Salk EDGE Summer Program
Apply Now Application submission deadline: December 5, 2023
The Salk EDGE summer program aims to Elevate Diversity in Graduate Education.
The goal of this exciting, intensive, 2-week hands-on summer program is to train graduate students on cutting edge research techniques while also supporting the use of these new techniques in their home labs. Students will choose a topic to be immersed in while at Salk where they will learn from world renowned Salk scientists and have opportunities to explore San Diego’s vibrant community. This program is designed to help prepare students for post-doctoral research positions in top-tier labs across the country by equipping them with technology that is integral to moving forward innovative careers in scientific research. In addition to fully funded roundtrip travel and housing during the 2 weeks at Salk, the accepted students’ PhD labs will be awarded a $2,000 pilot grant following completion of the program to implement these new technologies.
Students will select one of the following modules:
Genome Editing in Cancer
In the last decade genome editing using CRISPR/Cas9 technologies has become a powerful perturbation technique that is used across nearly all fields of biology. During this two-week, hands-on session at The Salk Institute, students will learn how to use different CRSIPR/Cas9 techniques to create genome edited cell lines in culture. They will perform hands on wet lab experimentation in cancer cells, while also being exposed to several other biological systems where genome editing is heavily used outside of cancer. The goal of this program is to train students to create their own knock out cell lines applicable to their thesis project when they return to their home labs (with the help of a $2,000 pilot grant from The Salk). Students will also interact with several different labs at The Salk Institute to foster professional networks and open future career paths. Finally, students will spend about 30% of their time perfecting valuable soft skills including grant writing, scientific communication, and networking, among others.
Computational Neuroscience
The technology we use to study the brain has rapidly evolved in the past years, now producing a deluge of neural and behavioral data over the course of a typical experiment. This consequently creates a need for new computational methods to analyze large-scale and high-dimensional data. During this two-week, hands-on session at The Salk Institute, students will learn how to use cutting-edge computer vision and deep learning tools commonly used in neuroscience. They will learn how to use these tools to analyze simultaneously recorded neural and behavioral data, while also being exposed to several other biological systems where computational biology is heavily used outside of neuroscience. The goal of this program is to train students in basic Python programming for scientific data analysis and how to use AI-based methods applicable to their thesis project when they return to their home labs (with the help of a $2,000 pilot grant from The Salk). Students will also interact with several different labs at The Salk Institute to foster professional networks and open future career paths. Finally, students will spend about 30% of their time perfecting valuable soft skills including grant writing, scientific communication, and networking, among others.
Bioinformatics of Immune Cells
RNA-sequencing and bioinformatics have revealed immense changes in expression across biological systems. During this two-week, hands-on session at The Salk Institute, students will learn how to analyze transcriptional expression data from RNA-seq analysis of different immune cell populations using bioinformatics. They will perform flow-cytometry based sorting of immune cells, RNA-sequencing library preparation, and bioinformatic analyses while also being exposed to several other biological systems where bioinformatics is heavily used outside of immunology. The goal of this program is to train students to run bulk RNA-sequencing sample preparation and analyses on samples applicable to their thesis project when they return to their home labs (with the help of a $2,000 pilot grant from The Salk). Students will also interact with several different labs at The Salk Institute to foster professional networks and open future career paths. Finally, students will spend about 30% of their time perfecting valuable soft skills including grant writing, scientific communication, and networking, among others.
This program will be held July 22-August 2, 2024. Graduate Students who consider themselves underrepresented in STEM should apply.
For any questions or concerns please email edge@salk.edu.
Click here to view the Salk EDGE summer program terms and conditions.
Application submission deadline: December 5, 2023
Apply Now
