Course Description
Please join us for this free webinar series where FAES faculty expand on topics they teach in their FAES courses.
The Importance of Qualitative Research: Using Open Ended Questions to Define the Unknown
Wednesday, January 21, 2026, 12PM – 12:30PM ET
Speaker: Julia Langer, University of Grenoble Alpes, France (LEAD 520)
Effective research starts with asking the right people the right questions. This seminar explores how grounded theory and qualitative inquiry help researchers understand the broader story before narrowing their focus. Attendees will learn how effectively used qualitative research aides researchers to ask questions to efficiently understand the heart of their investigation.
Julia Langer MHS is currently a PhD Candidate at the University of Grenoble Alpes, in France. With over 10 years of research in both academic and non academic settings, Ms. Langer is completing her work in psychology, in partnership with the Centre Hospitalier Universitaire Grenoble Alpes toward improving medical students mental health. Ms. Langer teaches NIH's FAES workshops on leadership and qualitative research methods.
Redefining Education: Microcredentials and the Rise of Skill-Based Learning
Wednesday, February 4, 2026, 12PM – 12:30PM ET
Speaker: Angela Cosani, Bioscience Core Skills Institute (BCSI) (BIOL 002)
Skill-based microcredentials are reshaping education and workforce development. In this session, the Bioscience Core Skills Institute explores how verified competencies provide clearer signals of learner readiness, support industry-aligned training, and better meet the needs of biomedical and biotechnology employers. Learn how microcredentials transform career pathways and help educators adapt curricula for emerging workforce demands.
Angela is a nationally recognized leader in skills-based credentialing for the life sciences workforce and the founder of the Bioscience Core Skills Institute. With 15+ years in bioscience education and industry, she has built pathways from high school to biomanufacturing careers and advanced performance-based training. She also serves in national workforce leadership roles across NIIMBL, InnovATEBio, and NCTM.
Click here to view an archive of our past webinars, many with full recordings.
Join FAES for the Following Upcoming Events:
Virtual Information Session: FAES Spring Programming
January 15, 2026 from 1 – 1:30PM ET
Location: Online Synchronous
Join the FAES Academic Programs Team to learn more about our Fall courses, workshops, and our scholarship program.
Register now
FAES Virtual Information Session: Translate Your FAES Coursework into a Hood College Graduate Degree
January 20, 2026 from 12 – 12:30PM ET
Location: Live Online
Join us FAES and Dr. April Boulton, Associate Provost and Dean of the Graduate School at Hood College in Frederick, Maryland. Learn about flexible graduate degrees at Hood College and how your FAES coursework can count toward a Hood College degree or certificate in bioinformatics, health informatics, project management and other areas.
Register now
Science Insight Series: Retrotransposons and Retroviruses; DNA on the Move
January 22, 2026 from 11:45AM – 1:00PM ET (must arrive by 12PM)
Location: FAES Learning Labs Classrooms
Speaker: Henry Levin, Ph.D., Senior Investigator, NICHD, Ph.D. from University of California, Berkeley
Transposable elements (TEs) are mobile forms of DNA that dominate the eukaryotic genome. With regulatory sequences and high copy numbers TEs form regulatory networks that drive genome evolution. Our use of high read sequencing has identified layered mechanisms of TEs that enhance survival when confronted with environmental stress.
Register now!
Science Insight Series: Organoids and Organotypic Slice Cultures: A New Way to Tackle Human-Specific Pathology in AD/ADRD?
February 24 from 11:45AM – 1:00PM ET (must arrive by 12PM)
Location: FAES Learning Labs Classrooms
Speaker: Elise Marsan, Ph.D., Investigator, Center for Alzheimer's and Related Dementias, NIA; Ph.D. from Sorbonne Universities; Neuroscientist
This talk presents human iPSC-derived multicellular organoids and organotypic slice cultures from primate brain as innovative models to study neurodegeneration in Alzheimer’s and related dementias. These systems enable investigation of primate-specific neurons and circuits, revealing cellular and molecular mechanisms underlying selective neuronal vulnerability in AD/ADRD-affected brain regions.
Register now!
The Foundation for Advanced Education in the Sciences (FAES) at NIH seeks to foster education and research in the biomedical sciences by providing instruction at the cutting edge of biological science and its evolving applications. Our goals also include responding to the educational and cultural needs of the NIH community and projecting FAES educational assets globally. All courses and workshops are open to the public. NOTICE OF NONDISCRIMINATORY POLICY AS TO STUDENTS FAES admits students of any race, color, national and ethnic origin to all the rights, privileges, programs, and activities generally accorded or made available to students at the school. It does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, national and ethnic origin, sex, disability, or age in administration of its educational policies, admissions policies, scholarship programs, and other school-administered programs.
