This summer, 24 young science leaders from 21 institutions across the U.S. and Puerto Rico kicked off their year as fellows of the Yale Ciencia Academy (YCA) for Career Development, a selective professional development program for doctoral students, funded by the National Institutes of Health. The new fellows were competitively selected from a pool of nationwide applicants for their scientific excellence and commitment to inclusion.
Led by Yale University, in collaboration with the non-profit organizations Ciencia Puerto Rico (CienciaPR) and iBiology, YCA equips biomedical and health sciences PhD students from historically marginalized backgrounds with the knowledge, skills, and networks they need to find great postdoctoral positions that will further their academic interests and career goals.
Fellows must be in the final one to two years of their programs to participate in the year-long, in-person and virtual program. The program leverages the CienciaPR community — one of the largest networks of Hispanic/Latinx scientists in the world — among other networks, to provide a diverse cadre of peers, scientific role models, and professional development, mentoring, and diversity and inclusion experts.
Nine Years Running
With this new class, the YCA program has trained nine cohorts since 2016 for a total of 266 young scientists from approximately 80 institutions across the U.S. and Puerto Rico.
The program helps students define the career they want to pursue, improve their professional development and mentoring practices, and increase their science identity and confidence in their ability to navigate graduate school and career transitions successfully. Get to know the full class of 2024 YCA Fellows.
The new cohort visited Yale on July 10-12, 2024, and were joined by the outgoing cohort of 2023-24 YCA fellows to participate in workshops, community building, networking, and mentoring activities. As part of the kickoff workshops, fellows developed trust and a sense of community through improv, led by theater expert Boyd Branch. They also attended a workshop on mentor relationships with longtime YCA collaborators Dr. Fátima Sancheznieto and Dr. Kermin Martínez. Fellows also participated in mental health discussions, tackling subjects such as imposter syndrome, belonging, and strategies for self-care with Shawniel Chamanlal, LCSW, and had the chance to meet Yale faculty, as well as network with the outgoing cohort to share experiences, expectations, and accomplishments.
“I liked the emphasis on identifying the most important values and goals for ourselves as individuals who then have the space to connect with folks from similar identities and develop strategies and feedback to progress towards our goals,” said Kimberly Meza from the YCA 2024 cohort.
Over the upcoming year, the 2024-2025 fellows will gather monthly for online conversations and workshops. Role models and experts will share advice and insights to develop career planning, mentoring, and scientific and interpersonal communication skills. Although all activities are designed toward the successful transition to a post-PhD position matching their career goals, interests, and values, the skills developed through YCA will benefit the fellows at every stage of their scientific career. The cohort will meet again in person at Yale in summer 2025 for a final set of workshops.
“YCA recognizes talented PhD students who are committed to making science more inclusive. We empower them with access to a diverse network of peers and role models, and with training to develop their planning, communication, and mentoring skills,” said Dr. Giovanna Guerrero-Medina, Principal Investigator and Director of YCA. “Our goal is to complement traditional graduate training to help our fellows become the scientists they want to be. Our current cohort of fellows is impressive for their scientific accomplishments, as well as their leadership.”
About Ciencia Puerto Rico
CienciaPR is a nonprofit organization that connects more than 17,000 Puerto Rican and Latine scientists, students, and educators worldwide through an innovative online platform. By leveraging its community’s collective knowledge, the organization has created thousands of resources to improve science education and help forge the next generation of STEM leaders.
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