The BioCareers program helps students prepare for bioeconomy jobs and graduate studies through affordable, high-quality talent development.
Studies show that post-secondary graduates in Canada often lack skills and abilities valued by employers and research supervisors. This skills gap limits career opportunities and impedes growth and innovation in Canada's biotechnology and life science sectors.
Our BioCareers Workshops program enhances job readiness and research preparedness by helping post-secondary student to acquire essential and technical skills that are in high demand but difficult to develop in conventional academic programs. It consists of six 90-minute workshops where students work in groups of 6-10 students complete fun and engaging activities that reinforce and elaborate on a series of professionally-developed online courses.
Workshop participants receive a certificate confirming the completion of a nationally-recognized skills development program!
Participants prepare for the workshops by completing ~20 hours online courses designed to help recent graduates stand out for bioeconomy jobs. They were developed by a leading government-funded Canadian economic development organization and are part of a national skills recognition program. You can read about the organization at their website and watch their videos on YouTube to learn about their Essential Skills and Technical Skills courses and their Skills Recognition program.
The online courses cost $750 but we have made a deal to give out discount codes covering the full amount. While some students can a discount code from their school, we made an independent deal to ensure that students can participant equally regardless of their financial situation and where they study.
Workshop Schedule
Managing research and literature reviews
The workshop introduces the program and covers methods and tools to conduct and organize research efficiently. • Database use • Organizing research notes • Reference managers • Conducting a literature review
Efficient problem-solving strategies
This workshop covers concepts and approaches that students can use to improve their ability to identify and address problems and challenges. • Essential problem-solving skills and why they are important • Identifying strengths and areas for improvement • Strategies to strengthen problem-solving skills
Foundational skills and concepts
This workshop covers skills that deemed essential for bioeconomy jobs and BIOSTEM research, including and techniques that improves scientific reading and writting. Reading Skills • Key words and phrases identification • Skimming and scanning techniques • Question analysis writing Skills • Writing preparation • Plain writing and formatting Numeracy Skills • Metric system measurements • Number conversions • Laboratory budgeting • Concentration and dilution calculations Document Use Skills • Lists and tables • Entry forms • Charts and graphs • Flowcharts
Quality Assurance and Quality Control
The workshop introduces scientific reporting methods and approaches that students can use to ensure quality and reproducibility. • Producing scientific reporting reproducibility and accountability • Introuction to Quality Assurance (QC) and Quality Control (QC) • Standard operation procedures (SOPs) for QA/QC • QA/QC management systems • Health and safety practices
Communication and collaboration
The workshop introduces concepts and approaches that students can use to improve their ability to commicate and collaborate with others. • Communication and collaboration essentials • Tecniques to identify strengths and areas for improvement • Strategies to strengthen communication and collaboration skills
Effective management and work practices
This workshops introduces best practices approaches, including Standard Operating Procedures, Good Labotaroy Practice (GLP), Good Clinical Practice (GCP) and Good Manufacturing Practice (GMP). Laboratory work • Documentating experiments • Lab equipment and material usage • GLP SOPs Clinical work • Introduction to clinical practice • Applications of clinical research • Proper documentation and requirements • GCP SOPs Manufacturing work • GMP SOPs • Quality control requirements • Conducting investigations • Health and safety