The deepYellow Research and Development Challenge​

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Achieve your R & D goals while saving approximately $150,000 per year

Industry partners will have the opportunity to work with a team of highly motivated M.Sc., Ph.D., and Post-doctoral trainees over the course of a year. The team will carry out a collaborative R & D challenge that meets the needs of the partner company.  Past projects have involved developing a prototype nucleic acid-based pesticides. Our team will provide excellent documentation/reports of all experiments and procedures.

The deepYellow Challenge

RNA Innovation is an industry stream NSERC CREATE funded program that has a mandate to partner with biotech companies to help the Canadian bioeconomy flourish, while training highly-qualified personnel. Industry partners will propose an R & D challenge to a cohort of graduate students and post-doctoral fellows. Trainees will work on the challenge for 120 hours per semester for three consecutive semesters in SynBridge: a highly-equipped synthetic biology incubator at the University of Lethbridge. Financial support (cash or in-kind) for the operation and administration of the challenge will be provided by the industry partner, while trainees will be funded through the RNA Innovation program. This structure will allow for savings of approximately $150,000 per year in staff funding for the industry partner, while also achieving their R & D goals.

Benefits to your company

  • Access to a world-class synthetic biology incubator space including a fully-equipped biochemistry lab (FPLC, FACS, centrifugation, imagers, microscope, etc).
  • Access to a team of highly motivated, NSERC funded graduate students and post-doctoral fellows.
  • Participation in the Program Committee to ensure alignment of the program with industry needs.
  • Significant savings for R & D.
  • Graduates of the RNA Innovation program will be uniquely trained, “job-ready” with knowledge of applied and basic research, and possess a diverse set of leadership skills. This multidisciplinary background will make them ideally suited to careers in a multitude of biotechnology fields and participating industry partners will have increased access to highly qualified personnel upon their graduation.

Industry Partners Responsibility

  • Work with trainees to tackle R & D challenges.
  • Provide mentorship and expertise to trainees.
  • Work together to apply research and develop a final product.
  • Encourage project management and entrepreneurial skills.
  • Provide on-site industry training.
  • After trainees complete the program, industry will have access to highly-qualified personnel for hire, and will also have the opportunity to provide feedback on training.

IF YOU ARE interested Contact the RNA Innovation Program coordinators at admin@RNAInnovation.ca to discuss partnerships and support opportunities.