A couple of weeks ago, we celebrated the graduation of our first general registration cohort of our Project Management for Scientists Bootcamp (PMB). They followed in the footsteps of our pilot cohort, which we ran for Chan Zuckerberg Initiative (CZI) grantees at the end of 2024. And we’re excited to announce that the training will be back on our calendar in November/December of this year!
In this blog post, we’ll share a little more about our thinking behind offering PMI (the Mini-workshop, An Introduction to Project Management for Scientists) and PMB as separate but connected trainings, and highlight how these trainings impacted the STEM community, program, and project managers who took them.
If you have any questions about what you read here, please contact training@cscce.org.
“There is a lot of project management advice and resources out there but having a training dedicated to STEM and its unique challenges makes it much more meaningful and immediately valuable.” – PMB24CZI participant
Why Project Management for Scientists?
Project management is an essential skill for a wide range of professionals in STEM, especially those who manage teams (aka, lab groups), convene collaborative projects, or cultivate community projects. However, there is a lack of training available that’s specifically contextualized for the STEM context and focuses on the more human-centric challenges of project management first.
“Honestly one of the best training courses I’ve been to: good content and delivery, professional trainers but friendly and supportive, engaging material throughout, good balance between theory and practice.” – PMB24CZI participant
To fill the need for contextualized and condensed project management training for scientists (and those working in STEM fields), we developed a training in two parts.
The first part is a 2-hour introductory session, PMI, that acts as a foundation for PMB. It introduces and defines several core concepts and the accompanying vocabulary needed to discuss project management, including the three different types of project and the skillsets of project managers. Like all CSCCE trainings, it emphasizes the usefulness of being able to describe complex or nuanced topics in a shared language, enabling easier communication and connection across different STEM projects. If you’re looking for an introduction to the technical side of project management, that’s not what PMI is focused on.
“Excellent presenters – loved how you not only were open to questions but totally engaged in addressing the chat, pivoting conversation about topics that were most pertinent to this group, and gave real examples.” – PMI25Sp participant
The second part, PMB, we offer as an intensive 3-week course. In six, two-hour sessions (plus homework and reading assignments) participants go through the process of constructing a Project Canvas for their own work. PMB is designed for people who know they are responsible for managing their project, understand some of the basics (e.g., they’ve taken PMI or done some of their own research), and want actionable solutions to their challenges.
“This course was beautifully designed! The different instructors’ voices, the mix of lecture/explanation with hands-on practice, the positive feedback from instructors, and the carefully planned timing to go exactly 2 hours each class period demonstrate a thoughtful process of course design and a ton of work behind the scenes to make the class a success.” – PMB25Sp participant
PMI, PMB, or both?
We strongly recommend that, if you have the time and budget, you take PMI as well as PMB. While we do try to recap the core ideas from PMI as part of the PMB pre-reading, the PMB exit survey responses suggest that those who took PM really appreciated how it prepared them to be able to work with the assigned case studies and use the Project Canvas framework in the relatively short course.
Register today!
Registration is now open for PMI and PMB, taking place this November and December, 2025:
- PMI will take place on 5 November 2025 from 11am – 1pm EST / 4-6pm UTC (REGISTER)
- PMB will run on Tuesdays and Fridays beginning Tuesday, 18 November 2025 until Friday, December 12, 2025 (REGISTER)
- Tuesday lessons: 18 November; 2, 9 December at 12-2pm EST / 5-7pm UTC
- Friday Co-Labs: 21 November; 5, 12 December at 12-2pm EST / 5-7pm UTC
*Note: Due to the Thanksgiving Holiday in the U.S., there will be no sessions on Tuesday, 25 November and Friday, 28 November.
You can also choose to bundle your registration, and register for both sessions at the same time!
What our graduates got out of the training
We always ask our course participants for feedback on their training experience via anonymous exit surveys. Based on data from our two PMB cohorts, 94% of participants would recommend the course to others; 95% now feel more confident in their project management responsibilities; and 95% felt that the training gave them tools and knowledge to be more effective in their work.
“Truly an awesome course! I really enjoyed it from start to finish… sorry it came to an end as quickly as it did. Thank you for the hard work. :)” – PMB25Sp participant
Sponsorship and financial aid
We know that the cost of these trainings presents a barrier to participation for some, especially as the STEM funding landscape continues to experience instability and uncertainty. We are actively looking for new ways of supporting broader participation via sponsorship, and if your organization is interested in sponsoring a handful of participants in either PMI or PMB (or both!), please let us know by emailing training@cscce.org.
If you are interested in the trainings, but are currently unable to purchase a full price ticket, please use our course discount request form to let us know what might help.