BGS Career Development

Making It Count!

Science: Working Life

BGSA & IGA: Science Communication and Activism Career Panel

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BGSA & IGA are co-hosting Science Communication and Activism Career Panel.  Panelists will include Wei Ji Ma PhD (professor and science activist), Evguenia Alechine PhD (medical and science writer), and Kevin Alicea PhD (associate director of PROUD and science activist) who are involved in careers focusing on science communication and activism.  The virtual event will be hosted on Monday, March 1st, 12-1pm.

Please submit any questions you may want to ask the panelists using the google form and sign up to be entered in a raffle for the BGSA sweatshirt: https://forms.gle/ozTYKP5SWggQHs2b9

Panelist bios attached!

Penn Projects for Progress

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The Office of Social Equity & Community is pleased to announce the launch of Penn Projects for Progress, a fund and initiative established by President Amy Gutmann. The fund will support proposals designed to promote inclusion by focusing on one or more of the following:

  • Eradicating or reducing systemic racism
  • Achieving educational equity
  • Reducing health disparities based on race, gender, sexual orientation, and/or social determinants of health.

Projects must demonstrate how they will make a direct impact in Philadelphia, whether at Penn in particular or more broadly anywhere in the city. The projects will be conceived by teams of Penn students (undergraduate, graduate, and professional), staff, and faculty – learn more here and see our FAQ for details on eligibility.  

Deadline: 5PM EST on March 1, 2021. (Application goes live on February 15, 2021.) 

NIH OITE, “Managing Up to Maximize Mentoring Relationships”

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OITE Activities for Biomedical Trainees - BGS Career Development

Please join NIH for the next installment of their “Becoming a Resilient Scientist” series: Managing Up to Maximize Mentoring Relationships.

Tuesday, February 9th, from 2-4 pm EST
https://attendee.gotowebinar.com/register/3222926275919384846


“We all need mentors to support and encourage us throughout our educational and career journey. In this webinar, we will the mentoring relationship in research environments with a focus on improving your relationship with your PI, finding mentors and on improving communication and interpersonal interactions. The webinar will help clarify what you need from your supervisors and mentors and address how to get what you need from these important interactions.

We will host the small group discussions to this topic on Monday (2/22) and Tuesday (2/23).

To participate in the series, please register for the webinar using the provided link above or visit our website. Attend the webinar or if you cannot join live, watch the webinar recording later. Invitations to sign up for the small group discussions will be sent out the day of the lecture to everybody who registered for the webinar.

For questions regarding this series, please contact the OITE at OITE@mail.nih.gov.”

IgA Wellness Panel: Signs of a Healthy Relationship in Science

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January 28, 6-7pm
Register & submit questions: https://forms.gle/xZSJxax29SjyKQdn8

Continue your personal wellness journey and building healthy relationships with IGA’s wellness team on January 28th from 6-7pm!  There are a lot of challenges early-career scientists face when considering the next steps in their scientific development, but opportunities may become more limited when you are coordinating for two. Join Signs of a Healthy Relationship in Science to hear faculty discuss unique challenges partners within academia face such as the two-body problem.

Upcoming NIH OITE Events

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Upcoming Webinars with NIH Office of Intramural Training and Education (OITE) - BGS Career Development

The NIH Office of Intramural Training & Education (OITE) has three upcoming events:

Wellness and Setting our intentions for 2021
January 11, 2021 from 1:00 – 3:15 PM EST
Register here: https://www.training.nih.gov/sas/_20/1994/
The OITE will hold our monthly webinar and small group discussion promoting mental health and well-being for scientists. The topic this month is Wellness and Setting our intentions for 2021. We will provide a broad definition of wellness, discuss strategies for dealing with obstacles that get in our way and explore a bit about mindfulness. Wellness is so much more than the absence of disease and to do our best work, we really do need to develop our wellness and resilience practices. The culture of science is slowly changing to acknowledge, and even embrace, concepts of stress management, resilience and wellness. This webinar is open to NIHers and folks outside the NIH, including students, fellows, staff and faculty. Coming in February – dealing with anxiety and perfectionism; for info about up-coming webinars visit https://www.training.nih.gov/new_seminar_series_mental_health_and_well-being#Schedule

Career Planning for Scientists
Jan 11, 2021 1:30 pm – 2:30 pm
Register here: https://attendee.gotowebinar.com/register/6223975096508977934
Understand how your personal interests, skills, and values contribute to your future career success. Topics to be covered include the importance of career decision making, learning styles, self-assessment, transferrable skills, defining success, personal needs, work/life balance, and articulating short-term and long-term goals. Speaker: Amanda (Dumsch) Langer, OITE Career Counselor

Becoming a Resilient Scientist Series: V. Feedback Resilience
Jan 12, 2021 2:00 pm – 4:00 pm
Register here: https://attendee.gotowebinar.com/register/1882364315939394830
We all need feedback to grow and learn but we often become defensive and are unable to learn from the feedback we receive, even if it is delivered well. In this webinar, we will talk about why receiving feedback is so difficult and explore ways to stay calm and engaged when receiving feedback. We will also talk about giving feedback in a calm and assertive way so that our voice can be heard. Speaker: Sharon Milgram, PhD, Director, OITE