We are excited to bring together science educators from across the U.S. on the National Institutes of Health (NIH) campus in Bethesda, MD, from August 5-9, 2024.

Thanks to all of you who expressed an interest in this event by applying.  The applications are now under review and applicants will be notified of their status by the end of May.

Do you teach high school-, community college-, or undergraduate-level science courses? 

Join us for a week-long, in-person event to collaborate with other educators and NCBI experts to create exciting data-driven curricula. Leave the event with a lesson you can use in your classrooms/courses to prepare your students for real-world scientific research.

You will participate in interactive training workshops on NCBI resources and a panel discussion on employing data-driven, active learning exercises in science classes. Throughout the week, you will work with a team of educators in your discipline in a codeathon-style curricula-thon to create a curricular package (including learning objectives, course materials, and assessments) that you can use in your classroom/course. 

Examples of projects:

• Intrepid Reporter: Gather key information on a gene or chemical in the news!
• Outbreak Hunter: Identify a pathogen
• Modern Biochemistry from Genes to Proteins: design a gene cloning experiment & explore the protein’s structure and function
• Identify a mystery chemical and learn about its environmental impact
• Compare key genomic regions and genes of common domestic animal breeds to understand your pet’s phenotype
• Create an algorithm to predict the potential health impact of a patient’s genetic variant

NCBI staff will help your team publish your work on a public GitHub site (no prior experience needed!) to share with each other, colleagues, representatives from the NIH, and the public.

After this event, we encourage your team to continue collaborating as you implement lessons in your classrooms/courses and possibly co-author manuscripts about your team’s work.

Qualifications & Requirements

U.S.-based science educators at the high-school through college level who:

• Are actively in an academic educator role
• Teach in a discipline relevant to NCBI data and/or tools
• Have some experience with NCBI resources, such as the Nucleotide database, BLAST, or PubChem
• Would be able to implement projects in their classrooms in the near-term
• Can explain how participating in this event will benefit their students

Are you working with a historically underserved population?

• Travel support from the Network of the National Library of Medicine (NNLM) may be available for you. Please see our application form for more details.

Things you Need to Know!

• Please note, your application must be submitted by midnight May 12, 2024 ET and selected applicants will be notified by the end of May 2024.
• Due to the active, hands-on, team-based nature of this event, you will be expected to join us on the NIH campus in Bethesda, Maryland from 9 am to 5 pm each day. We cannot provide virtual/hybrid accommodations.
• To fully participate in all aspects of this event, you will need to bring a WiFi-capable laptop.
• If your application is accepted and upon request, our team can provide you with a support letter to share with your supervisor.
• Unfortunately, we cannot offer continuing education credits, however after the event you will receive a certificate of participation.

If you have any questions about this event, please feel free to contact us at workshops@ncbi.nlm.nih.gov.