The goal of this course is to increase awareness of biotechnology research, its applications and related career opportunities among middle and high school educators. It is based on NCABR’s Mapping Your Future: Careers in Biomanufacturing curriculum manual.

The manual was updated comprehensively in spring 2014 to reflect the current biomanufacturing and biotechnology landscape in North Carolina.

The course is self-paced and incorporates a variety of modalities, including online learning modules and curriculum review. Participants will earn 10 contact hours (1 CEU) upon completion of the basic, required assignments and 10 additional contact hours (1 additional CEU) if the optional classroom implementation assignment for 3 of the course’s 5 units is completed.

View the North Carolina Essential Standards and Next Generation Science Standards for the curriculum manual and the Teacher Evaluation Matrix for the course.

This course was made possible by the Biogen Foundation.

Rx for Science Literacy Workshops

Since 1994, NCABR’s Rx for Science Literacy workshops have helped more than 5,655 educators from 97 of North Carolina’s 100 counties do just that.

At the workshops, educators tour a research facility, hear from scientists about their latest research advances and take home a free curriculum and other bioscience education materials.

Each workshop is completely free to attend. You may attend as many workshops as you like.

To help offset expenses for substitute teachers, each workshop participant who teaches in North Carolina who attends an entire workshop and provides a completed evaluation is eligible for up to $80 in substitute teacher reimbursement.

The Rx for Science Literacy series is open to all K–12 science teachers and administrators in North Carolina as well as preservice teachers actively pursuing a degree in education.

Operation Outbreak, Emerging Pathogens and Vaccines

Wednesday, March 18, 2026

Virtual with Wake Forest School of Medicine

8:15 a.m. – 4:15 p.m.

NCABR is partnering with the Wake Forest School of Medicine to present Operation Outbreak, Emerging Pathogens and Vaccines, a free virtual one-day workshop on Wednesday, March 18, from 8:15 a.m. – 4:15 p.m.

About the Workshop: This virtual workshop will show middle and high school teachers how to use the Operation Outbreak viral simulation tool, developed by the Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard, with students throughout North Carolina. Operation Outbreak is a free, multidisciplinary outbreak science curriculum that combines biology, epidemiology, public health and social sciences to inspire a holistic understanding of infectious disease outbreaks.

The workshop will feature presentations from subject matter experts at the Wake Forest School of Medicine, who will discuss mRNA vaccines, including their application for use against influenza with newborns, and other vaccines used to protect children and adults from preventable diseases, emerging pathogens and more.

About the Curriculum: Operation Outbreak lesson plans offer an engaging, interdisciplinary exploration of infectious disease outbreaks. Through interactive content, case studies and expert insights, students learn about pathogens, societal responses and prevention strategies — preparing them to tackle health security challenges and to build a resilient future.

Operation Outbreak was created by a middle school civics educator and a Harvard professor to educate students and others about how easily a viral pathogen outbreak can occur. Originally developed as a sticker-based activity with a Bluetooth-based application to simulate an outbreak, Operation Outbreak since has evolved into a global initiative, equipping students, educators and public health practitioners with the tools to understand and respond to outbreaks of any scale. Dr. Todd Brown, the middle school civics educator who co-founded Operation Outbreak, will present the simulation at this workshop and will discuss classroom activities related to the data collected during a simulation.

Funding for this workshop has been made possible by:

Clinical and Translational Science Institute (CTSI)

Center for Vaccines at the Extremes of Aging (CVEA)

UNC Cancer Research and Clinical Pathology Day

Thursday, December 11, 2025

The University of North Carolina School of Medicine

8:00 a.m. – 4:00 p.m.

Come step into medical school for a day with Rx for Science Literacy, which is partnering with The UNC School of Medicine to present UNC Cancer Research and Clinical Pathology Day, a one-day, in-person workshop at the UNC School of Medicine in Chapel Hill.

About the Workshop: UNC scientists will discuss:

Cancer Fundamentals:

• What is cancer and how do we define it?
• The importance of identifying specific subtypes of cancer
• Cancer categories: Hereditary, Chemical/environmental/radiation, Sporadic, Inflammatory/immunosuppression, Oncogenic virus, Hormone imbalances
• Therapy overview: Surgery, Chemotherapy, Immunotherapy, Hormone therapy, Targeted Therapy
• Examples: Solid tumor and hematologic malignancy

Novel Cancer Research Methodologies:

• Introduction to molecular/clinical genetics (diagnostic applications)
• Spatial analysis & proteomics (exciting new research methods, non-diagnostic)

Pathology Careers through a Panel Discussion, to Include:

• Veterinary Pathology
• Pathology PA
• Clinical Lab Scientist
• Pathologist
• Research

The workshop also will include small group, hands-on activities with scientists, and a brief overview of the updated Rx for Science Literacy curriculum manual, which will be provided to all attendees at no cost (a $178 value).

About the Curriculum: With generous support from the Biogen Foundation, NCABR and a team of science writers, biomedical researchers and curriculum developers comprehensively updated and expanded the Rx for Science Literacy curriculum manual in 2020. The updated curriculum includes a comprehensive update of all content, statistics and charts. The manual also includes a variety of new activities, resources, interviews with real world scientists and a new section on CRISPR and CRISPR technology. The manual includes chapters on nanobiotechnology, regenerative medicine and vaccines and is accompanied by resources, including a curriculum crosswalk that shows connections to the 2023 North Carolina science standards, the Next Generation Science Standards, and a reading guide aligned to the Common Core standards.

Funding for this workshop has been made possible by:

Weight Management: The State-of-the-Science,
Obesity, Weight Loss Medications and More

Friday, December 5, 2025

Virtual with Duke University

8:30 a.m. – 4:00 p.m.

Rx for Science Literacy is partnering with the Duke University School of Medicine to present Weight Management: The State-of-the-Science, Obesity, Weight Loss Medications and More, a one-day virtual workshop featuring the updated and expanded Rx for Science Literacy curriculum.

About the Workshop: This workshop will provide an overview of the Rx for Science Literacy curriculum manual, and Duke scientists will address the latest weight management research with a focus on obesity and weight loss medications. Attendees who register after December 1, 2025, will have the option of purchasing a copy of the updated Rx for Science Literacy curriculum manual if they wish to do so, but this is not required. Sub-pay reimbursement will be provided to those who registered prior to December 1, 2025.

North Carolina-certified educators can earn up to one unit of certification renewal credit for attending this program (4 hours of additional work required).

About the Curriculum: With generous support from the Biogen Foundation, NCABR and a team of science writers, biomedical researchers and curriculum developers comprehensively updated and expanded the Rx for Science Literacy curriculum manual in 2020. The updated curriculum includes a comprehensive update of all content, statistics and charts. The manual also includes a variety of new activities, resources, interviews with real world scientists and a new section on CRISPR and CRISPR technology. The manual includes chapters on nanobiotechnology, regenerative medicine and vaccines and is accompanied by resources, including a curriculum crosswalk that shows connections to the 2023 North Carolina science standards, the Next Generation Science Standards, and a reading guide aligned to the Common Core standards.

Funding for this workshop has been made possible by:

Bridging the Gap 2026

The 2026 Bridging the Gap conference will be held October 22-23 at the North Carolina Biotechnology Center in Research Triangle Park.

Bridging the Gap is an annual conference whose goal is to strengthen K-16 STEM education throughout North Carolina.

Bridging the Gap brings together educators, business leaders, government officials and others who play a role in STEM education to share ideas and resources to ultimately fortify and diversify our state and nation’s STEM workforce pipelines. Since 2012, more than 4,420 STEM stakeholders from North Carolina and beyond have attended.

• Date:  October 22-23, 2026
• Conference Location:
    North Carolina Biotechnology Center  Research Triangle Park, N.C.
• Who is it for?  
  • K-12
  • Higher Education
  • Industry
  • Government
  • Other STEM Groups

Let’s Get Started

Registration Presenter Resources Exhibitor Info Sponsorship Opportunities Travel Information

Register Now

PRICE PER ATTENDEE

Through August 31:

K-12 Education – $235

Higher Education : Members – $235; Non-members – $365

Industry: Members – $235; Non-members – $365

Government:  $235

Other STEM Groups: $235

Starting September 1:

K-12 Education: $390

Higher Education: Members – $390; Non-members – $520

Industry: Members – $390; Non-members – $520

Government: $390

Other STEM Groups: $390

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IMPORTANT DATES

September 1: 
Registration prices increase

October 14:

• Last day to receive payments by check
• Last day to cancel registrations
• Last day to register

October 22: 
First day of conference (on-site registration is not available)

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PAYMENTS BY CHECK

NCABR

Attn: Bridging the Gap Conference

P.O. Box 19469

Raleigh, NC 27619-9469

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CANCELLATION POLICY

If you wish to cancel your registration, you must notify us on or before October 14, 2026, to receive a refund. You will be refunded in the manner of your original payment.  

To cancel your registration, please contact Virginia Crisp.

The following is a national call for speakers, open to all STEM stakeholders, including K-12 educators and administrators, higher education faculty and students, and those representing nonprofit organizations, government agencies and other STEM groups.

Presenters are asked to share resources and best practices in STEM education. Presentations should be engaging and should foster collaboration between K-16 STEM education communities.

Each session will be 50 minutes in length.

Submit a Presentation

PRESENTATION CATEGORIES

Citizen Science

50-minute presentation

Provides instruction and ideas for implementing Citizen Science with K-12 students. Citizen Science is the collection and analysis of data relating to the natural world by members of the general public, typically as part of a collaborative project with professional scientists. Sessions may address:

• Implementing Citizen Science in the classroom
• Working with research partners
• Web-based tools and resources
• Co-creating new Citizen Science topics with researchers
• Data matters: Going from raw data to impact and classroom connections

Hands-On, Minds-On Instructional Practices

50-minute presentation

Provides teachers with inquiry-based, hands-on activities and practical guidance for incorporating STEM in the classroom using cross-content integration. Sessions may address:

• STEM to STEAM, STREAM or STEMM: Strategies for building bridges across contexts and disciplines
• STEM in elementary education: Bringing science back into the curriculum
• Mathematical connections to the real world
• Integrating creativity in the hard sciences with STEAM
• Design thinking in the classroom
• Problem- and project-based learning (PBL)
• Instructional design innovations
• Vertical alignment
• The student-centered classroom
• Teaching tools for differentiated instruction
• STEM strategies and implementation
• Grand challenges and critical thinking in the classroom
• Online crowdfunding for classroom needs

Industry Connections: Employment Needs & Career Readiness

50-minute presentation

Links educators to industry leaders in the exploration of specific workforce needs both now and in the future. This track focuses on the connections between education and the world of work through industry insight. Sessions may include:

• Future workforce needs
• Specific STEM industry needs
• Diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives that address STEM industry employment needs
• Middle-skill STEM jobs
• Career readiness and employability
• Extreme vertical alignment
• Connecting education and employment
• Career and Technical Education (CTE)
• The 2+2 pathway
• Industry involvement in the classroom
• Digital disruption
• Entrepreneurial design for teaching
• Automation and artificial intelligence

Outreach Expo

5 to 10-minute presentation repeated for 50 minutes
Attendees move around the room to different tables

Provides attendees from higher education and informal/other STEM groups who are looking to share research outcomes and finished products with an opportunity to:

• Disseminate deliverables from grant-funded research activities
• Disseminate STEM education resources
• Disseminate STEM curricula
• Promote museum and other informal STEM outreach opportunities
• Promote STEM programs for K-12 teachers and students
• Promote products in the final stages of development
• Promote offerings from university centers and institutes
• Promote partnerships for ongoing and future programs with K-12 teachers and students

Preparing and Teaching the Whole Child

50-minute presentation

Explores learning from a whole child development perspective, which recognizes the complex environments in which educators must work while empowering students with the latest STEM learning. This track also explores how to prepare students for today’s information environment and it addresses practical applications and knowledge related to critical thinking, training and development for students and educators. Sessions may address:

• How to support learning, informed instruction and intrinsic motivation
• How to communicate high expectations in the classroom
• How to develop student motivation, efficacy and perseverance
• STEM assessment: Formative and summative
• Social-emotional learning (SEL) and whole child development
• Connections between student wellness and academic success
• Deeper learning: 22nd century skills, including soft skills
• Communication, critical thinking, collaboration and creativity
• What we believe about critical thinking skills and why
• Media and digital literacy

Spanning Silos

50-minute presentation

Connects higher education researchers with K-12 educators to explore the practical application of learning theory and current research in classroom instruction. Sessions may include:

• The science of learning in the real world
• Applying research to personalized learning
• Free and open resources, textbooks, materials and courses
• Curriculum mapping and authentic higher education experiences
• Contextualized instruction
• Higher education collaboration opportunities
• Blended environments and classroom community connections
• Higher education and community collaborations to foster diversity, equity and inclusion in STEM

STEM 101: Exploring the Basics

Provides K-12 teachers with practical strategies to meet STEM classroom needs (time management, space, integration, differentiation, funding, etc.). This track is geared for educators and partners who are new to STEM.

STEM for All

Explores ways to design a STEM learning experience that meets the unique and differentiated needs of all children in the classroom. Leveraging the latest research in universal lesson plan design, educators will learn how to develop lessons and activities that work for all students. Sessions may address:

• Serving K-12 gifted students
• Serving K-12 students with disabilities
• Diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives in K-12 STEM education
• Pedagogies for mentoring underrepresented students in higher education
• Reaching low SES (socioeconomic status), rural, urban and minority students

Teacher Delight

50-minute presentation

Explores the recipe for redefining the teacher role in the classroom and ways teachers can feel supported and empowered in their work. Sessions may address:

• Redefining the teacher role: Moving from lecturer to facilitator
• Communication and partnering with parents
• Professional development and capacity building
• STEM discoveries: Fascinating new findings

TechSpace

50-minute presentation

Proposes alternative classroom designs that encourage active learning and development. This track focuses on emerging pedagogies and technologies designed to activate learning in new and meaningful ways. Sessions may include:

• Artificial intelligence
• Augmented reality
• Alternative classroom design
• Gamification of learning
• The future of coding in the classroom
• The tools, mindset and materials of makers
• Makerspaces and virtual labs
• Augmented reality
• STEM video games
• Artificial intelligence
• Family Code Nights

IMPORTANT DATES

• June 17 – Deadline to submit application to present
• July 15 – Deadline for presenters to be notified
• August 20 – Deadline for presenters to register for the conference or presentation will be cancelled
• October 7 – Deadline to upload slides and/or other materials to be made available after the conference
• October 14 – Deadline for outstanding invoices or presentation will be cancelled

REGISTRATION PRICING FOR PRESENTERS

If your presentation is approved, each person who will be physically present in your presentation must purchase a conference registration. Up to three presenters for each approved presentation will receive a 25% registration discount. (This is in addition to any “early bird” rates that may be in effect for all conference registrants.) A special code to receive this discount will be included in each presenter acceptance email. Please note that the additional 25% discount is limited to individuals listed on the presentation application. Presenter registration discounts cannot be combined with any other registration discounts.

PRESENTER UPLOADS

Presenters who would like to make their slides and/or other materials available on the conference website should upload their slides using the button below no later than October 7. We will post them after the conference ends.

Upload

What to Expect as an Exhibitor 
at Bridging the Gap 2026

The Bridging the Gap 2026 exhibit space will be integrated into the heart of the action in the conference’s main thoroughfare – all on the first floor in the North Carolina Biotechnology Center’s main lobby. Conference attendees will not need to search for you because they will mix and mingle and enjoy snacks, meals and refreshments where you are. Exhibitors will enjoy connecting with potential customers and they will enjoy Bridging the Gap’s fresh hot meals and all-day beverage service in a beautiful space known for its soaring 40-foot ceilings and gleaming hardwood floors – all awash in natural sunlight.

Exhibitor Registration

$395 FOR NONPROFITS/ $525 FOR OTHERS

What’s Included?

• Logo included in conference program
• 6-foot exhibit table and a chair
• WiFi and electricity included – most conferences charge you extra!  (deadline to request electricity is September 11)
• 1 representative permitted to staff table (a value of $235)
• Delicious hot buffet lunches and all-day beverages on-site – right there in the exhibit area so you never need to leave the conference venue – for both days of the conference.

 

IMPORTANT DATES

September 10

• Last day to register as an exhibitor

September 11

• Last day to upload logo for conference program
• Last day to submit request for electricity at booth
• Last day to cancel registration

October 21

• Exhibit setup from 2:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m.

October 22

• Exhibit setup from 7:00 a.m. to 8:30 a.m.
• Exhibits open 8:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.

October 23

• Exhibits open 7:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m.
• Exhibit breakdown starts at 3:00 p.m.

NCABR reserves the right to refuse to admit or to eject from the exhibit hall or any other area leased by NCABR for Bridging the Gap any person, exhibit or thing, at the sole discretion of NCABR, in its opinion, that is not in keeping with the character and purpose of the Bridging the Gap conference.

 

Download Sponsorship Package

Conference Location

North Carolina Biotechnology Center

15 TW Alexander Drive Research Triangle Park, NC 27709

 

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Preferred Hotel

Homewood Suites by Hilton Raleigh-Durham AP/Research Triangle

• 4603 Central Park Drive
  Durham, NC 27703 |
  919-474-9900

Special Group Rate= $139/night plus taxes if booked by October 7, 2026.

Click HERE to make your reservation.

 

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Area Hotels

Delta Hotels by Marriott Raleigh-Durham at Research Triangle Park

• 151 Tatum Drive  Durham, NC 27703 | 919-474-3000

Doubletree Suites Raleigh-Durham

• 2515 Meridian Parkway  Durham, NC 27713 | 919-361-4660

Hilton Garden Inn

• 4620 S. Miami Blvd.  Durham, NC 27703 | 919-941-6066

Holiday Inn Express

• 4912 S. Miami Blvd.  Durham, NC 27703 | 919-474-9800

Conference Organized By:

Presenting Sponsor:

Silver Sponsor:

Partners: