BGS Career Development

Making It Count!

Rebecca Lopez

OSU Postdoc Recruiting Event

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Opportunity for senior graduate students or recent postdocs –
OSU Postdoc Recruiting Event:

Applications are now being accepted for the Ohio State University 2019 Fall Postdoctoral Recruitment Event, being held October 23-25, 2019. This event will provide an excellent opportunity for outstanding postdocs and PhD students from leading graduate programs to meet research faculty, interview for open postdoctoral positions and discover the exciting and innovative research taking place at The Ohio State University and the Research Institute at Nationwide Children’s Hospital (NCH). Selected candidates will visit the Ohio State campus, network with current OSU and NCH postdocs, present their research, interview with prospective mentors, and learn more about postdoctoral opportunities at Ohio State. Full funding will be provided for travel expenses and candidates may be considered for a variety of opportunities, including fellowships, training grants, and other internal training programs.

Application for this event is open until September 9th and is available to postdocs or senior graduate students who have completed or expect to complete their PhD between December 2018 and May 2020. Any candidates in the US (visa status does not matter) can apply and we are especially interested in reviewing applications from US Citizens and permanent residents who are training grant-eligible and/or who come from underrepresented backgrounds including African Americans, Hispanics or Latinos, American Indians or Alaskan Natives, Native Hawaiians or other Pacific Islanders, or persons with a disability.

More information can be found on the web page or the application can be accessed directly through the link below.
http://go.osu.edu/postdocrecruit
http://go.osu.edu/pdre_application

The event flyer can be found here: http://go.osu.edu/pdre_eventflyer.

If you have any questions about this program, please contact Jeffrey.Mason@osumc.edu or call (614-685-9140).

Webinar for Postdoctoral Research Associate Training (PRAT) Program Applicants

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Students interested in conducting postdoctoral training at the National Institutes of Health may wish to learn more about the Postdoctoral Research Associate Training (PRAT) program. NIH will host a webinar:

Wednesday, June 19, 2:00-3:00 p.m. ET
More information here.

PRAT is a competitive 3-year fellowship program that prepares trainees for leadership positions in biomedical careers. Training includes a mentored laboratory research experience and intensive career and leadership development activities. PRAT fellows conduct research in laboratories in the NIH Intramural Research Program (IRP) in basic biomedical research areas within the NIGMS mission. These areas include, but are not limited to, biological chemistry, biophysics, bioinformatics, cellular and molecular biology, computational biosciences, developmental biology, genetics, immunology, neuroscience, pharmacology, physiology, and technology development.

Graduate students considering postdoctoral research opportunities at NIH, or current NIH Intramural Research Training Award postdoctoral fellows who started no earlier than July 1, 2018, are eligible to apply. All applications require connecting with an investigator in the NIH IRP in advance of writing the application.

Via NIH

NINDS Diversity F31 Applicant Assistance Webinar

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“This webinar will explain the process of putting together an application for the Ruth L. Kirschstein National Research Service Award (NRSA) Individual Predoctoral Fellowship to Promote Diversity in Health-Related Research (Parent F31 -Diversity).

The first half of the webinar will go through each part of the application, including eligibility, the research training plan and research strategy, sponsor and co-sponsor information, letters of reference and support, and the certification letter. The second half of the webinar will be allotted for a question and answer session with attendees.” (Via NIH/ Unified Communications & Collaboration)

Date: Tuesday, June 18, 2019
Time: 2:00 pm 
Register here.

IHE: “Join Your Grad Student or Postdoc Association”

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In this article for Inside Higher Ed, Dr. Robert Pearson, director of professional development at the University of Texas at Dallas, encourages graduate students to become involved with their student associations. Dr. Pearson recalls his own feelings that becoming involved with a student association would distract from his research. Now, as director of professional development, he advises the Graduate Student Assembly at the University of Texas at Dallas. He shares the personal and professional benefits he has witnessed students gain and the relevant skills they have built. Read more here.

Interested students can learn how to get involved with the Biomedical Graduate Student Association (BGSA) or learn about the university-wide Graduate and Professional Student Assembly (GAPSA).

Science: “You’ve accomplished more than you think”

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Image via Science

In this “Career Fable,” a fictional story meant to provide guidance to scientists on their real-life career journey, a postdoctoral researcher seeking a medical science liaison position worries that her four years of Ph.D. and two years of postdoctoral research make for an unimpressive resume. The story describes her thought-process as she studies the job description to identify key skills the company is looking for and creates a “mind map” of experiences she wouldn’t have thought were relevant, like teaching and science outreach.

The author summarizes:

The moral of the story is:

You are probably stronger than you think.

It is very common for Ph.D. students and postdocs to feel insecure about their achievements and their employability outside of academia. But in many cases, it’s just understatement or a lack of looking at things the way industry does that makes early-career researchers feel like they’re just one of many and have nothing to show for the years they put in—at least nothing that others don’t have.

But you are likely to have many skills that have significant value. To find these skills, dig deeper.

Read more here.