The Society for In Vitro Biology has established several initiatives to support the professional development of our student members. These initiatives include: free registration at the annual meeting, travel awards, research presentation competitions, direct involvement with committees and program planning, and the inclusion of sessions at our annual meeting that promote student professional development. In the next several issues of the In Vitro Report we will include testimonials from students who have benefited from these student initiatives. Please remember that these student initiatives are possible due to the generous financial support of our membership. If you would like to help support the professional development of our student members, please use the following link to make a donation. 
Nancy Engelmann Moran at the 2005 In Vitro Biology Meeting
Participation in the SIVB Student Initiative program was a formative experience for me as a graduate student. I was granted the opportunity in 2007 to serve as the Student Committee Chair. During this time I worked with distinguished SIVB member, Jerry Ranch, to plan a professional development session entitled “Non-technical skills for the working scientist” as well as a workshop on “CV/Resume Writing and Interviewing Skills.” These two sessions were well-received and really helped to fill a void in graduate and post-graduate education. I learned a tremendous amount from our speakers and truly have a firm appreciation for the importance of non-technical skills in science, as well as the importance of careful preparation for applications and interviews. Furthermore, being charged with the responsibility of leading these two sessions was a tremendous career development opportunity for me. From this activity, I learned how to work with an interdisciplinary team of scientists whom I didn’t know very well before to accomplish a shared goal. During the planning of these two sessions I gained a firm grasp of the importance of consistent team communication, establishing group goals and timelines, group decision-making, leadership, and decisiveness. Without a doubt, these are skills that I have since employed for subsequent service activities, collaborative research, and team grant-writing.
SIVB supports student development in other ways which I can also attest to. I was honored to receive a travel award as an undergraduate student to attend the SIVB conference. This award was just the confidence boost I needed to pursue graduate school and was something that I could proudly place on my graduate school applications. I also participated in the annual poster competitions, and really benefited from the experience and invaluable feedback I received from accomplished in vitro researchers.
In short, SIVB supports the development of its student members by providing leadership opportunities, travel and poster awards, outstanding opportunities for scientific mentoring and discussion, and opportunities to present research. I strongly encourage the student members to get involved with SIVB Student Initiatives. Thank you SIVB for supporting my professional growth as a scientist! I am so grateful!
Nancy Engelmann Moran, PhD
Postdoctoral Researcher, Comprehensive Cancer Center, The Ohio State University
