What Research Education and Training Provides

Professional Development Series

This collection of optional activities is intended to foster improvement in key skills that each research trainee needs for their career. Through hands-on training with feedback from experienced professionals, participants can learn and practice many complex tasks. Some of our sessions have included the topics, "Writing Effective Abstracts," "Patents and Licensing: Working with the Moffitt Intellectual Property Licensing Team," and "Success with SPIN."

Life Skills Series

This series is focused on learning more about who we are as individuals and how to become better at the things we do every day. Some critical skills are more general, but no less important to your success in life. From communication skills to cybersecurity, a broad variety of topics are covered. A few of these topics we’ve covered are "Your Password is Horrible (and other CyberSecurity tales)," "Communications and Emotional Intelligence," and "Understanding Personality Types (DiSC)."

Responsible Conduct of Research Seminar Series

There are certain topics in the world of scientific research that are so important that EVERYBODY needs to know about them. This mandatory series of lectures is where you will learn the key aspects of being a "good" researcher. All Moffitt Postdocs must complete at least 8 hours of RCR instruction within the first year of appointment. Throughout the year, the Office of Postdoctoral Affairs offers a monthly seminar series covering 12 distinct topics.

Moffitt Scientific Symposium

The Moffitt Scientific Symposium brings together trainees from around the cancer center to present their research in the hopes of building collaborative partnerships. The two-day event includes a lecture from the Moffitt Researcher of the Year, poster sessions, oral presentations, a reception and an award ceremony. This is a highly visible event; usually attended by thousands of Moffitt faculty, administrators, postdocs, staff scientists, students and interns.

Junior Scientist Research Partnership Award

The Junior Scientist Research Partnership Award provides the opportunity for a clinical fellow to collaborate on a research project with a post-doctoral fellow. Awards will be for $10,000 for a term of eleven months. Generally, funding will begin the first week in November and be completed by the end of October. This opportunity is open to all clinical fellows and post-doctoral fellows.

Couch Lectureship

The Ted Couch Cancer Research Lectureship was established in 1999 in honor of Ted Couch, a long-time supporter of the cancer center who has played an integral part in our success. The Couch Lectureship aims to honor a scientist who has made significant contributions to cancer research. Our faculty nominates candidates and the Lecturer is determined by a vote. Previous recipients include a veritable who’s who of luminaries in the field. This has been a pipeline for new talent – several awardees have left so impressed with Moffitt that they encouraged their trainees to join us. Importantly, it has enhanced our reputation and inspired the sort of exceptional science that epitomizes the cancer center today.

External Funding Opportunities

Via our internal website, we have external funding opportunities posted and updated on a regular basis for all research scientists, postdocs, students and trainees to browse. The Research Education and Training office offers workshops concentrated on building grant writing skills and familiarity with funding agencies. In conjunction with faculty mentors, RET provides proposal submission assistance and guidance.

If you would like more information about any of these opportunities, send an email to the Research Education and Training team at RET@moffitt.org.