The Academic Career Development Committee provides opportunities for postdocs pursuing a career in academia. This mission is realized by organizing numerous events throughout the year that include:
Chair: [email protected]
See the home page for upcoming events.
May 26th, 2022- Seminar chaired by Dr. Andy Karplus, Distinguished Professor at OSU discussed everything about grant proposals! Information on when, where, and how to submit grant applications, how to write a successful grant application, how to budget grant funding, and more.
Dr. Andy Karplus, Distinguished Professor at OSU
OSU Postdoctoral Association offered Career Seminar Series for OSU postdocs. The purpose of the seminars was to improve the job application skills of postdocs. The seminar series provided advice, tools, and support for developing faculty packets
OPA thanks the speakers that gave the seminars.
Feb-24, Introduction to Faculty Packets – Prof. Marie Harvey, Public Health. Download slides here.
Mar-2, Introduction to CVs and Resumes - Prof. Kate Field, Microbiology. Download materials here.
Mar-9, Introduction to Teaching Philosophy - Dr. Brooke Howland and Lexi Schlosser, Center for Teaching and Learning. Download materials here.
Mar-16, Introduction to Research Statement - Dr. Ramesh Sagili, Apiculture. Download slides here.
Apr-10, Introduction to Cover Letters – Dr. Jared LeBoldus, Botany and Plant Pathology
OPA hosted Clara Llebot Lorente and Diana Park from the library to give an overview of the services that are available and brainstorm with the postdocs on how the library can best support them.
During the seminar, services offered by the library was presented, oriented particularly to researchers, including postdocs. These services go beyond giving you access to documents/scholarly materials and include introductory workshops for Git, the Unix Shell, Matlab, citation managers and data management, etc.
You can find the presentation from the vent here.
Each year OPA hosts the special postdoc – graduate student mentoring event. During the event, a panel discussion on industry jobs, academia and postdoc opportunities was hosted. Postdocs will be paired with graduate students to mentor on a variety of subjects.
The OPA welcome the cooperation with the graduate school and hope both postdocs and students will benefit from this mentoring project.
The joint UO-OSU Diversity Workshop and Research Symposium was a fantastic experience for all postdocs who attended. After a sumptuous lunch, the workshop was led by Elly Vandegrift, Associate Director of the Science Literacy Program. The core focus of the workshop was to be able to dig deep and identify our shortcomings, identify our conscious and subconscious biases and promote an environment of inclusion and diversity. The workshop was centered around three principal themes – (1) how various professional developmental activities have impacted our views on teaching and inclusivity, (2) how can we create an inclusive, diverse and equitable environment for our students and (3) what passions drive our teaching and how best to prepare a diversity statement for academic job applications.
The research symposium, which followed the diversity workshop, saw a varied line up of speakers across disciplines, from both the universities. It was an amazing learning experience for all attendees and the breadth and depth of our colleagues’ research was astounding! Speakers presented their research on pests, pollinators, bats, microbiomes, mice, octopus, ice fish, water-catalyzing membranes etc. to name a few topics! Two amazing talks on language and cultural perception of language and pronunciation were also a treat. Post the event, a social gathering with pizza and beer followed. Overall the event was a great success and continues to foster the collaborative and stimulating relationships between the two postdoctoral associations of both Universities.
OPA hosted Elizabeth Etherington, Research Program Administrator from the College of Agricultural Sciences for an interactive discussion on what it takes to prepare and submit a competitive grant application package. Tips on where to find funding opportunities, how to navigate the process (both with the institution and with the sponsoring agencies), budget development, and successful collaboration.
At our most recent professional development seminar, Amanda Fisher talked about how to broaden the reach of your research through outreach opportunities. Amanda is the Senior Science Communication Specialist at the Oregon Museum of Science and Industry (OMSI) and made a case for increased science communication (beyond satisfying NSF requirements!) and provided an overview of the tools and opportunities available to make meaningful connections with the public. She also discussed a number of ways researchers can get more involved, including through OMSI’s Science Communication Fellowship, a program that prepares STEM professionals to effectively communicate with a variety of audiences through trainings that are fun, interactive, and relevant.
For more information and register, visit: omsi.edu/science-communication-services
The OPA held a short series of panel sessions that addressed the various challenges academics face at different stages of their career. Assistant and associate professors engaged in discussion about the transition from a post doc to faculty position and offered advice on how to make it easier.
April 19: Dr. Carolee Bull will discuss about How To Be Your Own Best Mentor on May 11, 9 am to noon in Memorial Union Room 206.
April 19: Liz Etherington will discuss about Grant Writing Procedures for Postdocs at LPSC Rm 402 at 12 - 1 PM.
February 1: Dr. Chris Hagan will discuss about Mentoring Postdocs from My Perspective at KEC Rm 1005 at 11:00 AM-12:00 PM.
January 25: Strategies Towards Time Management and Balance facilitated by Dr. Toni Doolen at Linus Pauling Science Center Rm 402 on Thursday, January 25, 2017, 12:00-1:00 PM. See slides here.