image: Amity Manning, left, and Reeta Rao
Credit: Matt Burgos/WPI
Worcester Polytechnic Institute (WPI) will use a Department of Education fellowship grant to train the next generation of researchers and educators in molecular biology, cell biology, and microbiology.
The Graduate Assistance in Areas of National Need (GAANN) program provides fellowships to assist U.S. citizens pursuing doctoral degrees in fields deemed “areas of national need.” Over the next three years, WPI will receive nearly $900,000 in GAANN funding, which, when combined with a university match, will fund eight doctoral students in the Department of Biology and Biotechnology—two existing doctoral students and six new students. The program will represent a total investment of around $1.2 million.
The need-based fellowships, which will focus on recruiting doctoral candidates from underserved areas and backgrounds, will increase both the footprint and the diversity of the department.
U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Warren, who helped secure the funding for the program, said the fellowships will allow WPI to create new career paths to the life sciences.
“WPI has opened so many doors for Massachusetts students interested in science and technology, and this grant will enable them to build on their powerfully important work,” Warren said. “I will continue fighting for more federal investments for colleges and universities in the Commonwealth to support all our students becoming future leaders.”
Amity Manning, associate professor of biology and biotechnology, will oversee the GAANN fellowship program at WPI. She said the university is uniquely suited to leverage the fellowships.
“We’re set up to have a great balance of research and exposure to teaching,” Manning said. “WPI encourages students to interact with and engage faculty while they gain hands-on training in teaching approaches.”
According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, the job outlook for cell, molecular, and microbiology careers is strong. Employment of microbiologists is expected to grow by 6% by 2033. Employment of biochemists and biophysicists is expected to grow by 9% during the same period; the BLS noted that growth is much faster than the rate for all occupations in the U.S.
Manning said the biology and biotechnology program at WPI already prepares students for careers in everything from drug development to biofuels and environmental protection. The GAANN fellowships will help the university grow its expertise and capacity to teach it.
“We need educators with expertise in cell and molecular biology,” Manning said, “given the importance of those fields in medical research in advances in technology that are going to continue to impact society.”
Fellows will be required to take certain teacher-training courses at WPI and will have access to mentorship programs. They will also work closely with the university’s Office of Diversity, Inclusion, and Multicultural Education (ODIME).
Reeta Rao, professor and department head of biology and biotechnology at WPI and a co-principal investigator on the fellowship grant, said GAANN fellows will be well-prepared for the future.
“To be able to communicate what you're doing in the research lab has many parallels with being able to communicate scientific content with a class,” Rao said. “Training in teaching is a critical component of any scientific career.”
The program has already started recruiting fellows for the start of the 2025-2026 academic year.