BGS Career Development

Making It Count!

Workshops

BGS Improv Workshop Series

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Do you want to improve your science communication skills? Do you wish you found it easier to ask questions in crowded seminars and at conferences? Do you want to become a more confident networker?

If you answered yes to any of these questions, then you should attend the free BGS improv workshop in April and May. Improv is not stand-up comedy; it is acting without a script. It’s about think on one’s feet, solving problems as they come, authentic and effective communication, projecting confidence, facilitating team work, and not worrying about making mistakes. These are transferable skills that we need both in the lab and when communicating our science to our colleagues and the public. This 5-week workshop, led by professional instructor Sharon Geller, will provide a supportive environment for us to explore the improv techniques, stretch our communication muscles, and more importantly, have FUN!

Quick details:

Tuesdays (April 16th – May 13th) 5:30-7:30PM

Room 425 Van Pelt-Dietrich Library Center

Instructor: Sharon Geller (Improv instructor at the Walnut street Theater)

We have limited capacity. If you are interested, please fill out this application form: https://forms.gle/BaPNcF64GqChLry77

If you have question, please contact Yunshu Fan: yunshuf@pennmedicine.upenn.edu

Workshop planning committee: Yunshu Fan, Rebecca Somach, Patti Murphy

BGS Professional Skills Series: “Informational Interviews”

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Next up in the BGS Professional Skills Series: “Informational Interviews”! This talk will take place Tuesday, April 16, 2019  from 4:00 – 5:00 PM in Barchi Library (140 John Morgan). Co-hosted by PGWISE and EE Just. Light refreshments will be served!

Dr. Helen N. Pho, Associate Director at Penn Career Services, will address the following topics:

  • How to prepare for an informational interview, including what questions to ask
  • How to create a good impression when answering the “tell me about yourself” question
  • How to ensure that your networking conversation is beneficial to you and meaningful for the professional

To register, click here or copy and paste the URL below into your internet browser:

https://forms.gle/GtwJL5zcoeTMApy2A

If you have any questions, please contact Rebecca Lopez.

Graduate Student Center Workshops

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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.

CTL: Teaching Outside Your Area of Expertise

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Dr. Heath Schmidt, Associated Professor of Nursing and Psychiatry, and Katerina Placek, CTL Graduate Fellow

At some point in your academic career in the biomedical sciences, you are likely to be asked to teach a topic outside of your particular specialization. This may include serving as a teaching assistant on an upper-level course that covers material far removed from your graduate dissertation work, or leading an introductory survey course spanning a wide variety of topics. In this workshop, Dr. Heath Schmidt will draw on his teaching experiences as a graduate student, postdoc, and faculty member to help workshop attendees meet this challenge, with an emphasis on skills you can develop and use in your teaching.

Counts toward the CTL Teaching Certificate.
Contact Katerina Placek for more information.

When: February 21 2019, 11:00 am to 12:30 pm
Where: BRB 1201
Please RSVP here to attend!

Career Services: Negotiating for Faculty Positions and Postdocs

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Have you ever negotiated with an employer for salary or a job offer? Have you done it successfully? A Career Services counselor will discuss strategies for what to think about and do when you interview and when you receive an offer. This workshop will address:

  • The basic principles of successful negotiation
  • What can be negotiated
  • How should you respond when offered a position


We also have online resources on negotiating academic job offers, please visit: https://www.vpul.upenn.edu/careerservices//careerfields/academicfaculty.php

When: February 19, 2019, 12 – 1:30 PM

Where: McNeil Building Conference Room 97

Register here