Interested in careers beyond academia? BioHubNet and the Medical Biophysics Career Development Association (MBPCDA) is excited to host a Lunch & Learn on March 11th, 12:00-1:00PM at the Bob Bell Auditorium Room 6-604, 610 University Ave. (Princess Margaret Hospital)  
Join us for an impactful session to learn more about BioHubNet’s industry internships and bridging opportunities with the biomanufacturing and life sciences sector, and all their resources to help you navigate the process of gaining hands-on experience to kickstart your career. Registration is required to attend in-person or virtually here: https://luma.com/nw3vcvx4

Interested in mentoring the next wave of scientists and improving high school STEM education? Get involved with the Discovery program this Spring!

The Discovery Program at the University of Toronto is seeking mentors for its upcoming Spring 2026 term (April 2026  – June 2026). This initiative targets high schools with fewer educational resources, offering students an opportunity to engage in university-level STEM projects. In partnership with high school educators from the Toronto District School Board, participating students work in teams to design and execute experiments to solve real-world problems over three full day visits to UofT. We are currently recruiting volunteer mentors to help guide high school students through their iterative designs. As a mentor, you’ll guide students through capstone projects in Biology, Chemistry, and Physics, helping them apply their knowledge in a hands-on, inquiry-based learning environment. You will also have the chance to gain skills and experience for future teaching opportunities, connect with fellow mentors in the Discovery community, and share your passion for science and engineering with students! 

If you’re interested, sign up using this link: https://forms.office.com/r/XhRe5Awatg or scan the QR code on the image below. For more details, visit uoftdiscovery.ca or reach out via email to: discovery@utoronto.ca 

The Alumni Skill Building Workshop, hosted by Career Exploration & Education at the University of Toronto, provides a series of virtual workshops to help students and recent graduates enhance their career skills. These webinars feature U of T alumni offering practical guidance on both technical and transferable skills. The program supports students and recent graduates in gaining skills beyond the classroom, delivering actionable insights and resources for both personal and professional development. It also promotes a culture of lifelong learning and networking between U of T alumni and students. 

Upcoming Workshop: Money Management Essentials
Date & Time: Friday, February 27 from 12:00 PM – 1:00 PM
Alumni Speaker: Tshego Kelesitse (HBSc ’24) 

Event Description: 

Managing money can feel overwhelming at any stage of your postsecondary journey, whether you’re still in school balancing tuition, part-time work, and daily expenses, or you’re preparing to graduate and take on new responsibilities like rent, bills, and full-time employment. This workshop breaks financial management down into simple, practical steps to help both current students and recent graduates strengthen your financial confidence.

Through relatable examples and easy-to-use tools, participants will explore the essentials of budgeting, saving, credit, and debt. You’ll learn how to create a realistic budget, build an emergency fund (even on a student income), understand how credit scores work, and avoid common financial pitfalls. The session also highlights resources, strategies, and habits that can help you prepare for financial independence whether you’re planning ahead for life after graduation or navigating your first year in the workforce.

By the end of the workshop, you’ll leave with clear next steps you can take immediately to better manage your money, reduce stress, and build a strong foundation for your financial future.

Through real-life examples, this session will empower attendees to:

• Identify simple ways to start saving on a student or new-grad income
• Understand the basics of how credit cards, interest rates, and credit scores work
• Apply new habits to build financial confidence and reduce stress related to money management

Registrants will receive the recording of the workshop afterward.

Register HERE!

If you require disability-related accommodations, please contact us at uofthub@utoronto.ca

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Upcoming Workshop: Building Impact Early in Your Career

Date & Time: Thursday, March 19 from 12:00 PM – 1:00 PM

Alumni Speaker: Chaerin Song (HBSc ’23)

Event Description:

The way we work is changing fast. AI and other emerging technologies are rewriting the rules of what one person can do, and employers are taking notice. In small startups, or innovation teams in large companies, a single hire can now design, build, and launch projects that once took entire departments. 

This is the new reality for early-career professionals: you’re not just hired for one skill; you’re valued for your ability to adapt, connect the dots, and deliver results from start to finish. It’s the same mindset that drives successful entrepreneurs, even if you’re not starting your own business. 

In this interactive session, Chaerin Song will share how she went from a single-function data role in a large telecom to becoming the multi-skill problem solver at a fast-moving, 10-person health-tech company. 

By participating in the webinar, attendees will be able to: 

• Explain why one person can now deliver end-to-end impact in many workplaces.
• Compare the benefits between specialist and multi-skill career tracks.
• Apply an entrepreneurial mindset to expand skills and find opportunities. 
• Use four practical habits for building a competitive, adaptable profile.

Registrants will receive the recording of the workshop afterward.

Register HERE!

If you require disability-related accommodations, please contact us at uofthub@utoronto.ca

The U of T Career Exploration & Education department is proud to promote our March 10 In the Field session with Klick Health.  If you are particularly interested in exploring careers that intersect with life sciences, biology, pharmacology, advertising & marketing, project management, data analytics, and even software engineering, this could be a great session for you.

In the Field with Klick Health

Tuesday, March 10

12:45 pm – 4:00 pm

REGISTER ON CLNx

Klick Health is the world’s largest independent commercialization partner for life sciences. For over 25 years, Klick has been laser-focused on developing, launching, and supporting life sciences brands to maximize their full market potential as a core commercialization partner.   Klick believes that when your people are the center of gravity, clients are the ultimate beneficiaries. Success, in its highest form, is always mutual. Their culture of kindness and high performance attracts innovators and leaders who care about doing the best work possible in an environment that supports their rapid growth. Together, Klick Health can turn any problem into a potentially life-changing opportunity.

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In The Field is a small group visit to an organization’s workplace to learn about diverse careers, workplace culture, and to connect with current employees.  Explore how your interests, values, experience, and academic background can connect to different careers.  For more information, visit our website https://studentlife.utoronto.ca/program/in-the-field/

If you have any question or curiosities regarding In the Field, don’t hesitate to contact us at careerexploration@utoronto.ca.

Graduate Writing and Speaking Courses

starting from next week

The end of term can be an intense time for graduates as you work on your assignments, articles, theses, proposals, or course and conference presentations. The Graduate Centre for Academic Communication (GCAC) offers short, non-credit courses designed to support you at every stage of the writing or speaking process. 

Below you will find our current course offerings, some of which start next week. Please click on this link to be taken to the registration page; you will need your UTORid and password, and you may register for up to 2 courses at a time. You will receive an email confirmation after registration. 

Courses to Develop Graduate Thinking, Writing, and Revising Skills

Prewriting: Strategies for Developing and Organizing Your Ideas is a four-week course designed to help you clarify the content and structure of your argument before you begin a draft. You will be introduced to a range of thinking and organizational strategies — freewriting, diagramming arguments, using spreadsheets to synthesize scholarship, tech tools, effective note-taking techniques, and Aristotle’s topics — and you will be encouraged to integrate these strategies with your own learning style.  

Fridays, Mar 6 – Mar 27, 10am — 12 noon (online)

Writing: Conventions of Graduate Writing is a five-week course that covers the transition to graduate writing by providing guidance on the disciplinary practices of synthesizing diverse research, integrating sources smoothly, developing an authorial presence through metadiscourse, building effective structure through paragraphing, writing with formality, and developing your identity as a research writer. The course also offers an opportunity to meet individually with the instructor for feedback on a sample of your writing.

Wednesdays, Feb 25 — Mar 25, 10am—12 noon (online)

Revising: Achieving Flow and Clarity focuses on helping you become a better editor of your own work through developing an informed process for revision. Over five weeks, we cover improving coherence and achieving flow in your writing, learning the principles of clear and stylish sentences, achieving concision, correcting common grammatical errors, and drawing these elements into an effective editorial process. As part of this course, you will have an opportunity to meet and discuss your writing individually with the instructor. 

Fridays, Feb 27 — Mar 27, 1pm — 3pm (online)

Courses to Develop Confident Presentation Skills

Oral Presentation Skills. If you would like to learn how to develop and present polished, focused presentations, this 6-week course is for you. We cover tailoring your message to your audience, structuring your presentation, creating strong visuals, managing the question period, and handling nerves. You will be given the opportunity to give a presentation, develop critical presentation skills while providing feedback to your peers, and receive valuable feedback on your own presentation.  

2 Sections:

Mondays, Feb 23 — Mar 30, 5:30pm–7:30pm (online)

Tuesdays, Feb 24 — Mar 31, 4pm–  6pm (in person at the St. George campus)

Once again, here is the course registration page. 

In addition, the GCAC offers individual feedback on any aspects of your writing through our Writing Centre; and live, online workshops through the semester on a range of graduate topics, including Cultivating Competencies in Generative AI and Academic Writing (Feb 24), Writing a Thesis or Grant Proposal (Mar 11), and Writing Effective Literature Reviews (Mar 18), among many others. The full list of workshops offered until the end of this term is available on our Workshops page.

If you would like to receive timely announcements of our forthcoming courses, workshops, registration dates, and other offerings, please join our listserv and follow us on Instagram (@gcacuoft). For help or inquiries regarding registration, please contact our GCAC administrator at sgs.gcacreg@utoronto.ca. 

Warm wishes as you head into the home stretch of this Winter term!

1. STAGE Call for Applications

STAGE Toronto is currently accepting applications from candidates in relevant departments at the University of Toronto for its training program in molecular epidemiology and statistical -omics. Trainees and mentors work across a wide spectrum of cutting-edge statistical, computational, genomic, epidemiological and population-based science.

🔗 For information about benefits, eligibility, and how to apply, visit: https://stage.utoronto.ca/apply-toronto/
📅 Application Deadline: March 16, 2026

2. STAGE International Speaker Seminar Series (ISSS): Dr. Elana Fertig

Join us for the next instalment of the STAGE ISSS with:

Dr. Elana J. Fertig, PhD, FAIMBE

Director of the Institute for Genome Sciences

Associate Director of Quantitative Sciences

UM Greenebaum Comprehensive Cancer Center

Professor of Medicine and Epidemiology

School of Medicine, University of Maryland

Talk Title: Forecasting Tumor-Immune Dynamics in Pancreatic Cancer

Date: Friday, March 6, 2026

Time: 12 – 1 pm

Format: Online

🔗 For more information and to register: https://stage.utoronto.ca/events/stage-isss-elana-fertig/

Join the Centre for Entrepreneurship for the third installment in their “Share Your Spark” series, presented as part of U of T Entrepreneurship Week. This session explores the journey of a student entrepreneur who aims to propel Canada’s space industry forward. 

Discover how Jeanue Chung (4th year Astronomy & Astrophysics) transformed a national aerospace challenge into a commercial venture, in a fireside chat moderated by U of T alumnus and former Cabinet Minister, The Honourable Tony Clement, P.C. Unlock your own potential and learn how to take your idea to the next level. 

• When: Tuesday, March 3, 2026 @ 5:30 PM (Networking reception to follow) 
• Where: Schwartz Reisman Innovation Campus (108 College St.), 2nd Floor 
• Registration:REGISTER FOR SHARE YOUR SPARK

U of T Robotics Institute Seminar: Sergey Stavisky, “A multi-modal brain-computer interface for restoring lost communication”

Day: March 20, 2026

Time: 3-4 p.m. (EST)

This is a hybrid event. Join in-person in Room 580, Myhal Centre for Engineering Innovation & Entrepreneurship (55 St. George Street, Toronto, Ontario M5S 0C9) or on Zoom.

Event website

A multi-modal brain-computer interface for restoring lost communication

Abstract

Restoring the ability to communicate to people with neurological injuries has long been a goal of neurotechnology research; today, this dream is on the verge of fruition with ongoing commercial cursor and click brain-computer interface (BCI) clinical trials. I will describe our lab’s development of an intracortical speech BCI, which is the next frontier in restoring communication. First, we built a 99% word accuracy “brain-to-text” speech BCI. To this core capability, we’ve added neural cursor control over the participant’s personal computer (despite recording from orofacial cortex). We’ve also augmented text decoding with a loudness layer and a gesture (emoji) layer, both of which provide added expressivity, and we prototyped a neural error decoder which can reduce user frustration. Lastly, I’ll describe our progress towards an instantaneous voice synthesis BCI aimed at functionally replacing the paralyzed vocal system.

About Sergey Stavisky

I’m a neuroscientist and neural engineer working at the intersection of systems and computational neuroscience, neural engineering, and machine learning. I’m trying to understand how the brain controls movements, and to use this knowledge to build brain-computer interface (BCIs) that treat brain injury and disease. My immediate goals are to develop BCIs for restoring speech. Closely related, I’m developing next-generation neural interfaces for human use.

As an Assistant Professor in the Department of Neurological Surgery at the University of California, Davis, I co-direct the UC Davis Neuroprosthetics Lab. Prior to that I was a postdoctoral fellow in the Stanford Neural Prosthetics Translational Laboratory led by Jaimie Henderson and Krishna Shenoy.

Hosted by the University of Toronto Robotics Institute

You are invited to the 2026 Fred Kan Distinguished Lecture in Engineering Ethics

Promoting ethical engineering research is necessary given the potential for widespread social and technological impacts of these research outcomes. But what motivates engineers to think and act ethically, particularly in the domain of research?

In this interactive talk, Dr. Justin L. Hess will address this question by sharing types of critical incidents experienced by engineering faculty who conduct biomedical engineering research. The incident types denote the formative impacts of professional culture and academic norms, engaging in ethical behaviors, observing questionable behaviors, attending to novel perspectives, formal and informal training and mentoring events, and reflecting on one’s own views and experiences. By understanding what experiences inspire engineers to think and act ethically, institutions of higher education and engineering organizations will be better positioned to support ethical growth be it in formal courses, faculty research labs, organizational training efforts, or by reshaping institutional norms.

Register by March 2, 2026. Limited tickets available.

Read more about the Fred Kan lecture series.

Wednesday, March 11, 20266:00 p.m. – 8:30 p.m.
The Faculty Club, 41 Willcocks St, Toronto, ON M5S 3G3
Cost: Free
Limited tickets available

Register Now

Event Page

For questions or more information, please contact istep@utoronto.ca.