Trainee Resources

To support our trainees' professional and personal development, the Center for Reproductive Science has compiled the following resources from Northwestern University and beyond by category. We have also curated resources that are available exclusively during specific stages of training.

Professional Development

AccessibleNU: The program helps facilitate and support student learning at all levels of ability.
Northwestern Career Advancement (NCA): The NCA helps scholars with various aspects of their career and graduate study advancement including career assessments, job search and resume writing.
Center for Leadership: The center helps students, faculty and staff develop their leadership skills in an engaging environment via their unique assessment tools and expertise.
The Collaborative Learning and Integrated Mentoring in the Biosciences Program (CLIMB): The program offers online tutorial modules for written and oral communication skills development.
Office of Fellowships: The office helps students identify fellowships and grants to advance their academic and professional goals.
The Writing Place: The Writing Place provides peer writing consultations that help students and faculty with any stage of their writing process, including grants and essays for class.
Searle Center for Advancing Learning and Teaching: The center helps enhance teaching and learning at all levels in the university and focuses on developing highly effective learning environments.

Diversity & Inclusion

The Center for Reproductive Science (CRS) has a strong commitment to building a diverse, sustaining and inclusive community at Northwestern. Northwestern and the medical school have many diversity programs and underrepresented student organizations that cultivate an inclusive environment that is aimed at educational success. We at the CRS continue to build bridges with organizations within and outside of Northwestern, striving to create a community of scientists that supports our ever growing and evolving student population.

Feinberg Office of Diversity & Inclusion

The Graduate School Office of Diversity & Inclusion

Northwestern Office of Diversity & Inclusion

Graduate students can contact the CRS for access to the following affinity groups:

Black Graduate Student Association (BGSA)
Comunidad Latinx (CLX)
Graduate Student Association for Latino & Spanish Activities (G-SALSA)
Graduate Women Across Northwestern (GWAN)
Queer Pride Graduate Student Association (QPGSA)

Professional Societies & Organizations

Community Engagement

Center for Civic Engagement: The center helps all members of the Northwestern University community enhance their academic experience via introduction to social responsibility and active engagement with the community at large.
CHIentist: This organization seeks to create a community of local scientists and hosts career-building, professional development and networking events.
Science in Society: This research center focuses on science education and public engagement.

Wellness

The Center for Awareness, Response & Education (CARE): This Northwestern program provides a confidential space for individuals impacted by sexual violence, relationship violence or stalking, including friends or partners of survivors.
Counseling and Psychological Services (CAPS): CAPS offers a variety of services for all students seeking mental wellness.
International Office at Northwestern: International scholars can find programming and resources here.
The Office of Work/Life and Family: This Northwestern office provides programming and resources for graduate students and postdoctoral scientists who are parents.

Resources by Career Stage

Graduate Students

Postdoctoral Fellows

Northwestern Postdoctoral Association is an organization that supports the needs and fosters a community for postdocs at Northwestern.
National Postdoctoral Association is a nonprofit organization that strives to enhance the quality of the postdoctoral experience and provides resources in career planning and advancement, webinars and postdoc advocacy.
The Office of Postdoctoral Affairs (OPA) is a central hub of resources aimed at the postdoctoral community at Northwestern. The OPA works with postdocs, faculty members and administrators to facilitate postdoctoral career development and preparedness as well as support for family and wellness.
AAAS Science & Technology Policy Fellowships
The Burroughs-Wellcome Fund Career Awards in Medical Science (CAMS)
Graduate Women in Science Fellowship
TGS Postdoctoral Travel Awards
Interdisciplinary Biological Sciences Graduate Program (IBiS) Awards
The Lalor Foundation Fellowship
L'Oreal Women in Science Program Fellowship
NIH Loan Repayment in Infertility & Contraception
Pathway to Independence Award (K99/R00)
Ruth L. Kirschstein Postdoctoral Individual National Research Service Award (F32)

Clinical Fellows

Building Interdisciplinary Research Careers in Women's Health (BIRCWH) Program: This NIH-mentored career-development program connects junior faculty, known as BIRCWH Scholars, to senior faculty with shared research interest in women's health and sex-differences research.
Clinical Research–Reproductive Scientist Training (CREST) Program: CREST is a partnership between NICHD and the American Society for Reproductive Medicine (ASRM) that aims to train physicians in the quantitative and methodological principles of clinical research in reproductive medicine.
Reproductive Scientist Development Program (RSDP): This national career development program supports reproductive physician-scientists based in academic departments that address important problems in the field of obstetrics and gynecology.
Women's Reproductive Health Research (WRHR) Career Development Program: Established in the Northwestern Department of Obstetrics & Gynecology, this program offers research training and career development opportunities for physician-scientists.
Foundation for Reproductive Medicine
NIH Loan Repayment in Infertility & Contraception