Blogs

The SOT Committee on Diversity Initiatives encourages undergraduate students and SOT Student members who are members of groups underrepresented in the sciences to apply for the SOT Diversity Initiatives Career Development Award.

The SOT Diversity Initiatives Career Development Award enables undergraduate and graduate students to engage in additional education and career development opportunities to enhance their personal development. The SOT Diversity Initiatives Endowment Fund supports this award, which is administered by the SOT Committee on Diversity Initiatives. Created in 2009, the goal of this fund is to increase and retain individuals from groups underrepresented in the biomedical sciences.

Awards of up to $1,000 per recipient may be given. Recipients are chosen based on criteria that include quality of proposed experience, relevance of the proposed professional activity to a career involving the science of toxicology, academic achievement, and recommendation by an academic advisor.

In 2023 and 2024, two undergraduate and five graduate students received an SOT Diversity Initiatives Career Development Award. You can read more about a selection of the recipients’ experiences in the SOT blog and get inspired about the types of activities for which the award can be used:

• “Exploring Gene Regulatory Networks for Development as a Computational Toxicologist” by Ashley Schwartz, who used the award toward participation in the Gene Regulatory Networks for Development Advanced Research Course at the Marine Biological Laboratory in Woods Hole, Massachusetts
• “SOT Leads by Example in Promoting Diversity in Science” by Chelsea Cary, who used the award toward participation in the Scientist Mentoring and Diversity Program (SMDP)
• “The SOT Committee on Diversity Initiatives Supports International Opportunities for Scholars” by Talia Seymore, who used the award toward participation in the International Federation of Placenta Associations meeting in Rotorua, New Zealand
• “Taking the Initiative to Grow in Diverse Ways: A Reflection on a Unique Opportunity” by Antonio Saporito, who used the award to attend a Skills for Health and Research Professionals (SHARP) training session offered by the Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health
• “A Journey of Personal Growth and Self-Discovery” by Eric Brown Jr., who used the award to support his participation in the KC Donnelly Externship at Harvard University

Visit the award’s web page for more information on the award, eligibility criteria, and application materials. The deadline for award applications is April 15, 2024.

#Awards
#Members