The University of Pennsylvania's Postdoctoral Opportunities in Research and Teaching (PENN- PORT) Program aims to provide a combination of a traditional mentored postdoctoral research experience at the University of Pennsylvania and an opportunity for postdoctoral appointees to develop teaching skills at one of three partnering minority serving institutions. The dual objectives of the Penn-PORT program are: 1) to develop a diverse group of highly trained biomedical and behavioral scientists who are both outstanding researchers and highly qualified undergraduate educators, and 2) to strengthen undergraduate science education at our partner schools and encourage undergraduate students, particularly those from under- represented groups, to pursue further education leading to a career in the sciences. During the three-year training program, fellows conduct cutting-edge, independent research under the direction of a PENN faculty research mentors, who represent a broad array of NIGMS-related research areas and departments within PENN's Schools of Medicine, Veterinary Medicine, Dental Medicine, Nursing, Arts and Sciences, or Engineering, or affiliated institutions including the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia and the Wistar Institute. Research mentors are selected for their outstanding training records, well-funded laboratories, and commitment to the goals of the IRACDA program. In addition to research, training for PENN-PORT fellows includes a formal semester-long course in pedagogical methods from the Graduate School of Education at PENN as well as a mentored teaching experience, supervised by distinguished teaching faculty at one or more of our partner institutions. Our three partner schools span the range of undergraduate education environments, and include Delaware County Community College (an Associate degree institution with a constrained curriculum), Lincoln University (a 4 year liberal arts college and the oldest Historically Black University in the US), and Rutgers University - Camden (a graduate institution with collaborative research opportunities). After completing the formal teaching course at Penn, PENN-PORT postdocs audit a course at the partner school, and subsequently teach that course under the supervision of their teaching mentor at that institution. In their second semester of teaching, fellows direct a course of their own design, typically in the area of their research expertise. To supplement their training in research and teaching, Penn-PORT fellows develop other professional skills through programs especially designed for postdocs by PENN's Biomedical Postdoctoral Programs. For the partner schools, the Penn-PORT program provides new, exciting, research-oriented courses. Penn-PORT fellows serve as important mentors and role models to undergraduates at our partner schools, providing career programming and opportunities to engage in research in Penn labs, and fostering collaboration in research and teaching between the Penn and its three partner schools.
Although the importance of a diverse biomedical science workforce is widely appreciated, under-represented minorities continue to comprise a disproportionately small percentage of biomedical researchers in this country. The Penn-PORT program addresses this problem by combining a traditional mentored postdoctoral research experience at The University of Pennsylvania with a mentored teaching experience at one of three minority-serving partner institutions. Penn-PORT trainees thus become outstanding researchers and teachers, and simultaneously enhance educational opportunities for students at partner institutions.
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