MichBio Awarded $150K Grant to Connect Students with Life Sciences Employers
ANN ARBOR, MI – The Michigan Biosciences Industry Association (MichBio) has been awarded a $150,000 grant through the State of Michigan’s Michigan Innovation Fund to launch a new statewide initiative - MI BioTalent Connect - aimed at building stronger connections between Michigan’s higher education students and the life sciences industry.
The MI BioTalent Connect program will convene students from universities and community colleges across Michigan for in-person and virtual experiences with employers representing all facets of the life sciences sector, including medical devices, biopharmaceuticals, diagnostics, health technologies, and industrial biotechnology.
“This initiative addresses a longstanding gap between our state’s rich talent base and its rapidly growing bio-industry,” said Stephen Rapundalo, Ph.D., President and CEO of MichBio. “By offering meaningful exposure to real-world environments, we’re preparing Michigan’s next generation of scientists, engineers, and innovators to not just enter the life sciences workforce - but to lead it.”
Under the program, students will participate in in-person and virtual company tours, interactive industry panels, live demonstrations, and professional development workshops hosted across key innovation hubs including, but not limited to, Ann Arbor, Detroit, Kalamazoo, Grand Rapids, Lansing, and Oakland County.
The initiative will engage between 200 and 300 post-secondary students during its first year, facilitating at least a dozen direct student-employer connections through in-person and virtual visits. These interactions could lead to internships, mentorships, and job-shadowing opportunities.
The MI BioTalent Connect program leverages MichBio’s statewide industry network to bridge academia and employers statewide. Participating companies will represent all sizes and sectors to provide students with career path options. Partnering higher education institutions will include universities and community colleges with established STEM and technical programs serving as talent pipelines to Michigan’s bio-industry.
Additional collaborations will tap Michigan’s economic and workforce development agencies, including Michigan Economic Development Corporation (MEDC) and the Department of Labor and Economic Opportunity (LEO) and Michigan Works!.
“MI BioTalent Connect represents an important investment in connecting the statewide life sciences innovation and manufacturing ecosystem,” said Rapundalo. “It ensures that the next generation of Michigan’s life sciences workforce reflects the diversity of our institutions and communities - urban and rural, large and small.”
MI BioTalent Connect is envisioned as a scalable and replicable model for workforce and innovation pipeline development, with plans to expand to high school programs, virtual micro-internships, and other modes of outreach in future phases.
To sustain and scale the program, MichBio intends to pursue federal workforce grants, corporate sponsorships, and strategic partnerships, ensuring that life sciences talent development remains a cornerstone of the state’s competitiveness in the bioeconomy.
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About MichBio
MichBio is the statewide trade association representing Michigan’s biosciences industry since 1993. Its mission is to drive growth and innovation in the state’s life sciences sector through advocacy, education, collaboration, and resources for companies of all sizes—from early-stage startups to global enterprises.
