Education & Engagement

EBRC is committed to the education, training, and professional development of the next generation of engineering biology practitioners. With the goals of promoting awareness and increasing participation in research and the bioeconomy, EBRC’s Education and Engagement Focus Area is dedicated to enhancing diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility of engineering biology and mobilizing talent across the research enterprise and workforce. Through the efforts and leadership of the Education and Engagement Working Group, EBRC facilitates programs and hosts resources and materials for inspired teaching and learning at all levels. The Education and Engagement Focus Area is also home to EBRC’s Student & Postdoc Association (SPA), which fosters a community for trainees from around the world and offers a forum for interaction and collaboration with peers and professionals throughout engineering biology.

Check out the newest Education Module: Introduction to Engineering Biology!

Focused around concepts in the 2019 EBRC roadmap, Engineering Biology, this module consists of presentation slides that can be used (in sequence, or mixed-and-matched) to give students a basic understanding of the tools, technologies, and opportunities in engineering/synthetic biology.

Learn More →

Programs & Activities

  • Industry Internship Program

    Now recruiting host organizations for Summer 2023. For more information or to get involved, please email internship@ebrc.org The Industry Internship Program is a four-month summer program, administered by EBRC, giving […]

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  • EBRsee

    EBRsee is an initiative to curate and produce podcasts, videos, and other content on concepts in engineering biology to increase public awareness and engagement.

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  • Curriculum Modules

    This initiative aims to build on existing resources to produce valuable teaching materials for course instructors and assistants. We are building up-to-date, agile and adaptable curriculum modules for teaching synthetic biology – including dynamic classwork, lab protocols, data analysis and homework, reading and recitation, and quiz and exam materials.

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  • Education & Outreach Activities

    Workshops, short-courses, classroom activities and hands-on training opportunities to share education and training tools in engineering biology.

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  • Mentorship

    Mentorship

    The EBRC Student and Postdoc Association established this program to link students and postdocs with EBRC industry and government partners in an effort to provide a fertile research network and promote best practices for responsible innovation. Through this program, graduate students and postdocs are provided with valuable career support and professional guidance, especially those interested in careers outside of academia.

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Activities in Development

EBRC has a number of education-related activities in development by the Education Working Group. These activities and programs are currently in the information-gathering and organizational stages and we expect to roll them out soon. If you would like more information about these activities, or would like to contribute, please get in touch.

  • K-12 Standards and Curriculum

    The Education Working Group aims to develop and update Kindergarten through High School education standards and curricula for the teaching of concepts of engineering/synthetic biology. The Working Group is currently investigating existing standards and building relationships with educators to advance this initiative.

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Working Group

The Education Working Group is responsible for coordinating educational resources, information, and activities among educators and practitioners in engineering biology-related fields. This group develops programs that support education at all levels and works with industry partners to understand workforce needs.

Chair: Mark Styczynski
Staff Director: Emily Aurand

Education News

  • October 19, 2022

    Check out “Life Lab”, a podcast featuring EBRC members!

    “Life Lab” is a podcast series aimed at kids ages 9-12 and their families. Created in collaboration with Tumble Science Podcast for Kids, “Life Lab” is five episodes about engineering biology to solve some of the world’s biggest challenges, featuring EBRC members and leaders in the engineering biology community. Listen here!

  • July 8, 2022

    Education Module: Synthetic Biology and Machine Learning

    A collection of six discussions with researchers who work at the interface of synthetic biology and machine learning.

  • September 28, 2020

    Read EBRC’s response to the National Defense Education Program’s RFI

    Read EBRC’s response to the DoD’s Request for Information (RFI) on Biotechnology Education and Workforce Development. (August 2020)

  • August 19, 2020

    The Genetic Code Kit: An Open-Source Cell-Free Platform for Biochemical and Biotechnology Education

    Layne C. Williams, Nicole E. Gregorio, Byungcheol So, Wesley Y. Kao, Alan L. Kiste, Pratish A. Patel, Katharine R. Watts and Javin P. Oza. Frontiers in Bioengineering and Biotechnology.

  • August 19, 2019

    Check out our new “Synthetic Biology Media Resources” page

    … and subscribe to EBRC’s YouTube channel to watch more than 170 videos about synthetic biology!

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