BGS Career Development
Making It Count!
Speakers, dates, and locations are now confirmed for the remainder of the BGS Professional Skills Series. Please find an updated schedule below, and be sure to keep an eye out for upcoming registration announcements.
The Graduate Student Center offers a number of career development workshops throughout the semester, as part of their “Navigating the Academy Events,” “Publishing Series,” and “Teaching Workshops.” Two of these workshops are highlighted below; see the full list here.
Introduction to R Markdown.
Mar. 11, 12 – 1 PM (Room 305, Grad Center, 3615 Locust Walk)
Do you use the programming language R to analyze your data? If so, come to this workshop to find out how you can use R Markdown, a document format for writing reproducible, dynamic reports. Katie Rawson, Director of Learning Innovation at Penn Libraries, will run this workshop. Lunch will provided; find more details and register here.
Who Owns Your Scholarship? Understanding Publishing Agreements to Regain Your Author Rights.
Mar. 12, 1:30 – 3 PM (Room 305, Grad Center, 3615 Locust Walk)
This workshop will cover the basics of reading and understanding publishing contracts as well as ways to retain more of your rights through author addenda or negotiation. Find more details and register here.
Teaching Students to do Research in STEM
Katerina Placek, CTL Graduate Fellow, Neuroscience
A key part of undergraduate university education in science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) is firsthand experience in experimental research. TAs, teachers, and mentors can guide effective undergraduate experimental research experiences (e.g. for an Honor’s thesis) that convey the value of STEM research and impart students with lifelong skills. In this interactive workshop, participants will learn to connect day-to-day student activity on a research project with student development of broader skills in critical thinking, discipline and professionalism, and creative problem-solving.
March 13, 2019 – 5:00-6:30 PM
CTL/OLI Conference Room – 133 Van Pelt Library
RSVP here.
Contact Katerina Placek for further information.
Balancing Teaching and Research in the Sciences: A Panel Discussion with Drs. Masha Lester, Andrea Liu, and David Raizen
Convened by: Phoebe Askelson (Chemistry) and Katerina Placek (Neuroscience), CTL Graduate Fellows
Faculty positions in academic science challenge individuals to balance time and effort between instructing courses and maintaining active research laboratories. Distinguished Penn faculty members Dr. Marsha Lester of Chemistry, Dr. Andrea Liu of Physics, and Dr. David Raizen of Neurology successfully navigate these challenges, leading ground-breaking programs of research while also teaching undergraduate and graduate courses at Penn. In this panel discussion-based workshop, Drs. Lester, Liu, and Raizen will reflect on their experiences and discuss how to successfully balance teaching and research in the sciences. This workshop will be especially valuable to graduate students and postdocs interested in improving their own balance between the laboratory and classroom, and those who aspire to faculty positions in academic science.
March 14 2019, 4:30 pm to 6:00 pm
CTL/OLI Seminar Room, Van Pelt Library Room 134
Please RSVP here to participate in this discussion!
Contact askelson@sas.upenn.edu or placekk@pennmedicine.upenn.edu for more information.
In this Nature article, Dr. Crystal Upperman discusses her own career path and provides tips for diversifying one’s CV as a doctoral candidate. Briefly outlined, the seven steps for making the leap to industry include:
Read the specifics on each step here.
40 young science leaders began their year as fellows of the Yale Ciencia Academy for Career Development by attending the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) Annual Meeting in Washington, DC (February 14-18, 2019). The University of Pennsylvania and BGS were represented through the participation of Kevin Alicea-Torres (CAMB).
“The Yale Ciencia Academy (YCA) for Career Development provides graduate students with opportunities for mentoring, networking, and skills development, and for making contributions to their communities through science outreach. The program is led by the non-profit organization Ciencia Puerto Rico (CienciaPR), in collaboration with Yale University.”
Read the full press release here.
The NIH Office of Intramural Training and Education (OITE) recently published two articles on the topic of feedback. Understanding how you as an individual process feedback is critical to personal and professional development.
The first article focuses on controlling one’s reception of feedback by focusing on the type (Appreciation, Coaching, or Evaluation) as well as aspects that might be personally triggering (Truth, Relationship, and Identity Triggers.)
The second article also addresses reception of feedback but focuses on analyzing your past experiences taking in feedback, then communicating what you’ve learned through introspection to your mentor.