The OPA had the pleasure of welcoming a group of new postdocs to the UW at our orientation on September 20, 2018. It was great to spend time with everyone at both the orientation and professional development sessions, as well as the Taco Bar to celebrate National Postdoc Appreciation Week. We truly value your role at the UW and want to help you achieve your professional and personal goals as you move toward an independent career. For those who could…
Summer is the perfect time to make room for activities and experiences that will help you be—and feel–prepared for the coming academic year! The pace can feel slower during this time of the year, and there’s a little more wiggle room to be intentional about visualizing and achieving your intellectual, professional, and interpersonal goals. Maybe you’re starting from scratch (or already have some initial goals) and just need a plan of action. Maybe you need some structured time and support…
In our last newsletter, we shared some take-home messages from the annual National Postdoc Association (NPA) meeting. Here at UW, we hope you were able to join the UWPA for their 14th annual research symposium last week. In addition to the wonderful talks and posters from UW postdocs, the UWPA welcomed postdoc-advocate and national leader Dr. Gary McDowell as the keynote speaker. Dr. McDowell became the first Executive Director of The Future for Research after completing two postdocs in research….
All of us struggle with motivation at different times, and winter can be particularly challenging. That said, it can also be a good time to hunker down and get some work done. Whether you plan to stay in academia or not, you will need written products coming out of your postdoc years to demonstrate what you have accomplished. Perhaps you are also finishing up publications from your doctoral research or laying the groundwork for a new research direction. Recently, the National…
Summer is the perfect time to make room for activities and experiences that will help you be—and feel—prepared for the coming academic year! The pace can feel slower during this time of the year, and there’s a little more wiggle room to be intentional about visualizing and achieving your intellectual, professional, and interpersonal goals. Maybe you’re starting from scratch (or already have some initial goals) and just need a plan of action. Maybe you need some structured time and support…
How do you make friends in grad school? I feel like I missed a crucial seminar where everyone else got paired up. I hear about things that happened on the weekend in passing and the middle schooler in me that followed me all the way up to graduate education is so hurt. Part of what I’m worried about is that I’m pretty outspoken, and I look pretty different from a lot of my classmates. I feel like I’m missing out…
Recently, two graduate students from Chemistry, Sarah Vorpahl and Nick Montoni, organized and led a day-long gathering focused on Strengthening STEM through Diversity. The meeting brought together leaders from UW student organizations, as well as faculty, staff, and community partners to collectively discuss issues of equity in STEM and to develop concrete strategies that will promote a climate of inclusivity for multiple underrepresented communities studying, researching, and working in STEM disciplines. Core Programs attended and gathered several pearls of wisdom from…
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…
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…
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…