2-Year Program Duration: February 2026 through December 2027
Spring program hours: 1-2 planning meetings with summer lab mentor arranged by teacher and mentor; 12 hours of asynchronous, online Cancer Biology lessons
Summer program dates: Monday, June 1, 2026 through Friday, July 31, 2026; 40 hours per week
Excluding the week of June 29, 2026 through July 3, 2026 for holiday break
Summer program hours: 9:00am to 4:00pm daily
Fall program hours: Attendance at 1-2 Community Engagement Events on a Saturday
Applications open: Online application opens November 10
Location: University of Colorado Anschutz Campus
Eligibility: You must be a high school science teacher with a Colorado Teaching License and living in the Denver area, and have transportation to and from the CU Anschutz campus.
Stipend: $8,500 per year for 2 years
Graduate credit: Earn 12 graduate credits from the University of Colorado that can be applied to a masters degree
Biomedical Sciences Research Certificate: Earn this certificate concurrently with graduate credits from the University of Colorado
Support for Career & Technical Education (CTE) Certificate: Teachers can receive authorization towards achieving their Secondary CTE in Biotechnology credential and support in navigating the online training
Lab mentor: Teachers will work in a faculty mentor’s research lab to plan, design, conduct, analyze, and communicate real research
Research team: As an integral part of a nested-mentor-model, teachers will work in a team of one high school teacher and two high school students. The team will be mentored by a faculty scientist and a member of their research group
Research Symposium: Teacher-student teams will prepare a scientific poster and present their research findings at a Research Symposium
Bioscience Educator Support & Training (BEST): Teachers will complete 12 classroom hours of professional development on teaching using hands-on bioscience kits
Access to the BEST Lending Library: Once teachers complete the professional development with BEST kits in their first summer, they can checkout kits throughout the academic year
Membership in the START Teacher Network: This network will connect START teachers to share curriculum, activities and ideas year-round
START Teacher Program Summary of Requirements
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