The goal of the Education Committee Graduate Subcommittee is to develop and implement initiatives within the Society of Toxicology (SOT) and through academia, industry, and government partnerships to better equip graduate students in toxicology for productive and successful careers, including opportunities for toxicology training and to reduce skill gaps for trainees seeking industry positions. 
SOT directly supports training in identified areas of professional/scientific development that are necessary for graduate students to achieve their career goals but outside the immediate scope of their graduate training and research program through the STEP award. The next deadline is October 9. Pictured on the right is Andrij Holian describing the STEP Program.
In addition, a focus group of the Graduate Subcommittee has created web content providing guidance for careers in regulatory toxicology. This group also has developed an education-career development session, “Career Opportunities in Regulatory Toxicology,” for the next SOT Annual Meeting. Another focus group is considering ways to reinforce skills in technical writing and just released a survey for graduate students to inform their planning.
Other activities relate to identification of existing partnerships for internship experiences and developing ways to enhance these, as well as collecting suggestions for novel teaching approaches, such as will be highlighted in the “Research-Based Approaches to Improve Teaching Effectiveness in Toxicology Classrooms,” another education-career development session that will be presented in San Antonio next March. Along with increased focus from graduate schools, the National Institutes of Health, the National Academies (see Revitalizing STEM Graduate Training and Next Generation Researchers Initiative), and other quarters on effective graduate training in preparation for a multiplicity of future careers, SOT also is supporting training that equips students no matter the direction their toxicology training takes them. SOT students will pursue a variety of career options.