Eligibility & Participation

Eligibility

Appointment to CBTP is through individual departments and graduate programs at the University of Michigan, which presently include Biomedical Engineering, Bioinformatics, Biological Chemistry, Cell and Developmental Biology, Molecular, Cellular and Developmental Biology, Chemical Engineering, Chemistry, Civil and Environmental Engineering, Human Genetics, Immunology, Microbiology and Immunology, Pharmaceutical Sciences and Molecular and Integrative Physiology. Students wishing to join CBTP should first apply to the departmental program that is most congruent with their career interests and indicate in the application their desire to be considered for appointment to CBTP. The student's thesis advisor must also be a participating member of the Program. Faculty sponsors may apply for membership in the program when the student applies. Appointment to CBTP usually begins in the student's second year in graduate school, but other appointments are also considered.

 

Join CBTP

Students: Interested students should contact Margaret Allen for information about the next application deadline, which is in May of each year. Appointments to CBTP are made through associated departments or graduate programs. Students must be nominated by their mentor. A nomination letter from the mentor should include evaluation of the student’s aptitude for the program, an indication of the kind of industrial biotechnology experience the student may pursue during their graduate work, and a commitment from the mentor to participate in CBTP activities. The Graduate Committee from each individual program is then asked to rank all applications before submitting for review. In June, the CBTP program committee selects students from this applicant pool.

Faculty: The primary criteria for selection and continuation as training faculty are:

1. the quality of the individual research program,
2. demonstrated research interactions at the cell biology/engineering interface or at the university/industry interface, and
3. active participation in program activities, including teaching in the core course.

In addition, certain other factors must be taken into consideration to ensure a sense of community among students and faculty in the program. University of Michigan faculty members interested in joining CBTP should contact Joel Swanson. Applications consist of a curriculum vitae, a description of the research interests of the laboratory and a list of students trained in the laboratory.

Industry Affiliates: Biotechnology industry scientists and managers interested in participating in CBTP activities are encouraged to apply for affiliate membership in CBTP. Participation in training activities may include presenting a lecture in the seminar series or in the flagship course for the program, Cellular Biotechnology 504, which is taught every year in the winter term. Additionally, a student in the program could do a research internship with the company. These are usually brief experiences of one to three months in which a student makes a tangible connection between their thesis research project and the research program of the industry affiliate. Sometimes it entails working at the company, other times it is more of a coordinated collaboration in which the student stays at the University of Michigan but works on a research project of interest to the company. Please contact Joel Swanson or Margaret Allen for more information.