Partnership research training opportunities
The Research Education Core (REC) offers paid summer research opportunities for graduate students who are interested in cancer research. Trainees are matched, depending on interest, and placed at a UMass Boston or DF/HCC research lab. Trainees are required to participate in professional development activities and present their work at local and national conferences.
Contact U54REC@umb.edu for more information.
REC Graduate Student Assistantship
The Assistantship provides partial funding for talented, highly motivated graduate students who are engaged in mentored cancer-related research at UMass Boston. The graduate assistant will grow their teaching and mentorship through the development of a Journal Club Curriculum, direct mentoring of undergraduate trainees and presenting about their research at conferences. Applicants must be current UMass Boston graduate students.
Contact U54REC@umb.edu for more information.
Postbaccalaureate Fellowship Program
The fellowship engages talented, highly motivated recent college graduates in paid, full-time, mentored, cancer research experiences in research environments across DF/HCC and UMass Boston. Program features that prepare fellows for careers in cancer-related fields include:
- Strong academic, professional, and personal mentoring
- Journal clubs
- Scientific communications course
- Summer research symposium
- Career panel presentations
Applications are currently closed for summer 2025. Contact U54REC@umb.edu for more information.
The Outreach Core (OC) offers paid research opportunities for graduate students who are interested in cancer, public health, and community outreach. Graduate students will engage in a summer internship, research and career support and training on IS, CBPR, science communication and leveraging mentoring, and professional network development.
Contact Sara.Minsky@dfci.harvard.edu for more information.
Non-Partnership research training programs and funding opportunities
UMass Boston Funding Opportunities
- Nancy Goranson Endowment Fund provides research support for graduate students studying biology.
- Herbert Lipke Memorial Endowment Fund supports biology graduate students with funds to travel for scientific conference presentations. (deadline for conferences between November and February – September 15, 2025)
Presenting Your Research
Presenting your research at a conference is a great way to stand out when applying for jobs or graduate school. It costs money to register for a conference, but the funding opportunities listed above can help cover these costs.
- International Conference on Cancer Biology and Oncogenesis, Boston, June 3-4, 2025 (paper submission deadline – May 9, 2025)
- American Society of Human Genetics, Boston, October 14-18, 2025 (abstract deadline – June 9, 2025)
- International Conference on Biological and Life Sciences, Boston, November 5-6, 2025 (paper submission deadline – October 11, 2025)
Finding Internships / Jobs
The search engines below are a good place to start looking for an internship or job. If you find an interesting position, you can Google the job title to find similar opportunities. Example job titles include: Clinical Research Coordinator, Research Data Specialist, Translational Research Coordinator, and Research Assistant.
ONE-YEAR FELLOWSHIPS
- Postbac-CaRE² Program is a collaboration between Florida A&M University and the University of Southern California. This program is designed for trainees interested in pursuing a graduate degree focused on cancer health disparities.
- NIH PREP, Yale Graduate School of Arts and Sciences, is intended to provide participants with the research skills and academic credentials to be competitive applicants for PhD programs in the biological and biomedical sciences.
- Fred Hutch Postbaccalaureate Scholar Program is a flexible one to three-year program designed to foster skills in the lab and the classroom.
TWO to THREE-YEAR FELLOWSHIPS
- Postbaccalaureate Training Program, Hospital for Special Surgery, is a paid, two-year fellowship for recent college graduates interested in conducting biomedical research while applying to graduate school.
- National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences: Postbaccalaureate Program provides two years of biomedical research for students interested in pursuing graduate or professional school.
- Markey Strong Post-Baccalaureate Fellows Program is a two-year research program designed for STEM-H students interested in pursuing a doctoral degree in biomedical science, a health profession, population science, or public health.
- Integrative Training in Cancer Biology, VCU Massey Comprehensive Cancer Center, is a two-year research program involving coursework, career development, and laboratory training. Applications are being reviewed on an ad hoc basis as trainee slots become available.
The National Cancer Institute has a CV/resume databank of interested candidates to be considered for postbaccalaureate fellowships.