life and how this information can advance human health. MBAS will be the only graduate program at the University of California, Berkeley that supports broad-based training in multiple disciplines of molecular biology, rather than specialization within a particular discipline. This perspective has driven many of the transformative biological discoveries of recent years, including several made by MBAS faculty. MBAS will draw its students and faculty from the Department of Molecular & Cell Biology (MCB) Graduate Program, uniting those who tackle fundamental research problems at length scales ranging from individual molecules to complex biochemical systems to whole organisms. It will appoint 40 students (20 first-year trainees annually for a two-year term) with a target of 30% from historically excluded groups in the biological sciences. MBAS will provide diverse training opportunities for its diverse student body, encouraging each trainee to explore a wide range of research fields in their early years and identify those that most fully engage their individual passion. MBAS students will be required to publish a first-author paper and graduate with a mean time to degree of 5.5 years. The curriculum will impart broad conceptual knowledge, creative and critical thinking, mastery of experimental logic and methods, application of computational and quantitative approaches, rigorous analysis and interpretation of results, clear and fluent communication of findings, and incorporation of responsible, safe, and ethical practices. Students will choose formally-trained mentors from a faculty of 75 nationally recognized leaders who represent a wide choice of research areas and technical approaches, use state-of-the-art facilities, and work in an interactive, diverse and collaborative environment. MBAS will provide training, oversight, and support for its participating faculty, and will carefully monitor the progress of its trainees. Students will be well-supported with inclusive learning communities, rigorous and clear expectations, expert advising, and a program design that accounts for differences in preparation. Innovative training elements include new courses and enhanced content in responsible conduct of research and reproducibility, quantitative biology and data science, lab safety, and scientific writing. To further strengthen recruitment and retention, MBAS will mount initiatives to bolster diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging. New programs will be piloted and evaluated with the goal of scaling the most successful of them to benefit all trainees within MCB. Professional skills development, experiential learning opportunities, and career counseling will prepare trainees for research-related careers of their choosing in academia, industry, government, non-governmental organizations, and beyond. In sum, MBAS will provide an early and persistent emphasis on multidisciplinary training, centered around the student experience, for a flexible and individually directed path to a successful career in the biomedical workforce.