COMBINE

Graduate fellowships in network biology

  • Program name: COMBINE (Computation and Mathematics for Biological Networks)
  • Funding: $2.9M
  • Website: combine.umd.edu
  • Duration: 2017 - 2021
  • My involvement: 2017 - 2021

COMBINE was a graduate fellowship program funded by NSF’s NRT (NSF Research Traineeship) that ran from 2017 to 2022 at UMD. The scientific focus was network science across biological scales.

As Research Educator of COMBINE, I designed and taught curriculum.

I was also heavily involved in co-managing the program, leading and/or helping with: recruitment, admissions, event planning, progress tracking, assessment, and reporting.

Some of my unique contributions:

  • Helped develop the grant proposal that funded the program ($2,959,866)
  • Designed the program visual brand, along with recruitment flyers and event banners (samples below)
  • Co-designed and co-taught 4 semesters of graduate course on scientific communication (PHYS782: Interdisciplinary Research and Communication Practicum for Data-Driven Science; 2020 syllabus)
  • Tracked and supported graduate fellow program progress
  • Co-developed, co-implemented, and co-analyzed assessment surveys, leading to program improvements
  • Co-wrote journal article reporting on assessment data (PLOS One 2021)
  • Mentored graduate student teams to design and teach Peer-to-Peer Tutorials (workshops on various technical and professional development topics)
  • Led graduate student teams to design and execute public outreach activities (Maryland Day participation)

Associated grants:

COMBINE fellows doing outreach at Maryland Day | Conference poster about COMBINE created by me (large version) | Attendees of COMBINE career workshop organized by COMBINE fellows under my mentorship
COMBINE brochure created by me