IRACDA at UCSC and CSUMB

Program Summary

Our program is one of 21 NIH-funded Institutional Research and Academic Career Development Award (IRACDA) programs in the nation that prepare postdocs with the foundation for successful careers in academia.

Our IRACDA program is a partnership between the University of California at Santa Cruz (UCSC) and California State University at Monterey Bay (CSUMB), and is operated by UCSC's Institute for the Biology of Stem Cells (IBSC).

We have a strong commitment to promote the well being and success of students and trainees who are historically underrepresented in biomedical research.

Postdoctoral salaries (at UCSC scale), benefits, research supplies, and funds to attend conferences are provided for up to 4 years. Typically, year 1 is supported by the sponsoring research PI and years 2-4 by the NIH program (further details are in our IRACDA handbook).

Throughout the 4-year training period, structured mentoring by research (UCSC) and teaching (CSUMB) mentors will provide postdocs with consistent feedback with respect to the development of research skills, pedagogy training, and career planning. Individual training plans will vary for each trainee. On average, postdocs will focus on:

Biomedical Research (75% time commitment) with a research project that falls within the scope of the NIH, National Institute of General Medical Sciences, research interest.

Career development (25% time commitment), including grant writing, the Responsible Conduct of Research, pedagogy, and teaching training and practice (the latter will be predominantly with a teaching mentor at CSUMB).

Additional Information about IRACDA training outcomes:

• NIH report: IRACDA Outcomes Assessment

• Outcome analysis of the IRACDA program (Emory University)

UCSC Research Mentors (our program recently expanded to all professors at UCSC whose research falls within the scope of the National Institute of General Medical Sciences. Please enquire with individual mentors.)

Resources for UCSC Postdocs