Education Initiatives
The Genomics Institute at UC Santa Cruz is dedicated to raising up and inspiring the next generation of scientists. We are partnering with local high schools and community colleges to bring hands-on learning experiences to as many students as possible.
Bioinformatics Short Course
The UC Santa Cruz Summer Short Course in Bioinformatics and Coding introduces community college students to essential data science skills for application in genomics, cancer research, and other biomedical applications. NO prior experience required! This training is offered 100% online and especially encourages scholarship applications from students who are members of populations that are historically underrepresented in higher education.
GREAT Mentoring Program
The “Genome Research Experiences to Attract Talented Undergraduates into the Genomics Field to Enhance Diversity” (GREAT) program is an NIH-funded initiative that aims to provide students from diverse backgrounds with opportunities to conduct genomics-based research and receive career training from research-intensive universities such as UC Santa Cruz. This pilot program is currently only open to students from California State University Monterey Bay (CSUMB) to participate in an eight-week research program at UC Santa Cruz.
Project-Based Learning
Our Live Cell Biotechnology Discovery Lab is creating new technologies to bring hands-on labratory experiments to classrooms around the world that would normally not have access to the resources it takes to conduct experiments with live cultures. We have implemented these technologies at Alisal High School, several classrooms in Latin America, and two undergraduate courses and we are working on expanding these hands-on learning opportunities to as many students as possible.