2026 ISSCR-SCN Workforce Survey

2026 ISSCR-SCN Workforce Survey
Help Shape the Future of the Regenerative Medicine Workforce

This survey aims to gather global input on training, career pathways, and workforce needs in stem cell research and regenerative medicine. It is intended for individuals currently working in or training for roles in this field.

Your input will inform the ISSCR and SCN's Working Group on Global Workforce Development in Stem Cell Research and Regenerative Medicine. The working group will issue a report in Winter 2026-27 with actionable recommendations for the ISSCR, SCN, and the field to enhance workforce development opportunities for the next generation of leaders. It is critical that we gather perspectives from individuals across career stages, sectors, and geographic regions to ensure the working group's report and recommendations reflect the full diversity of the global stem cell research community.

This survey can be completed anonymously and participation is entirely voluntary. Individual responses will be kept confidential and reported with those of other participants in aggregate. Responses collected will be stored securely in accordance with ISSCR's privacy policy.

As an incentive, participants who complete the survey and provide an email address by July 31 will be entered for a random drawing to receive a 2027 ISSCR membership (membership eligibility applies; see more at https://www.isscr.org/membership)

For more information about the ISSCR and SCN's initiative on Global Workforce Development in Stem Cell Research and Regenerative Medicine, please visit: https://www.isscr.org/global-workforce-development. For questions about the working group or this survey, please contact:
- Andrew Bremer, ISSCR Policy Manager, at abremer@isscr.org
- Ellie Arnold, SCN Training Specialist, at trainingSCN@stemcellnetwork.ca
The survey takes approximately 15-20 minutes to complete.
EDUCATION, TRAINING, AND WORK HISTORY
1. Which of the following best describes your current role(s) in stem cell research and regenerative medicine?

Other (Please specify)
2. Which sector best describes your current primary work environment?

Other (Please specify):
3. Current job title or role:
4. Which of the following best describes the type of work you currently perform?

Other (please specify):
5. What supervisory responsibilities do you have? (check all that apply)

Other (please specify):

6. In each row, identify the geographic region(s) in which your current and/or previous education, training, and work occurred. If a row is not applicable to you, leave that row blank.

Rows	East Asia and the Pacific	Europe and Central Asia	Latin America and the Caribbean	Middle East, North Africa, Afghanistan and Pakistan	North America	South Asia	Sub-Saharan Africa
Undergraduate / Bachelor's / First Degree
Graduate / Professional Degree (e.g., PhD, Master's, MD, PharmD)
Post-doctoral / Fellowship
Technical certification, apprenticeship, or other skilled labor
Current primary region of employment
All previous region(s) of employment (if different than current)

6b. Optional: List the countries in which you have studied or worked.
7. Which best describes your intended career path when you started your current or most recent educational or training program?

Other (Please specify):
8. What was the primary type of work you were trained to perform in your most recent educational or training program?

Other (Please specify):
9. If the type of work you currently perform differs from your education or training, what factors led to this shift?

Other (Please specify):
10. How well did your previous education or training prepare you for your current role?
11. Optional: Please elaborate on how your education and training prepared you for your current role.
12. Optional: Please describe your most difficult career transition. Why was it difficult? What resources could have made this transition easier?
SKILLS AND COMPETENCIES
If you are a current student or trainee (undergraduate student, master's or professional student, graduate student, post-doctoral fellow, etc.): rate the level each skill or competency has been emphasized during your education and training thus far, and the level each is important to your desired future role.

If you are no longer a student or trainee: rate the level each skill or competency was emphasized during your cumulative educational and training experiences, and its level of importance in your current role.

13a. Scientific and technical foundations

Rows	Emphasis during education and training	Importance in your current role or your desired future role
Experimental design and hypothesis testing
Experimental troubleshooting
Content knowledge and literature review
Technical lab skills (in vitro, in vivo)
Reproducibility and rigor
Data interpretation and statistical literacy

13b. Translational and clinical development

Rows	Emphasis during education and training	Importance in your current role or your desired future role
Clinical trial design and execution
Regulatory sciences (approval, pathways, etc.)
Biomanufacturing (including GMP, scale-up, quality control, etc.)
Commercialization and technology transfer (intellectual property, licensing, etc.)

13c. Data, digital, and AI fluency

Rows	Emphasis during education and training	Importance in your current role or your desired future role
Bioinformatics / -omics
Data management & sharing
Artificial Intelligence applications in biology
Programming / coding

13d. Professional and career development skills

Rows	Emphasis during education and training	Importance in your current role or your desired future role
Communication (including scientific and non-scientific audiences
Collaboration and team science
Leadership skills and people management
Grant writing / funding strategy
Project management (including budgeting, managing deliverable timelines, etc.)
Mentorship
Networking
Job search skills (resume or CV writing, interviewing skills)
Identify and evaluate career opportunities and pathways
Translation of scientific skills across sectors and career paths

13e. Systems, ethics, and global context

Rows	Emphasis during education and training	Importance in your current role or your desired future role
Bioethics
Health systems understanding
Health technology assessment / technoeconomic assessment
Patient engagement, public trust
Equity, inclusion, and global access considerations
Policymaking / regulatory and policy decisions

14. Optional: In your opinion, what is the most important skill or competency to expand in stem cell research and regenerative medicine educational and training programs? Why?
15. Optional: If you supervise people or hire new employees, what needed skill(s) or competency(s) do the people you supervise or hire most lack?
ACCESS, SUPPORT, AND BARRIERS

16. During your education and training, to what extent did (or currently do) you have access to the following opportunities?

Rows	No access	Low access	Moderate access	High / Full access	Not applicable
Research funding
Conference attendance
Career development workshops / resources
Networking opportunities
Leadership opportunities
Collaboration Opportunities
Internships / Industry Placements
Exposure to non-academic careers
Mentorship in academia
Mentorship outside of academia

17. What characteristics best describe the mentorship you received (or are currently receiving) during your education and training? (Select all that apply).

Other
18. Which groups do you feel least connected to, but would benefit most from interacting with in your career?

Other (please specify)
19. Which opportunity had the greatest positive impact on your career development?

Other (please specify):
20. Optional: What worked well about that opportunity?
21. Which of the following do you feel would be most useful to expand in education or training programs, especially if you have or had limited access to them? (Select up to 3)

Other
22. Optional: Why would those opportunities be most useful? If they were not fully accessible to you, what positive impact would they have had on your career progression?

23. Which system-level factors affected your ability to remain and progress in the field?

Rows	Not a factor	Minor factor	Moderate factor	Major factor
Funding insecurity
Limited institutional support
Lack of advancement opportunities
Visa, immigration, or other mobility constraints
Workload or staffing shortages
Discrimination or bias
Lack of flexible work arrangements
Supervisor or workplace environment

24. Which personal or contextual factors affected your ability to remain and progress in the field?

Rows	Not a factor	Minor factor	Moderate factor	Major factor
Caregiving responsibilities
Personal health or disability
Partner or family considerations
Financial barriers
Life stage or age-related factors
Mental health or burnout
Language barriers
Being from an underrepresented group in your region
Geographic location / relocation constraints

25. Optional: Are there other factors that have affected your ability to progress your career in stem cell research and regenerative medicine? Please describe.
26. Do you have caregiving responsibilities? (select all that apply)
27. How likely are you to remain in the field of stem cell research and regenerative medicine over the next 5 years?

Other (please describe):
28. How would you rate your level of optimism about your long-term career prospects in stem cell research and regenerative medicine?
Actionable Levers for Societies
29. Which initiatives would have the greatest impact on improving workforce development globally?

Other (Please specify):
30. What is your preference for how these initiatives should be delivered?

Other (Please specify):
31. What cost would be reasonable for you to participate in these initiatives?

Could participate for costs below a certain threshold (Please type the maximum reasonable cost here)
32. Optional: What is one initiative an international or local scientific society could implement that would meaningfully improve workforce development?
33. Optional: Do you have any additional comments or recommendations regarding workforce development in stem cell research and regenerative medicine?
PERSONAL AND OPTIONAL FOLLOW-UP
34. What is your gender?

Prefer to self-describe:
35. Are you associated with ISSCR, SCN, or another stem cell society?

Another international or regional society (please identify):
Optional: Contact information for follow up

It's possible the working group will want to follow up with certain participants with additional questions. If you are willing to be contacted for this follow up discussion, please include your email address below.
Email address
example@example.com
36. I agree to be contacted for a follow-up survey or interview
Should be Empty:

2026 ISSCR-SCN Workforce Survey

EDUCATION, TRAINING, AND WORK HISTORY

SKILLS AND COMPETENCIES

ACCESS, SUPPORT, AND BARRIERS

Actionable Levers for Societies

PERSONAL AND OPTIONAL FOLLOW-UP

Optional: Contact information for follow up