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Welcome All! Tips for Preparing for the Fall Quarter!

Core Programs in the Graduate School extends a warm welcome to all new and returning graduate and professional students to the UW—Bothell, Tacoma, and Seattle.  Whether you are enrolled for a year, a few years, or several, we acknowledge that it takes time to settle into a new city, work rhythm, and culture. Even for those of us who have lived in the Pacific Northwest for many years, we are still discovering new places and making new connections.

For those of you who are returning to campus, we truly hope you had opportunities to re-energize during the summer so you can move forward with your academic, professional, and interpersonal goals.  We also appreciate that many of you are dreaming about and planning for life beyond graduate and professional school.

At Core Programs, we are here to root you on and support you as you work towards your goals — #UWGradSuccess. Here are some tips we hope you find useful, as you prepare for the first week of the new quarter:

You don’t have to know everything.  Your Graduate Program Advisors are doing a fantastic job of organizing departmental orientations and welcome events, and they are sharing a wealth of information about your program requirements and campus resources.  This is important for you, so you can plan ahead for your academic and professional goals.  At the same time, we encourage you to acknowledge that you don’t have to know everything right now.  Prioritize only the most important information and tasks you need to learn and do now and make time to re-visit information about your program and campus resources later (next week, next month, next quarter, etc.) Use an Individual Development Plan (IDP), so you can set goals for yourself with notes like “explore…” or “find out about…”. It takes one step at a time to make progress and figure out what’s next.  Be open and curious.

Find your community.  The University of Washington is a big place, with three campuses and multiple offsite research locations.  We know that a feeling of belonging is critical to your success as graduate and professional students.  It makes a difference to find and connect with people that can support your whole self—and not just your role as a graduate or professional student.  To help you find your community, check out the list below of upcoming welcome events and orientations.

Practice asking for help.  Throughout your time at UW, seeking guidance and feedback on your studies, professional pursuits, and interpersonal goals is also vital to your success.  The trick is knowing when and how to ask for help.   Maybe you’re unsure if you’re critically engaging with course readings in the most effective and efficient ways.  Be proactive, and send an e-mail to a second or third year student in your program, and ask if they can meet for coffee to go over your understanding of one of the readings.  You might learn new study tips that will make your life easier.  When you’re a new student, reaching out to a peer can be a more comfortable option rather than approaching faculty.  Just remember that you were selected out of many applicants to be in your department, so know that you belong here.

You will be hearing from us every two weeks with these e-newsletters. Add cpinfo@uw.edu to your e-mail contacts, to make sure our newsletters arrive in your inbox. You’ll also be hearing from the Graduate School every other week with the Graduate School Digest–a fabulous collection of events, resources, and quick tips for making the most of your graduate student experience.  Check out our Core Programs facebook page and the UW Graduate Student facebook page for more.

Best Regards,

Kelly, Jaye, and Ziyan
Core Programs Team

Making the Most of Seasonal Transitions

Greetings! How has your summer been? If it’s been like ours, there’s been some hard work, some good play, and continual reminders of why we do student affairs work in the Graduate School. Every time we have the privilege of talking with graduate students, we are in awe of your tenacity and creativity.

Some of you may be winding up summer quarter, some may be deep in research mode, others may just be getting started.  We at Core Programs just wanted to check-in and offer a few thoughts for making the remaining month before fall quarter work for you. What do you need most right now?  Is it a real break? Some play time? Some focused effort towards work? Some reflection about what’s ahead for the year?  Although the fall quarter is a little more than a month away, we thought we’d share some helpful tips to help you feel more prepared and ready to hit the ground running.

Set goals.  Make a list of goals that will address your interpersonal, wellness, intellectual, and professional needs.  Break your goals down into manageable tasks.  Deadlines can be self-imposed, but realistic.  Deadlines can also be external depending on whether you are applying for research funding, preparing for your qualifying exams, applying for a job, or ensuring that you block out time for self-care and relaxation.  Remain open to your goals and deadlines shifting, depending on your circumstances.  An individual development plan (IDP) can help you think through, and map out, your goals.

Write.  Maybe you’d like to start writing your thesis, plan to work on another dissertation chapter, or interested in revising that seminar paper so it’s publishable.  Get in the habit of doing structured, timed writing.  Set a goal to write for 30 minutes a day, or every other day, using a timer.  Choose a work space that will enhance your productivity.  For some, it’s the quiet of the library.  For others, it’s a bustling café.  Turn off your web browser and phone (unless you need your phone because of family or work-related responsibilities).  Also, it’s helpful to reach out to peers and have a writing partner or two.  Rely on one another to keep each other accountable to your work.  Here are more general writing resources.

Grow your networks.  Get an early start on your career development and network with professionals in academic, non-profit, private, or governmental sectors.  Your chances of finding, or getting, the job you want increase when you develop and sustain connections with industry professionals.  One strategy is to join LinkedIn (check out this tutorial, if you haven’t joined).  Use its search engine to look up individuals by job title or industry.  Peruse profiles to get a sense of how individuals describe their work, tasks and responsibilities, previous work experience, and the verbiage of their field.  Message individuals whose careers, companies, or industries pique your interest and set up an informational interview.

Find some space to release, reflect, or rejuvenate. While summer is busy for many of us, it also does offer more spaciousness as email inboxes are lighter and the sun is shining high.  Take some time for yourself – alone or with friends – to do something that is solely for you. Set yourself up for fall quarter by “filling your tank” with energy you can draw on as the months ahead get ever more full.  Perhaps start some refreshing habits that could keep you going into the fall.

We hope you find these tips useful as you prepare for the coming year.  As we get closer to the start of the fall quarter, we’ll be announcing an assortment of tri-campus welcome events, career-related programming, and more!  So stay tuned to this newsletter.

And let us know what you are up to!  #UWGradSuccess on Twitter or Instagram, or check out our Core Programs Facebook page.

Best,

Kelly, Jaye, Ziyan
Core Programs Team
UW Graduate School

Getting the Mentoring You Need

Throughout your training, but especially in the postdoc experience, your faculty supervisor plays a significant role with you and your future.  We know there is a full spectrum of what faculty have to offer and how this matches with what you need. From what we have learned, it can take “managing up” and being proactive in your relationship with your faculty advisor to make it work for you. The National Postdoc Association recently posted a blog with exceptional tips for how to get more from the mentoring opportunities you have.  In addition to these points, which we summarize below, we also always recommend developing a mentoring team so you can get a full spectrum of support from many and are not solely dependent on one person alone.

With a few additions from us, here are the top recommendations from the National Postdoc Association blog. See the full blog – available to all UW postdocs through our institutional membership with NPA – for even more tips:

  • Make time to meet regularly with your mentor(s). In many cases, you will need to request and initiate these.  Be prepared for your meetings, send a written summary of progress in advance, and focus your f2f meeting on particular questions or challenges you are confronting currently.  Have specific goals and tasks in mind. Send a follow up email of agreed upon next steps or decisions that get made during the meeting.
  • Be willing to listen and learn. Ask directly for feedback – what is currently going well, and what could be done differently to work more productively or effectively together. Not everyone is skilled at giving feedback, so asking for specific areas where you want to know how you can improve shows strength and the willingness to grow.
  • Be proactive about your needs. Being proactive is much more than just taking the initiative – it’s about using your time during your postdoc experience more effectively. Thinking about what the faculty needs can also help you respect their interests while asserting yours.
  • Be a problem solver. When bringing problems to your mentor, you should have possible solutions in mind to foster the development of your own problem-solving skills. While the mentor can provide ideas and feedback, sometimes no one knows your situation better than you.

As the NPA writer concludes: “No matter what kind of a mentor you have – one who offers little or no help; one who constantly overwhelms you with information; or even a mentor who is an experienced teacher and understands how to work effectively with a postdoc – you will get more out of mentoring if you are proactive in the process.”

Additional Mentoring Resources: 

Originally posted on August 18, 2016.

UW Seattle Campus Resources for Postdocs

The Office of Postdoctoral Affairs convened a brief but rich Winter 2016 Postdoc Orientation last week.  For those unable to attend, we wanted to highlight a few of the resources featured during the event.  We also are debuting the first UW Postdoc Handbook (v 1.0), available by February 1 on our website to download.

Office of Postdoctoral Affairs (OPA) While research advisors, schools, colleges, and programs retain primary responsibility for postdoctoral researchers within their disciplines, the Office of Postdoctoral Affairs (OPA) is here as a resource for postdocs, postdoc advisors and managers. We are invested in a productive postdoc experience where postdocs can successfully transition to their next career move.

Need Career Guidance? UW Career Center
A list of online resources and in-person services offered by the Career Center for postdocs seeking careers in the academia, corporate, non-profit, and government sectors.  Some consultation services are fee-based. All workshops are open to post-docs free of charge. Check out their Academic Career Series and Non-Academic Career Series.

Looking for Community?

FIUTS – FIUTS connects students – and postdocs – to local and global communities through programs that build international awareness, cross-cultural communication, and informed leadership. Based on campus at UW, FIUTS programs create a community of international and American students, members of the local community, and alumni around the world.

Q Center – UW Q Center is a primarily student run resource center dedicated to serving anyone with or without a gender or sexuality: students, postdocs, staff, faculty, alum, and community members. They put on regular programming events, and house a lending library. The Q Center also hosts a queer mentoring program – sign up to be a mentor or receive one. Their office is located at Husky Union Building (HUB) Room 315.

SACNAS – SACNAS UW Chapter supports the mission of fostering success of Chicano/Hispanic and Native American scientists – from college to professionals – to attain advanced degrees, careers, and positions of leadership in science. Postdocs are welcome at monthly meetings and events.

UWPA – The University of Washington Postdoctoral Association (UWPA) is an organization run by postdoctoral researchers for postdoctoral researchers. It is served by an executive committee, elected by peers, who have generously donated their time and efforts to improve the state of postdoctoral affairs at UW.

Working to Resolve Conflict?
Ombuds for consultation and mediation – The Office of the Ombud serves the entire university community by providing a collaborative and confidential environment to discuss your situation, consider options, and develop a plan for the future. Consultation and guidance regarding effective strategies to manage conflicts on your own are most common. Mediation is also available. To make an appointment, please call: 206-543-6028.

Questions about Benefits or Visas?
Benefits Office Anne Winkelman, Director

International Scholars Operations (ISO) For questions about visas, including relevant academic appointments, contact acadvisa@uw.edu.

Need Childcare Resources or Support as a Parent? Worklife and Childcare
Amy Hawkins, Director

There are other offices on campus who can help (the new Postdoc Handbook lists several). If you are in doubt about which services you need, please consult the Office of Postdoc Affairs (UWOPA@uw.edu) and we can point you in the right direction.

Originally posted on January 21, 2016.

Writing Productivity: Tips for Making the Most of Your Summer

From everything we read about writing productivity, protecting a 30-minute writing practice – daily – is what helps build momentum and make progress.  It can also help to remember why you are writing and publishing – there can be a variety of reasons.  What’s yours? My faculty advisor had encouraged me to think about contributing to the peer reviewed literature as joining a conversation. Thinking about writing as participating in key gatherings in the field helped motivate me, more so than simply thinking, “I have to publish so I get a job or get promoted,” though of course that is real too!  Think for yourself: What impact do you want for your work? What goal do you want to reach?

Here’s a blog post that can give you some tips for getting started with that writing practice and making the most of the next 6-8 weeks of summer.  It starts with “forgive yourself” for what you have or haven’t yet been able to do with your summer weeks until now.

The Academic Coaching and Writing site has summarized author Robert Boice’s work on Procrastination and Blocking. Boice is a psychologist and has studied junior faculty on their productivity (or lack thereof) and has developed a framework for the kinds of barriers you can encounter (or create for yourself) and strategies for overcoming them.  His work is aimed at junior faculty – so you know these challenges of getting major writing projects done in the midst of a busy life don’t magically disappear once you get that first faculty position.  It is lifelong learning – I know I love finding these resources for you because I continue to need them and rely on them myself.

Any of this sounds familiar? Boice describes procrastination as “opting for short-term relief through acts that are easy and immediately rewarding, while generally avoiding the thought (and the anxiety) of doing more difficult, delayable, important things” (p. xix). Blocking is “getting stuck at a difficult transition point . . . usually because of paralyzing anxiety and uncertainty, often because the task will be evaluated publicly or because the taskmaster is distasteful” (p. xix).

He goes on to give a number of strategies for overcoming, such as:

  • engage in free writing;
  • find an appropriate location, free from interruptions;
  • schedule writing time every day, not to exceed 90 minutes at a time, with regular breaks and a definite stopping point;
  • stick to a schedule with a system of contingency management, a reward contingent on meeting the day’s goals;
  • turn self-defeating statements into positive statements to reduce anxiety; and
  • learn to use feedback productively.

Find any of this useful? Check out the links for more.  And happy writing! We are writing with you.

Additional Resources:

Originally posted on August 4, 2016.

Funding Opportunities for Postdocs

We understand it can feel daunting to find funding sources for postdocs, and that NIH or NSF mechanisms can be highly competitive and slow to respond.  The Office of Postdoc Affairs worked with our UW Graduate Funding Information Service (GFIS) to identify additional mechanisms for postdocs or early career researchers.  We found these mechanisms can include non-profits, corporations, professional and academic associations, foundations, and government agencies. These tips and links below will be archived in a blogpost on our OPA website for future reference – we highly recommend checking some of these out!

Search in specialized funding databases. More strategic and specific than a Google search, these resources can surface new-to-you funding opportunities. Be sure to look in more than one place (in addition to consulting your network!), as there is no single, comprehensive postdoctoral funding database.

SciVal Funding
This powerful funding database is geared toward upper-level doctoral students, postdocs, and faculty researchers. Covering many disciplines, SciVal Funding allows you to search across funding opportunities from government, non-profit, corporate, and other sources. This database indexes the abstracts of successfully-awarded grants, and UW users can create a profile, allowing them to export results and set up search alerts. Requires UW NetID login.

UCLA GRAPES
The UCLA Graduate and Postdoctoral Extramural Support (GRAPES) Database is an open resource aggregating a variety of external funding opportunities, not only opportunities available for UCLA students. This is a growing and up-to-date funding database, and postdoctoral funding is easily targeted through the “Academic Level” filter on the left-hand side of the page.

Grant Forward
More easily searchable than SciVal Funding, Grant Forward offers UW users an additional funding resource, with features including results exporting and search alerts. Grant Forward (formerly called IRIS) offers broad disciplinary coverage. Postdoctoral opportunities are best found by applying the “Early Career Investigator” applicant type filter or by using postdoc* as a search term. Requires UW NetID login.

Harvard Guide
Harvard’s GSAS Postdoctoral Fellowships database enables searching by academic area, citizenship, career stage, geographic location, fellowship duration, application deadline, and more. Tips for searching the database help ensure you get the results you’re looking for.

Select External Funding Opportunities

All Postdocs Regardless of Citizenship
Amazon Catalyst Grants
Amazon Catalyst at the University of Washington provides students, faculty, and staff of all trades, fields, and disciplines with funding (from $10,000 to $100,000) and mentorship to help them grow early-stage ideas into successful endeavors.

Christine Mirzayan Science & Technology Policy Graduate Fellowship Program
Provides early career individuals with the opportunity to spend 12 weeks at the Academies in DC learning about science and technology policy and the role that scientists and engineers play in advising the nation.

Dan David Prize
Scholarships to registered doctoral and post-doctoral researchers studying at recognized universities throughout the world and doing research in one of the selected fields for the year in which the application is made.

DataONE Summer Internship Program
DataONE offers summer research internships for undergraduates, graduate students and recent postgraduates. DataONE is a virtual organization dedicated to providing open, persistent, robust, and secure access to biodiversity and environmental data.

Google Travel & Conference Grants
These grants are available to traditionally underrepresented groups in technology (including, but not limited to, African Americans, Hispanics, Native Americans, persons with disabilities, women, and veterans) for selected conferences in Computer Science and related technical fields.

Helen Hay Whitney Foundation Research Fellowships
3-year fellowship to support early postdoctoral research training in all basic biomedical sciences. Annual $50,000+ stipend and $1,500 research allowance.

Kluge Fellowships at the Library of Congress
4-11 months of research support to enable use of the Library of Congress collections, with a stipend of $4,200 per month. Recipients of terminal advanced degree within the past several years in the humanities, social sciences, or in a professional field such as architecture or law are eligible.

U.S. Citizens & Permanent Residents Only

CAORC Multi-Country Research Fellowship
Supports advanced regional or trans-regional research in the humanities, social sciences, or allied natural sciences for U.S. doctoral candidates and scholars. Awards of up to $10,500. Other fellowships also available.

Ford Foundation Postdoctoral Fellowship Program
Fellowships including a $45,000 stipend for individuals committed to a career in teaching and research.

Fulbright Postdoctoral Scholar Awards
Open to U.S. scholars who have recently completed their doctoral degree, typically within the 5 previous years. Awards are available in STEM fields, the arts, humanities, and social sciences.

Reed Foundation Ruth Landes Memorial Research Fund
$10,000 to $60,000 per year for research, including field studies and related expenses. Areas of supported research include, but are not limited to, aging, gender and sexuality, race and ethnicity, immigrant and minority populations, culture and education, language and identity, and religion.

Acknowledgement to Rachel Wishkoski, former Graduate Funding Information Services (GFIS) Manager who contributed greatly to the above list.

 

Originally posted on July 21, 2016.

Navigating Authorship Conflicts

There are clear guidelines outlining what “counts” as authorship. While all disciplines have their own nuances in culture, the International Committee of Journal Medical Editors (ICJME) provides a reasonable set of authorship criteria:

  • Substantial contributions to the conception or design of the work; or the acquisition, analysis, or interpretation of data for the work; AND
  • Drafting the work or revising it critically for important intellectual content; AND
  • Final approval of the version to be published; AND
  • Agreement to be accountable for all aspects of the work in ensuring that questions related to the accuracy or integrity of any part of the work are appropriately investigated and resolved.

Note the “and” in those statements. Other contributions can warrant acknowledgments but not rise to the level of authorship. So much can be at stake with authorship – it is our currency in academia and how we establish our contributions in many sectors. The NIH Collaboration Guide recommends negotiating authorship well in advance of writing, and documenting decisions (e.g. who will be first author, who will be a contributing author) in email at least.

However, we know that things may not always go as planned. People move, experiments don’t work out, reviewers ask for additional work, projects stall out, contributions shift.

When these challenges arise, we heard suggestions from a panel of senior faculty and Chuck Sloane and Emma Williams from the UW Office of the Ombuds. These tips include:

  • Speak up. If something feels unfair or not right, get curious. Call a meeting with your PI (or whomever is making the authorship decisions) and ask about what change or decision has occurred. Seek to understand first.
  • If you have a different understanding of fair contributions in a given paper, request a meeting with all the relevant people involved. Using the authorship guidelines or your prior publication agreement as a starting point, ask about changes that have occurred and propose an alternative solution. Justify your position by referencing guidelines, journal practices, potential negative outcomes (if you think there are some) of certain choices. It can help to have an open conversation with everyone regarding what’s at stake with a given publication and authorship choice.
  • Prepare for these conversations by seeking a safe conversation partner first. You can talk through your position with a trusted peer or senior colleague (or the Ombuds or UW Office of Postdoctoral Affairs) first. It will help you let out some frustration and gain a calmer perspective before you approach your co-authors. This preparation can also help you map out the best approach to the discussion, including time, place, who is involved, and what rationale makes the most sense for your position.

Recommended Resource: Who’s on first? Nature (2012)

 

Originally posted on July 7, 2016.

Is “Work/Life” Balance Attainable in Research Careers?

Research has shown that happy people work more effectively, creatively, and collaboratively. It is worth fueling yourself outside work to keep yourself going in work.  Especially as we head into the summer months, think about what choices you can make about your time that will allow you to make the most out of the summer.  Can you go out for a hike or kayak after work (it is light until 9pm or later!)?  Can you take your family for a picnic or camping trip? Is there free outdoor music you want to hear?

There are ebbs and flows to any working life.  Times when a grant is due, for example, when you have to give up weekends (and maybe even sleep).  But these big pushes aren’t sustainable and a research career is a marathon.  You need to rebuild and sustain your energy, and recover your sleep.  Postdoc Elisa Lazzari (UCSD) wrote a blog on this topic: “Start asking yourself what would make your life better. What are the deal-breakers and what can you compromise on? …. Make a list of what things are the most important and honestly work out what you can go without. Chances are that to have an academic position you’ll have to compromise on your personal time, just like other high-profile professionals.” For the full blog post, see Can scientists really have work/life balance?

One other consideration: if you are doing what you love, you can fuel your passion and creative energy within work too.  There are many who resist using the idea of work/life “balance” as it implies those are two separate things.  If you can structure your working life such that it feeds your energy, then you have less need to get away.  It still is healthy to maintain perspective and give yourself distance from your work at times, no matter how immersive it is.  It will help you do better work in the long run – insights gained from a play you saw, or a conversation with a friend can help you move forward in unexpected ways in your research.  And it will help you be a better human too.

Additional resources

Originally posted on June 16, 2016.

Exploring Career Paths: Strategic Steps Postdocs Can Take

In late May 2016, we have had the opportunity to hear from some exceptional speakers on campus who offered their perspective and insights to postdocs regarding exploration and preparation for careers that will be the best fit for YOU.  We excerpted out the following top tips shared during these workshops from guests Kelly Sullivan of the Pacific Northwest National Labs, Linette Demers from Life Science Washington, Matt O’Donnell, Professor and Dean Emeritus in Engineering, Sumit Basu and Hrvoje Benko from Microsoft Research.

  1. Prepare: “Career planning isn’t so much about planning.  But it is about preparing.” Having a clear roadmap won’t always help you, as it may limit you to opportunities or serendipity when something unexpected arises. Instead, invest in preparing for a range of possibilities – diversify your skill sets, cultivate curiosity, and build your networks.
  2. Assess your skills: What is academic research training you for? In part, academic research training is about asking important research questions, developing and pursuing methods to answer those questions, and using results to define outcomes and your next questions.  You are also learning how to work in teams, how to deliver results, and a full range of transferable skills. Learn to talk about your skills and interests in broader more generalizable terms than perhaps your specific, immediate research project may suggest.
  3. Assess your strengths, passion, work style: Talk with your mentor team, or those who have worked with you and know you, and ask: “what do you think I am uniquely good at?” “What do you see as my top contribution(s) to a team or project?” Use free assessments like those offered by Doug’s Guides to get a better sense of what kind of work environment will be the best fit for you.
  4. Explore what is out there: Your research training alone is not career preparation, even for academic positions.  You have to do something more proactive. Develop your “story” about who you are, what your passions are, and how you want to contribute. What opportunities exist? Ask people: I think your job sounds really interesting. How did you get here? Cultivate an opening question “I’m new to this industry/sector, can you tell me what you do?” Get involved with more than just building technical skills in your laboratory.
  5. Understand impact: Learn what is valued and expected in each kind of organization and work setting. Ask: “what does success or impact look like here in this sector, in this organization”? And then ask yourself – is that metric of success and impact meaningful for me.  Is this how I want to contribute, and where my strengths lie.
  6. Gain experience: All the guests discussed the importance of getting out “there” and developing experience and exposure in other sectors, even for a short stint: giving a talk, participating in seminars/sessions that are open to others outside the organization, doing a short 4-12 week internship. These conversations and experiences will both help you decide what sector feels like a good fit for you, and will help distinguish you if you apply for a job in that sector.

Closing tips from speakers:

  • Do something you care about.
  • Summarize who you are without using your technical expertise as a crutch.
  • Let go of worrying about what you are going to “be” – focus more on problems you are passionate about. Follow your curiosity and passion.
  • Spend 5% of your time looking for a new job, even while happy in your current one.
  • Develop relationships. They will take you places and open doors, and make your career worthwhile.
  • Be kind, and humble.  Be realistic about your limitations and acknowledge the contributions of others.

Power Skill of the Month: Pivot. Popularized in the start-up culture, “pivot” describes the ability to drop an unproductive direction or assess signs that suggest that the direction you are pursuing is not going to bear fruit.  Having the ability to pivot to a new direction, release a direction that isn’t panning out, and move on with greater energy and opportunity is key regardless of what field or sector you may work in.

Originally posted on June 2, 2016.