Research focus and example topics

Projects in this Division focus on health-related science and technology where careful methodology, ethics, and validation are essential. Typical directions include:

• Biomedical technology and bioengineering workflows (from concept to measurable validation plan)

• Diagnostics, sensing, and bioinstrumentation with clear endpoints and benchmarking logic

• Biomaterials and biointerfaces with evidence-based performance criteria

• Microfluidics and lab-on-a-chip concepts for life science research (design + measurement logic)

• Quantitative biology and health-related data analysis where appropriate and ethically permissible

• Systematic literature synthesis to identify research gaps and underexplored directions in life science

Mentorship model

Accepted Remote Fellows join from around the world and work on milestone-driven projects aligned with their background, readiness, and topic fit. When supervisors are available, Fellows are matched to a supervisor and contribute to research-grade outputs such as: literature maps, study protocols, experimental design plans, analysis notebooks, technical reports, prototypes/specifications (where appropriate), and publishable artifacts.

Responsibility, ethics, and ethical AI use

This Division does not provide medical advice, clinical services, diagnosis, or treatment, and Fellows are not positioned as clinicians. Projects must maintain conservative boundaries: clear definitions of endpoints and metrics, explicit assumptions, transparent uncertainty, and responsible claims. Any work involving sensitive health data, human subjects, or clinical outcome claims requires strict privacy safeguards and appropriate ethical approvals where applicable. AI tools may be used ethically to accelerate literature mapping, evidence extraction, structured synthesis, and analysis support, but the Fellow remains responsible for verification, correctness, and intellectual ownership, with proper attribution.

What success looks like

The objective is not “medical school training.” The objective is the ability to produce credible, defensible research and technology development outputs in life science and health-related domains — aligned with modern scientific standards and ethical practice.

Pathways to join the Life Science & Health Division

Option A — Pre-Fellowship Preparation (recommended if you are not yet ready)

Choose this route if you want to build a strong foundation before applying to the Fellowship. The preparation track helps you:

• define a health-related research question with safe, non-clinical scope

• build a basic portfolio (OSF/GitHub notebook, short report, literature map)

• learn reproducible workflows (protocol thinking, confounders, validation logic)

• produce a “readiness package” for merit-based selection

Suggested Pre-Fellowship starting tasks (examples):

• Write a 1–2 page study or technology roadmap: question → endpoint/metric → method → validation plan → risks.

• Produce an evidence table from 15–25 core papers (claims, methods, endpoints, limitations).

• Draft an experimental or evaluation protocol: controls, confounders, measurement plan, failure modes.

• Create a reproducible analysis notebook (public datasets only) with sensitivity checks and transparent limitations.

Outcome: you finish with verifiable artifacts that make your Fellowship application strong and ethically safe.

Option B — Apply directly to the NanoTRIZ Innovation Fellowship

Choose this route if you already have evidence of readiness (projects, publications, strong bioengineering or quantitative background) and you are ready to deliver measurable outputs within 6–12 months.

Strong signals for direct Fellowship entry:

• public outputs (OSF/GitHub, posters, reports, preprints, publications)

• evidence of rigor (clear endpoints, validation logic, reproducibility, error/confounder awareness)

• a realistic plan with milestones, risks, and evaluation criteria

• ability to commit to milestone-driven work and professional documentation

What to include in your application (Life Science & Health Division)

To be evaluated on merit, submit:

• Output links: DOI / arXiv / OSF / GitHub / portfolio pages (required where available)

• Top 5 skills + evidence: each with a proof link (required)

• Project proposal (1 page): question, scope boundaries, endpoints/metrics, method, milestones, risks, validation plan

• Resources: tools/equipment/datasets/computing access (if relevant)

Example project proposals that fit this Division:

• diagnostic/sensing concept with clear endpoints and a defensible benchmarking plan

• microfluidic life science tool proposal translated into measurable validation steps

• systematic evidence map of an underexplored bioengineering mechanism with testable hypotheses

• reproducible re-analysis of a public biology dataset with robustness checks and limitations

• biomaterials/biointerface direction with defined performance criteria and evaluation protocol