The University of California, Davis (UCD) and San Francisco State University (SFSU) propose a professional career development program-the primary goal of which is to facilitate the progress of post doctoral fellows toward research and teaching careers in academia, especially those individuals from populations traditionally underrepresented in the biological and chemical sciences. Important project objectives include providing enriching experiences for underrepresented minority students, resulting in increased numbers of well-qualified students entering competitive careers in biomedical research; and increasing the number of research collaborations between UCD and SFSU faculty. The post doctoral research experience will occur at UCD, one of our nations leading research universities, and the university ranked number 1 nationally in awarding PhD degrees in the biological sciences to underrepresented minorities. At UCD, the post doctoral fellows will have access to outstanding research mentors and superior research facilities. Furthermore, they will receive additional mentoring by a distinguished committee of UCD faculty who are members of the National Academy of Sciences. The post doctoral teaching experience will occur at SFSU, one of the largest and most ethnically diverse, comprehensive urban universities in the nation. At SFSU, the fellows will receive formal training in curriculum development, teaching skills, student assessment, and modern methods of instruction in an intensive course presented by professionals with extensive experience in training university faculty on how to become effective teachers. They will work with their teaching mentors at SFSU in the classroom and laboratories to develop their teaching skills and experience. Their presence in the classroom and laboratories will dramatically increase the exposure of SFSU students to scientists who have received outstanding training in cutting-edge science. Our career development program is designed to insure that the post doctoral fellows will be highly competitive for tenure-track academic positions, and become academic leaders in their disciplines. Other strengths of the program are a rigorous evaluation that will provide feedback on program design, and the development of an official certificate program jointly sponsored by UCD and SFSU, that validates our successful completion of the post doctoral career development program.
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