The Office of Education delivers workshops, programs, and individualized opportunities to a population averaging 250 trainees, including postdoctoral, visiting, and research fellows; clinical fellows and medical students; graduate students; and postbaccalaureate fellows, as well as summer trainees. The activities include, typically: public speaking workshops, job interviewing, writing and editorial services for professional school and job applications, grantsmanship workshops, academic and non-academic career presentations and one-on-one counseling, teaching opportunities through our annual NICHD postbac course and a training program with the University of Maryland, and lab management programs. An annual retreat for fellows and graduate students is held each spring to address scientific developments and careers, which include a keynote address, fellow presentations, NICHD alumni leading career round tables, and a poster presentation by each attendee. The program is developed and run by a fellow-student steering committee. Among the office's accomplishments from the past year, Dr. Yvette Pittman took on a new role in the Office of Education as Director while expanding our staff with Dr. Erin Walsh as the Program Manager. Our TmT (Three-minute Talks) competition, now in its fifth year, is held in conjunction with NIDCR, NIAMS, NHGRI, and NEI. Dr. Jakob Gutzmann in the laboratory of Dr. Dax Hoffman received the third-place award. The office developed an online Annual Progress Review for fellows, launched in 2016, to track scientific and career development and progress. As part of investigators' assessments of mentoring, these fellow reports are also provided for the BSC site visits. The database of NICHD alumni from 2008 to the present continues to be updated, and we have compiled a valuable list of organizations that accepts grant applications from NIH intramural fellows, both NIH and non-NIH funding mechanisms. In September 2018, the Division of Intramural Research gave its eleventh Mentor of the Year awards to LiQI Li, Ph.D., in the investigator category; and Marina Venero Galanternik, Ph.D., fellow. For NICHD, 26 FARE awards were made for the 2019 competition. In addition to the Fellows Intramural Grants Supplement (FIGS) continuing to recognize and stimulate grant applications among fellows, we launched the second cycle for our new competitive internal funding opportunity for NICHD postdoctoral and clinical fellows, our Intramural Research Fellowships (IRFs). Its ultimate goal is to promote grant writing and enhance their awareness of various components for an NIH grant application. Our institute has established an exchange program with Inserm, the Institut National de la Sante et de la Recherche Medicale in France, which provides a unique opportunity for US and French scientists to obtain postdoctoral training with French and US mentors, respectively. The Fellows Recruitment Incentive Award (FRIA) continues to support investigators who recruit postdocs from populations traditionally underrepresented in science. The alumni of our NICHD Scholars program, in its eighth year, has expanded to 12 individuals; two of our new alumni are starting professional school at Cornell University and Pennsylvania State University, plus five new postbacs have joined the program in 2018. The Scholars program focuses on developing talent and supporting trainees' academic and career progression. Lastly, the NICHD Connection monthly newsletter continues its focus on mentoring, careers, and academic programs for young scientists, publishing its 100th issue in September 2018 and reaching all members of the intramural division and our alumni.
