Required Seminars and Events

In addition to coursework and timing-specific programming, during the course of their SB2 training, students will be expected to participate in BDC activities by attending:

  1. Scientific Seminars (must attend all).This seminar series will be a combination of the following:
    1. BDC Internal Seminars. Monthly seminar series in which BDC trainees present their research in formal talks to the BDC community. Attendance will be required for SB2 students and alumni until graduation.
    2. BDC Breakthroughs in Biotechnology Seminars. This speaker series brings in leading industry scientists from startups and pharma to talk about their research programs. The speaker then joins up to 4 BDC trainees and one faculty member for dinner providing exceptional networking opportunity. Previous speakers have included the founder of a biotech startup and the Director of the Immuno-oncology research team who helped bring the CAR-T cell therapy Kymriah to market. SB2 students will be encouraged to organize at least 5 of these events per academic year, and a dinner slot will be saved for SB2 students each month.

  2. Bagels and Bios (must attend at least three).Each month a PhD scientist from an array of career paths joins a small group of BDC students for an informal career path discussion over breakfast. Previous speakers have ranged from industry scientists, to scientists in venture capital, and entrepreneurs that launched local startups. These have been highly rated by students in evaluations. The series is currently run by BDC students. Spots will be reserved for SB2 students and SB2 alumni will be encouraged to participate in and organize the series.

  3. BDC Annual Symposium (must attend each year).The BDC hosts a yearly symposium which brings together leading researchers in both academia and industry to highlight groundbreaking research in synthetic biology and biological design alongside BDC students and faculty. The event had over 200 attendees from both academia and industry around the city.

  4. Scientific Conferences (must attend at least one per year).

  5. MassBio Events (must attend at least one per year).MassBio has a valuable array of events geared towards budding entrepreneurs through pharmaceutical companies.

  6. Seminars Outside of BU (must attend at least one per year)

  7. Seminars from Outside Home Department (must attend at least four per year). If a scientific talk that fulfills one of the other requirements is outside of the student’s department, it can fulfill this requirement as well.