{"id":140,"date":"2019-02-22T15:06:13","date_gmt":"2019-02-22T20:06:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/postdocs\/?p=140"},"modified":"2019-05-31T13:54:11","modified_gmt":"2019-05-31T17:54:11","slug":"bu-receives-1-8-million-to-launch-professional-development-program-for-postdocs","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/postdocs\/2019\/02\/22\/bu-receives-1-8-million-to-launch-professional-development-program-for-postdocs\/","title":{"rendered":"BU Receives $1.8 Million to Launch Professional Development Program for Postdocs"},"content":{"rendered":"

Michigan State University<\/a><\/u>, and\u00a0<\/span>University of Wisconsin-Madison<\/a><\/u>\u00a0<\/span>to improve the training experience and career prospects for current and future postdoctoral scholars in an\u00a0<\/span>effort.\u00a0<\/span>More<\/span><\/span><\/span>\u00a0<\/span>to build a diverse biomedical workforce. The four institutions collectively received a $1.8 million dollar grant over five years from the\u00a0<\/span>National Institutes of Health<\/a><\/u>\u00a0<\/span>(NIH) to collaborate with partner organizations such as the\u00a0<\/span>National Research Mentor Network<\/a><\/u>\u00a0<\/span>(NRMN), the\u00a0<\/span>National Postdoctoral Association<\/a><\/u>\u00a0<\/span>(NPA), and\u00a0<\/span>Center for the Integration of Research, Teaching, and Learning<\/a><\/u>\u00a0<\/span>(CIRTL) Network to create a comprehensive and free digital and in-person professional development program called the\u00a0<\/span>Postdoc Academy<\/em>\u00a0<\/span>\u2013 available to postdocs nationwide.<\/p>\n

This opportunity comes at a critical time: despite the postdoctoral community\u2019s core role in furthering global research discovery, postdocs face a series of financial and professional development challenges on their path to a fulfilling role in today\u2019s rapidly changing employment landscape. These challenges are increasingly extending the postdoc experience timeline,\u00a0<\/span>and research indicates\u00a0that if a person remains in a postdoc position for longer than five years, their chances of having a successful career in science diminishes.<\/p>\n

The\u00a0<\/span>Postdoc Academy<\/em>\u00a0<\/span>will help the postdoc community overcome these transitional and career challenges. Through a blend of interactive online and in-person content focused on the NPA competencies, the\u00a0<\/span>Postdoc Academy<\/em>\u00a0<\/span>will support skill development from postdoc orientation to identification and preparation for the next career step. The content will use inclusive, active-learning approaches and will be delivered flexibly to serve as a resource for the postdoc community nationwide. Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) will be offered by Boston University on the online learning platform edx.org.<\/p>\n

This initiative has four core focus areas, including:<\/p>\n

    \n
  1. <\/strong>Developing a postdoc orientation program that will ensure all postdocs begin their training equipped with skills critical for their long-term success.\u00a0<\/span><\/strong>The\u00a0<\/span>Postdoc Academy\u00a0<\/em>will help postdocs and their research mentors transition to postdoctoral career planning from a shorter-term Individual Development Plan into a longer-term strategy that defines concrete milestones for research productivity, skill development, and career outcomes mapped to their desired career trajectory.<\/li>\n
  2. <\/strong>Creating a Postdoc Academy MOOC series delivered in free online and blended formats.\u00a0<\/span><\/strong>Courses will include:New Postdoc Orientation<\/em>\u00a0<\/span>which focuses on foundational skills and career planning, establishing the professional habits postdocs will need to strategically prepare for their career and succeed in their postdoc. Scheduled to launch in 2019-2020 on edX.org.\u00a0Preparing for the Workforce\u00a0<\/span><\/em>which builds on advanced skills that will enable postdocs to transition to independence. Scheduled to launch fall 2019 on edX.org.\u00a0Train-the-trainer<\/em>\u00a0<\/span>which cultivates the capacity within institutions around the nation to adopt and adapt the Postdoc Academy materials to serve the professional development needs of their postdocs. Scheduled to launching April 2020 on edx.org.<\/li>\n
  3. Ensuring the\u00a0<\/span>Postdoc Academy<\/em>\u00a0<\/span>is accessible to a diverse postdoc population.<\/strong>Collaboration with national organizations, scientific societies, and research networks is instrumental in making the\u00a0<\/span>Postdoc Academy<\/em>\u00a0<\/span>accessible to a wider population of postdocs nationwide.<\/li>\n
  4. Disseminating the\u00a0<\/span>Postdoc Academy<\/em>\u00a0<\/span>and building the capacity of postdoc professional development programs and resources at other institutions<\/strong>.<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    \u201cIt has been a rewarding experience helping the Boston University postdoc scholars develop leadership and professional skills that translate to fulfilling, impactful careers. Partnering with prestigious universities and national organizations will help make these resources widely available to the postdoc community nationwide.\u201d explains Sarah Hokanson, Director of Professional Development and Postdoctoral Affairs, Boston University, who is leading the\u00a0<\/span>Postdoc Academy\u00a0<\/span><\/em>project. \u201cIt has been an incredible joint-effort and we look forward to the\u00a0<\/span>Postdoc Academy\u00a0<\/span><\/em>launch in fall 2019.\u201d<\/p>\n

    The\u00a0<\/span>Postdoc Academy\u00a0<\/span><\/em>Multi-PI leadership team includes Sarah Hokanson (Boston University) and Bennett Goldberg, (Northwestern University). Co-PI team includes Henry (Rique) Campa III (Michigan State University), Antonio Nunez (Michigan State University), Robin Greenler (University of Wisconsin-Madison), Jessica Maher (University of Wisconsin-Madison), Richard McGee, Jr. (Northwestern University) and Denise Drane (Northwestern University).<\/p>\n

    To learn more about this initiative visit the NIH grant here:\u00a0<\/span><\/strong>1R25GM121257-01A1<\/a><\/u>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    Michigan State University, and\u00a0University of Wisconsin-Madison\u00a0to improve the training experience and career prospects for current and future postdoctoral scholars in an\u00a0effort.\u00a0More\u00a0to build a diverse biomedical workforce. The four institutions collectively received a $1.8 million dollar grant over five years from the\u00a0National Institutes of Health\u00a0(NIH) to collaborate with partner organizations such as the\u00a0National Research Mentor Network\u00a0(NRMN), […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":13809,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/postdocs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/140"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/postdocs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/postdocs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/postdocs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/13809"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/postdocs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=140"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/postdocs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/140\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":645,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/postdocs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/140\/revisions\/645"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/postdocs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=140"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/postdocs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=140"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/postdocs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=140"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}