Virginia Commonwealth University IRACDA

生物医学研究的未来取决于能否获得一批训练有素的科学家，他们准备好应对21世纪的研究挑战。培养这一人才的第一步是拥有一支热情、雄心勃勃、多样化和富有创造力的教育工作者队伍，他们有能力接触他们的学生，激励他们追求研究事业。识别和培训这些教育工作者的挑战是严峻的。许多争取更广泛包容性的大学也缺乏吸引最优秀、最聪明的年轻教育工作者所需的资源和研究基础设施。由于博士后培训通常侧重于研究，潜在的教育工作者在培养教学技能和研究组合方面经常面临挑战，这些技能和研究组合是教师职位竞争所必需的。弗吉尼亚联邦大学(VCU)IRACDA项目旨在解决这两个问题。该计划有两个主要目标。首先是通过在尖端研究和教育学方面的职业发展，为教师职位培养博士后研究员。VCU IRACDA学者在VCU与经验丰富且资金充足的导师一起进行研究，并在我们的合作机构之一--弗吉尼亚联合大学(VUU)和弗吉尼亚州立大学(VSU)--获得实践指导教学经验。VCU、VUU和VSU不仅地理位置相近，而且在教学和研究项目上有数十年的合作历史。VCU IRACDA的第二个目标是通过开发课程和为学生和教职员工提供研究机会来增强合作机构的研究“文化”。这些目标将通过以下具体目标来实现：(1)确定至少20名合格的申请者，每年为VCU IRACDA项目招募3名优秀的博士后研究员；(2)为VCU IRACDA学者提供密集的研究和教学职业发展；(3)通过在当前研究趋势和方法方面具有坚实基础的课程，提高我们合作机构的课程设置，提高学生和教师对与研究相关的职业的相关知识和兴趣；以及(4)对VCU IRACDA学者和合作机构的本科生和教师实施严格的评估和跟踪系统。

The future of biomedical research depends on access to a diverse pool of well-trained scientists who are prepared to tackle the research challenges of the 21st century. The first step in generating this pool is to have a cadre of enthusiastic, ambitious, diverse and creative educators who have the capacity to reach out to their students and inspire them to pursue careers in research. The challenge of identifying and training these educators is acute. Many of the universities that strive for broader inclusion also lack the resources and research infrastructure necessary to attract the best and the brightest young educators. Because postdoctoral training typically focuses on research, potential educators often face challenges in developing both the teaching skills and research portfolio necessary to be competitive for faculty positions. The Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU) IRACDA program is designed to address both of these issues. The program has two major goals. The first is to prepare postdoctoral fellows for faculty positions through career development in both cutting edge research and pedagogy. VCU IRACDA Scholars perform research with experienced and well-funded mentors at VCU, and obtain hands-on mentored teaching experience at one of our partner institutions, Virginia Union University (VUU) and Virginia State University (VSU). VCU, VUU and VSU are not only geographically close, but have a decades-long history of collaborating in teaching and research projects. The second goal of VCU IRACDA is to enhance the research "culture" of the partner institutions, by developing courses and providing research opportunities for students and faculty. These goals will be accomplished through the following specific aims: (1) Identify at least 20 qualified applicants and annually recruit 3 excellent postdoctoral fellows to the 3-year VCU IRACDA program, (2) Provide VCU IRACDA Scholars with intensive career development in research and teaching, (3) Enhance the curricular offerings at our partner institutions through courses with a strong foundation in current research trends and methodologies that will enhance relevant knowledge and interest in research-related careers among students and faculty, and (4) Implement a rigorous evaluation and tracking system for longitudinal follow-up of VCU IRACDA Postdoctoral Scholars and the undergraduate students and faculty at partner institutions.