BGS Career Development

Making It Count!

Competency: Management

BGS Professional Skills Series: “Mentoring 101”

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BGS presents the next installment in the Professional Skills Series, “Mentoring 101: Think Globally, Act Locally.”

Each of us at every point in our professional development is both mentor and mentee; it’s the balance between the two that can change with time. Case in point: many PhD students, while identified as mentees within the context of training, already serve as incredibly important mentors to undergraduate or new graduate students and are in fact critical to the career decisions those students make.

Please join us as our own Dr. Michael Nusbaum discusses the dynamics of mentorship from all its perspectives, both within and beyond academia. Please register by November 30, 2018. To register, click here or copy and paste the URL below into your internet browser:

https://goo.gl/forms/hM32Z3OX0LHoJUNX2

If you have any questions, please contact Rebecca Lopez.

ASCB: “Mentoring undergraduates: all you need to know to help your summer student”

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The American Society for Cell Biology has posted this insightful article about mentorship. It details the learning potential involved in mentoring undergraduates in the lab. Of course, it’s no secret that graduate students juggle numerous responsibilities. Still, they would be wise to view the opportunity to mentor as a teaching opportunity, rather than an additional task. The author emphasizes graduate students’ potential to strengthen undergraduates’ “scientific identity,” the extent to which they see themselves as scientists. Fostering scientific identity is crucial, especially for members of underrepresented minorities. The author makes a number of suggestions – allowing students to attend meetings with your PI, involving them in lower-stakes side projects, and more.

BGS Professional Skills Series – ‘Time Management’

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BGS is pleased to announce the first workshop in this year’s Professional Skills Series for PhD students – “Time Management.” The workshop will cover a variety of strategies that can be used to manage time effectively. Light refreshments will be served. The workshop will be led by Julie A. Blendy and feature insights from Scott Hensley and Montserrat Anguera.

When: Tuesday, October 9, 2018, 4:00-5:30PM

Where: Smilow 10-146AB

Please register by October 5, 2018 to guarantee your spot!

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

https://goo.gl/forms/8tCM7NX8jaVPtIgN2

If you have any questions, please contact Rebecca Lopez.

IHE: Building an Endpoint to Your Faculty Job Search

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This Inside Higher Ed article addresses a tricky topic for graduate students and postdocs searching for a faculty position – determining how much time to dedicate to the search. Of course, temporary positions such as adjunct teaching or visiting professorships are valuable opportunities in their own right and can serve as stepping stones on the track to a faculty position. At the same time, the article suggests, setting a clear limit on these temporary positions is one way to remain open to other career possibilities.

iBiology Courses Help Trainees Plan for Their Careers

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iBiology has two free, self-paced courses designed for trainees. The objective of “Planning your Scientific Journey” is to teach students “how to choose a good scientific problem and plan their journey ahead.” “Business Concepts for Life Scientists,” created in collaboration with the UCSF Office of Career and Professional Development and the WUSTL Graduate School, helps graduate students, postdocs and junior faculty who wish to gain a basic understanding of business fundamentals for both academic and industry career sectors. iBiology also has a new course coming out later this year, called “Designing Killer Experiments.” (Via the AAMC)

NCI Updates Team Science Field Guide

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The NIH’s National Cancer Institute (NCI) recently released an updated version of its Collaboration and Team Science: A Field Guide. This guide is used by institutional leaders to “help guide change at an organizational level, shifting research culture from a primary investigator-initiated focus to one that embraces collaborative and cross-cutting efforts across disciplinary dedicated departments.” It also includes resources for graduate courses and programs to integrate team science and interdisciplinary research into their learning. (Via the AAMC)