Deliverables
The NSERC CREATE Training Program in BioActives centres around the concept that trainees participate in, reflect upon, and document value-added training activities to generate a portfolio of experiences and expertise through open-ended and experiential opportunities:
Research excellence
• Training in the area of isolating, synthesizing, purifying, characterizing, manipulating and transforming bioactives chemicals, and interdisciplinary, and functionally characterize bioactives
• Integrated and interdisciplinary approaches to project execution
Industry experience and insight
• 3 to 4-month on-site placement for PhD students
• Site tours
• Mock interviews
• Seminars, workshops, and networking events
• Pairing with employees in industry to build profile of non-academic workplaces
• “What we learned” meetings, at least quarterly
Career research skills
• Summer meeting (MNPC): attendance by all trainees
• Journal Club: attendance by trainees working with proteins
• Field course: sourcing bioactives inspired by traditional medicine in Canada
Professional skills and business acumen
• Workshops on e.g. CVs/Resumes/Cover Letters that get noticed!, communication skills, interdisciplinary collaborations, Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion (EDI), GBA+, team dynamics, networking skills, knowledge translation, labour/corporate/tax law (start-ups), management courses and skills, and more!