Achievement

During the end-of-year interviews, all trainees and associates noted they were gaining baseline knowledge of the other disciplines involved in the IGERT program. Not only are they gaining the basics of these fields, but they are also developing methods of how to learn. They are gaining the ability to answer the question, "How do I walk away with something, with the limited baseline knowledge I have of these disciplines?" The program is teaching participants how to look at issues and research within broader contexts. "The seminar has caused me to look at things from a different perspective and to include all those things in my work," said a trainee at the end-of-year interview. A mentor said that all participants are gaining a "whole systems approach" to research. One trainee said he needed to "give the other person space to talk and think. I learned there's no really right or wrong; you're just talking from a different perspective about the same thing."