POSTDOC ACADEMY

Succeeding as a Postdoc

This course addresses foundational skills and career planning, establishing the professional habits postdocs will need to strategically prepare for their career and succeed in their postdoc.

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FINDING SUCCESS AS A POSTDOC

Postdocs start the course by reflecting on their identities and roles. After considering how to enter a new community of practice, postdocs identify and prioritize the expectations for their position and align those with their mentor.

BUILDING AN ACTIONABLE CAREER PLAN

What steps should you take to fulfill your career aspirations? Postdocs explore career planning tools and describe goals for their postdoc position, connecting them to longer-term goals. After writing a career plan, they identify strategies to put their career plan into action.

DEVELOPING RESILIENCE

Postdocs explore evidence-based approaches to managing stress and developing resilience. They create, implement, and reflect on an action plan that will support progress towards a goal to build their resilience.

WORKING EFFECTIVELY IN AN INTERCULTURAL ENVIRONMENT

Postdocs develop an awareness of their own identities through reflection. After exploring the literature, postdocs consider how their culture and identities interact with others.

POSTDOC ACADEMY LEARNING SESSIONS

In addition to participating in our free online courses, postdocs can join a Postdoc Academy Local Session (PALS) at their institution or with postdocs from the same discipline. Learning communities support online learning by connecting content directly to the postdocs’ local context and community, and also promote deeper reflection of the material.

Courtesy www.postdocacademy.org

Building Skills for a Successful Career

This course focuses on developing advanced skills to help postdocs transition to their chosen career path.

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EXPLORING LEADERSHIP

What does leadership look like? What are key attributes of being a leader? Postdocs explore how leadership styles can vary in professional, cultural, and career stage contexts. They then apply a leadership approach to a current or future career role.

BUILDING AND SUPERVISING A TEAM

What are the characteristics of an effective team? Postdocs reflect on strategies a supervisor can use to build and manage a team. They also identify ways to communicate with a team to promote positive relationships.

PROJECT MANAGEMENT

There are many aspects to effectively managing a project. Postdocs learn the common language and terminology behind project management and administration. They then apply basic concepts of project management to their own example project.

APPLYING TEACHING SKILLS BEYOND THE CLASSROOM

Where does learning and teaching happen? Postdocs describe a keyset of teaching skills that are applicable in multiple workplace environments. They construct an approach to apply teaching skills in their own career context.

STRATEGIC COMMUNICATIONS

Postdocs learn what makes a good elevator pitch and how they can construct their own. They also review best communication practices for acing the interview process.

FINDING AND LANDING THE JOB

Postdocs learn how to deconstruct a job description and align their strengths and experiences with the position. How can you best communicate your strengths to key stakeholders?

LIVE DISCUSSION HOURS

During the first and final weeks of the course, we invite postdocs to join live discussion hours on edX to engage and network with course instructors, career professionals, and fellow learners.

Courtesy www.postdocacademy.org