The Training & Capacity Building Program for CZI Science offers training series designed specifically for our Science grantees. These sessions aim to provide opportunities to grow and sharpen professional skills, foster collaboration, and learn from experts. Check out resources from previous trainings and stay tuned for our upcoming series announcements.
Unless indicated otherwise, the training sessions are open to CZI Science grantees and their team and/or group members, and to partners and collaborators of CZI Science.
Do you have other questions or needs around professional development in science? Contact our team: mcb-science@chanzuckerberg.com.
This year we are organizing a variety of Central Science Training series and workshops to cover the most requested topics from our grantees, including grant writing, leadership, project management, business skills and science communications. The series will take place in the spring, summer, and fall of 2024. Please check back in on this webpage for more details and registration opportunities as they become available.
The Training and Capacity Building for CZI Science team is excited to partner with the AtKisson Training Group (ATG) to host a Scientific Manuscript Development Workshop for our science grantees. The workshop draws upon narrative writing to help in communicating your scientific story to the audience—and making your ideas stick in their minds.
Each week participants will meet with trainer Amanda Welch from ATG and a group of your peers for an hour-long interactive session that covers different aspects of journal articles. Between these courses, homework that guides you through drafting different portions of your article, and office hours for coaching and accountability on your writing, you'll become a more confident and effective writer.
Application period now closed.
This fall we are offering a Project Management for Scientists training, hosted by Lou Woodley and Camille Santistevan of Center for Scientific Collaboration and Community Engagement. The training will kick off with a preview introductory webinar in October, followed by a two-day seminar in December for select attendees. These sessions will provide attendees with the opportunity to take an applied, strategic approach to planning and managing the delivery of a collaborative project.
Introduction to Project Management for Scientists
Tuesday, October 29, 2024
9-11am PT
This two hour virtual training session will provide an overview of the concepts and approaches scientists can use in managing their collaborative projects. In addition to presentation and discussion, we’ll work through a series of case studies specific to a range of STEM contexts. Participants will leave the session able to:
CZI Project Management for Scientists Seminar
December 3 - 4, 2024
8am-2pm PT, Daily
The two-day CZI Project Management for Scientists Seminar will give you the strategies and skills you need to deliver on collaborative projects. While you may not be a formal or full-time project manager, we’ll discuss how you can still infuse project management concepts into your work for smoother and more enjoyable project work. You’ll gain new language and concepts to describe managing your projects, tools and approaches to support your work, and connection with others who are also coordinating collaborative work.
The virtual course will be hosted December 3 through December 4, 2024, from 8am-2pm PT in English on Zoom. Topics will include how to plan for the successful delivery of your project, assigning and setting expectations about project roles, coordinating communications about the flow of work on a project, and common challenges encountered in managing projects.
The application portal will be open until November 7, 2024 at 5 PM Pacific Time. Apply as soon as possible; applications are reviewed on a rolling basis. Admitted applicants will be notified no later than Nov 13, 2024.
Eligibility & Expectations
Join host Thi Nguyen for a two-part workshop series designed to elevate your research communication skills. Whether you're looking to boost the visibility of your work or improve the art of delivering compelling research talks, this series has you covered. Learn to craft engaging scientific presentations and neuroscience-informed slide decks that keep your audience awake and engaged.
SciComms 101: Anatomy of a Scientific Talk
Wednesday, September 11, 2024
9-11am PT
Research presentations have become an essential tool to share your research with the scientific community. Your audience may be scientists, the general public, and funders. To ensure you are effectively communicating, your audience must comprehend how your research fits into a larger context and its potential impact. This workshop will guide you through the essential components of a scientific talk, pulling strategies from neuroscience, psychology, and improv theater. By the end of the session, you'll be equipped to structure your talk to be compelling, present your research with confidence, and be memorable.
Level Up Your Slide Design: Techniques for Engaging and Effective Scientific Presentations
Wednesday, September 25, 2024
9-11am PT
This comprehensive training webinar is designed to elevate the visualizations for your scientific presentations, making your data more compelling and your message clear.
This summer, the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative (CZI) is hosting the fourth edition of our virtual Faculty Application Bootcamp. This bootcamp is for PhD students and postdocs from CZI-supported and associated labs pursuing a US-based faculty position this academic year.
August 12 - 16, 2024 - Daily from 8am-2pm Pacific Time
Virtual Zoom Meeting held in English
Application period has now closed.
The CZI Faculty Application Bootcamp will give a systematic overview of all aspects of the faculty job search in the United States. Topics will cover CVs and cover letters, research, teaching and diversity statements, job and chalk talks, and interviewing and negotiating.
This practical and experiential course also includes small group exercises and stories from those who recently completed a successful search. Primary instructors are Chris Golde (Stanford University) and Arne Bakker (CZI), with additional guest presenters. Review the draft course schedule here.
Dr. Morgan Giddings of SciFoundry, will be provided multiple trainings for participants to learn how to increase their science grant writing success. In addition to a 3 -day bootcamp, she'll be offering a training series that covers the four steps to funding.
Grant Writing for Science
In a four-part series hosted by Dr. Morgan Giddings of SciFoundry, participants will learn the four steps to funding which cover topics such as deciphering your reviewer’s interests, crafting a compelling grant project proposal, highlighting the strengths of your team, and outlining the effective execution of your proposed work to bolster your overall proposal.
What gets your reviewer interested and excited to support your proposal for funding? In this first of the four-part series, we’ll go into the "why(s)" of your proposal, and whether those will connect with your reviewer in a positive way, or not.
The “what” is the heart of your proposal - what project you are proposing to do. It will determine whether reviewers are excited or unsupportive of your funding. Learn how to build and write the What with a clear premise and sufficient rigor, so you can get reviewers excited about your project.
Your reviewer and funder cares deeply about "who" they are supporting for funding. Are they confident that you can do the work proposed, and handle challenges or roadblocks when they arise? Learn how to convey your powerful “who,” going far beyond just the Biosketches or CV’s.
It’s tempting to start your proposal first with the question of “how will I do the work/experiments.” Yet if you don’t carefully align the How with the rest of the proposal, it will come across as confusing, leading to no funding. Learn how to construct your "how(s)" to align with and support the rest of your proposal, for the highest chances of funding.
Grant Writing for Scientists Bootcamp: What it Takes to Write a Successful Proposal
June 18 - 20, 2024
This three-day virtual course provided foundational skills for science grant writing and guiding tools that can be applied to grants in any funding setting. This course will:
The "EMBO Laboratory Leadership” course will explore your approach to leadership and help you define how you want to lead and manage your research group or other teams. The course is hosted by Dr. Sam Krahl and Dr. Natalie Bamford of EMBO Solutions, and is free of charge for participants.
First Offering: July 10 - July 12, 2024
Second Offering: September 16 - September 18, 2024
Daily from 8am-2pm Pacific Time
Virtual Zoom Meeting held in English
Application period has now closed.
The course is focused on your leadership and the strategies and tools needed to run a productive research group. As you work to define your leadership style in this context, the course will provide insight into how to cultivate positive relationships, how teams work best together, and how to identify and resolve interpersonal barriers to the effective conduct of research. Throughout the course, the trainers will offer tools, techniques, and insights tailored specifically to the laboratory/research setting for the leadership of people, good communication, healthy resolution of conflict, and the management of workloads and responsibilities.
Each module begins with an introduction from the trainers, followed by the use of a range of interactive tools – both in self-reflection and in small group breakout activities – to integrate examples, experiences, and ideas from participants into the learning environment.
To keep the learning environment to an effective size for collaboration and support, we will be admitting participants through an application process. Admitted applicants will be notified no later than June 18, 2024.
Catch up on our 2023 training series with the recordings and resources. Check out the details on each series below and our Wistia page for all video content.
SCIENCE LEADERSHIP SERIES
This three part series will cover introductory skills that will help you understand your own leadership style and the essentials to preparing and designing a successful science collaboration.
GRANT WRITING FOR SCIENCE SERIES
In a two part series hosted by Dr. Morgan Giddings of SciFoundry, participants learned the connection between their science, their writing, their skills and their community and how to develop all of these aspects in a grant proposal that is engaging and a strong candidate for funding.
SCIENCE COMMUNICATION SERIES
This three part series, hosted by Dr. Thi Nguyen, focused on how to increase your communication skills, covering the basics of giving a scientific talk, tailoring your message for different audiences, and building the confidence you need to speak in any context.
HOW TO BE A STRATEGIC LAB LEADER
This four-part series, hosted by Dr. Thi Nguyen, explores the principles of setting strategy as an early career investigator, and is designed to facilitate execution of your strategic plan. The workshop helps to create a strategic plan that incorporates your research, service, and mentoring priorities while considering your well-being.
COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT TRAINING SERIES - 2023
A three part series, hosted by Shanell Williams of the UCSF California Preterm Birth Initiative, to help researchers establish collaborative research priorities, form Community Advisory Boards, and disseminate your research with a broad scope of audiences.
FUNDAMENTALS OF COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT - 2022
Through our 2022 three-part virtual training series, hosted by Community-Campus Partnerships for Health, we offered grantees and their teams the opportunity to grow and sharpen their skills around community engagement and supported an environment where researchers and communities of color and historically marginalized communities can seamlessly work together.
General Capacity Building Partners' Trainings
Open Science Resources Website