Networking, postdoc issues and career advances are happening at NPA 2016

npa meetingNetwork, network, network” is the clichéd battle cry sung from the rooftops at every career development seminar you can set foot in. But when you are a postdoc trying to finish two papers while working on your career transition grant and finding a job, going out of your way to find networking opportunities is an overwhelming enterprise. Plus, not every university, medical school, or liberal arts college has events to foster networking among their postdoctoral community. So, what is a postdoctoral fellow to do? Well, the National Postdoctoral Association (NPA) has the solution for you!

 

The NPA Annual Meeting is a gigantic platform specifically built to foster networking among postdoctoral fellows and postdoctoral offices across the nation. And this is just the tip of the iceberg! The NPA’s mission is “to improve the postdoctoral experience by supporting enhanced research training and a culture of enhanced professional growth to benefit scholarship and innovation.” The Annual Meeting is designed to facilitate just that. The two-day meeting is designed to enhance careers, forge collaborations, and improve the state of the postdoctoral experience.

 

The 2016 Annual Meeting will be hosted by the Van Andel Research Institute at Grand Rapids, MI, March 4-6, 2016. The keynote speaker is the Founder and CEO of Versatile PhD, Paula Chambers, PhD, who is a veritable expert on the plethora of non-academic careers out there for STEM and Humanities and Social Sciences (HSS) doctorates. Plenary speakers include Jabbar R. Bennett, PhD, who is an Associate Provost for diversity and inclusion at Northwestern University; Lauren Celano, MBA, the co-founder and CEO of Propel Careers; Joseph Lazio, PhD, Chief Scientist of the Interplanetary Network Directorate at Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL); Nancy B. Schwartz, PhD, Dean of Postdoctoral Affairs at University of Chicago; and Elizabeth L. Travis, PhD, FASTRO, Associate Vice President for women faculty programs at MD Anderson Cancer Center. The talks will range from leadership and career development, to increasing diversity in the sciences to creating and expanding postdoctoral associations.

 

Ample networking opportunities are included in the meeting agenda. These opportunities are great ways to develop interpersonal and leadership skills, to create connections that can foster long-term career development. Several talks on mentorship for postdocs and faculty are also on the roster. Academic-path-bound fellows will benefit from talks on interview tips, and grant writing tips and from writing groups. Non-academic-bound fellows will get the opportunity to open their horizons on the myriad of career choices available with experts in the fields explaining how a PhD will help move them forward.

 

Sections focusing on diversity, women scientists, as well as international postdoctoral fellows promise to make this meeting an all-inclusive event. Moreover, there are talks on increasing collaborations in the scientific community by engaging in multi-institutional projects and how to go about forging these relationships. The Annual Meeting, therefore, aims to not only improve the state of postdoctoral fellows in the country but also improve the state of research in both STEM and HSS fields. Previous meetings have been hugely successful events with increasingly larger number of people attending each year.

 

UT Southwestern Medical Center (UTSW) has a contingent attending the Annual Meeting every year. Last year, it was attended by Mahesh Padanad, PhD, the Treasurer of UTSW Postdoctoral Association (PDA); Victoria Mgbemna, PhD, PDA Career Development Committee Co-chair; Michelle Greer, Postdoctoral Affairs Office Coordinator; and Natalie Lundsteen, PhD, Director of Graduate Student Development. In the PDA newsletter, the attendees wrote of their experiences. Padanad wrote “at the NPA meeting, I had an opportunity to meet and network with a broad range of folks.” Lundsteen says she was able to “contextualize many of the program and resources suggestions (particularly career ones) for our postdocs” and that it got her “thinking about using some of my almost-forgotten PhD training” (Natalie has a PhD in education with a focus on workplace learning). Greer said “this is the 3rd NPA meeting I’ve attended” and that the Annual Meeting “always serves as a great place to plug back into the national postdoc community.” Finally, Mgbemna sagely points out that the Annual Meeting can “seem overwhelming the first time you walk into the new orientation session, but once you get seated and are talking with someone from another institution, you realize that everyone is genuinely excited about gaining knowledge and has a purpose for attending.”

 

Grand Rapids is a beautiful location with a recommended local cuisine, craft beers, as well as beautiful beaches; it also boasts the world’s biggest art competition. With free evenings to wander around with newfound friends, the 2016 NPA Annual Meeting promises to be great event for overall growth of every attendee.

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