Rutgers OPA
Weekly Newsletter | January 18, 2018
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Things you should know...
Dear Rutgers Postdoc community,
This newsletter includes resources, upcoming events, general announcements, and job opportunities . Scroll down for more information.
Check also our website for a collection of previous OPA weekly newsletter.
Career Development Tool for Doctoral Students and Postdocs
Brought to you by the School of Graduate Studies and the Office of Postdoctoral Affairs, Versatile PhD is a new online resource available to all Rutgers graduate students and postdoctoral scholars.
Versatile PhD is a digital platform designed to help you learn more about the career opportunities that exist outside the tenure track. This tool demystifies non-academic professions, making it easier to explore a wide range of career paths. Doctoral students and postdocs in the STEM, Biomedical, and Humanities and Social Sciences fields can benefit from this career development tool.
Once you create a free VPhD account, you will have access to many resources, including (but not limited to):
Resumes & Cover Letters: Real resumes and cover letters that got real PhDs their first jobs away from the faculty track, with detailed analysis that describes how they made the non-academic pivot and shows the application and hiring processes step by step.
Personal Narratives: First-person stories by experienced non-academic PhDs, describing how their careers evolved over several years after moving out of the academy, including promotions, advancement, and signature accomplishments.
Panels: Detailed inside information on a wide range of specific PhD-friendly careers provided by PhDs in those careers, along with answers to frequently asked questions from other VPhD members.
With access to Versatile PhD, you can also explore discussion forums, examine the Q&A archives, learn more about local meetup groups, and search job listings.
Once you reach the Versatile PhD login page, create a VPhD member account. If you already have an account, sign in as usual.
Postdocs interested in having access to Versatile PHD, visit our website.
PhD students interested in having access to Versatile PHD, visit the SGS website.
If you have questions related to Versatile PhD, please contact Dr. Ramazan Gungor or Dr. Itzamarie Chevere-Torres.
This Is What’s Holding You Back From Brilliance
Rutgers OPA Event
Welcome & Information Session | Next Week on Friday!
The Office of Postdoctoral Affairs offers Welcome and Information Sessions to help orient new and current postdocs. If you are a postdoc who is new to Rutgers, or just curious about the resources that are available to you, we strongly encourage you to register for an upcoming one-hour session.
Next session will be on January 26th. Please register as space is limited.
Time: 9–10 a.m. or 11 a.m.–noon
Where: Office of Postdoctoral Affairs with Dr. Itzamarie Chevere-Torres located at Busch Campus, Nelson Biology Laboratories, Room D354. Registration is required.
For more information about sessions at Newark, contact Dr. Doreen Badheka badhekdk@gsbs.rutgers.edu on Newark Campus: Medical Science Building, Room H645.
Friday, Jan 26, 2018, 09:00 AM
604 Allison Road, Piscataway Township, NJ, United States
Rutgers OPA Workshops
Reminder: Project Management: Essential Skills for Success | Session 2, January 24
You already possess much of the skills and experience to be successful in a project management role in business. The purpose of this two-session workshop is to reinforce further your knowledge and ability to translate and transition those skills by providing you with terminology and techniques that will connect your postdoctoral academic background to the industry.
For those of you who registered and participated in our Project Management Workshop |Session 1 (Project Definition and Project Planning), this is a reminder that Session 2 will take place on January 24.
Session 2 will cover the topics of project execution and project closure with an emphasis on the differences and similarities of doing project management in an academic setting versus an industry setting.
- Date | Session 2: Wednesday, January 24, 2018
- Location | Session 2: Deans Conference Room
Research Tower, RWJMS
675 Hoes Lane West, Piscataway, 08854
- Time | Session 2: 2:00 p.m. - 4:00 p.m.
- Sponsor: Office of Postdoctoral Affairs
- Workshop Presented by: Ella Blue, PMP, PgMP,Senior Manager at Johnson & Johnson.
Light refreshments will be provided.
Wednesday, Jan 24, 2018, 02:00 PM
607 Allison Road, Piscataway Township, NJ, United States
Rutgers Postdoctoral Association Events
PDA meeting |Friday, January 19 at 2 PM
Dear Postdoc Community,
We will have the first PDA meeting of the year this Friday (19th) at 2 pm in the conference room near Itzamarie's office ( Nelson Labs D-302).
The agenda: organizing the 2018 Postdoc Symposium.
We will discuss organizational duties for the upcoming Postdoc Spring Research Symposium: "Prepare for your next career step", which will be held April 13, 2018.
It's an excellent opportunity to work together with your fellow postdocs, show your leadership skills, and create an event useful for all of us postdocs. It's OK if this will be your fist time coming to a PDA meeting: we'd love to meet you.
Please come and bring anyone who might be interested in volunteering. We are looking for volunteers to help make this event a success; please look for announcements on our Facebook page and website.
Csanad Gurdon,
President, Rutgers PDA
Rutgers iJOBS Events
iJOBS Workshop: Transferable Skills and Experience as a Professional Profile: Resume and Cover Letters
Most graduate students are familiar with the academic cover letter and CV, but job application materials for professional careers in industry, not for profit and government may not be so familiar. In this workshop led by Fatimah Castro Williams, PhD from Beyond the Tenure Track, you will learn:
- To identify and to describe your transferrable skills, even if you have little work experience. The top three considerations for effectively translating your skills and experiences into a professional profile that employers understand.
- How to write a compelling career summary that is relevant to employers.
- The differences between academic and nonacademic job applications
To register click here.
Location:
Rutgers Robert Wood Johnson Medical School
675 Hoes Lane West
Research Tower, Dean's Conference Room 123
Piscataway, NJ 08854
iJOBS offers transportation. Limited spaces are available. Registration is required.
Tuesday, Jan 23, 2018, 04:30 PM
675 Hoes Lane West, Piscataway Township, NJ, United States
Rutgers Global Events
Rutgers Global | 2018 Spring Events for J1- Scholars |First Event: January 31
*On behalf of Carlo Santoro, International Faculty & Scholar Adviser at Rutgers Global:
Postdoctoral researchers on J1-visas are welcomed to participate in the International Faculty/Scholar Programming Spring 2018.
First event:
January 31, 4pm-6pm
American Football 101
Location: High Point Solutions Stadium
For more information see flyer attached at the end or contact Katsumiki Kishida at kkishida@global.rutgers.edu.
Other Events
Young Investigators Webinar Series: Presenting Data for Funders and Investors | January 24 | Register for Free!
The Westchester Biotech Project brings together researchers, engineers, and data scientists from across therapeutics, diagnostics, and devices. Based in the Westchester County, NY region, this is a borderless initiative with opportunities for local, national, and international collaboration.
Young Investigators Webinar Series:
Effective Communication in Biomedical Research Session 3
Presenting Data for Funders and Investors
January 24, 2018 12:00-1:00 pm EST Click to Register
Rick Huntress, Director Business Development
Clinical and In Vivo Services, The Jackson Laboratory
Moderator:
Dr. Eileen Geoghegan
Research Fellow, Albert Einstein College of Medicine
Criteria that investors and companies use to evaluate drugs for licensing or acquisition can be different from those used by reviewers and journals for publication. In this webinar, we will discuss strategies that allow researchers to anticipate such concerns and generate the kind of data that investors appreciate. The session will help early-career researchers, engineers, and data-scientists navigate the complex process of engaging their supporters. Register Now!
Our Young Investigators programs offer perspectives not often addressed in graduate school, yet are key to developing a fruitful life science career. Watch for My First Laboratory, a symposium and workshop, in September 2018.
Regular OPA Events
Drop-in Coffee Hour
If you are a postdoc interested in learning more about how to make the most of your time at Rutgers, prepare for life after Rutgers, or just want to share some coffee or tea in a safe space, come by and visit.
Location:
Office of Postdoctoral Affairs, Nelson Biology Laboratories, Room D354.
Registration is not required.
Friday, Feb 2, 2018, 02:00 PM
604 Allison Road, Piscataway Township, NJ, United States
Individual Career Advising Sessions
If you're a postdoc looking for perspective on how to navigate your career path or career transition, contact Itzamarie Chevere-Torres to schedule an appointment.
For Newark postdocs, contact Doreen Badheka to schedule an appointment. Individual career counseling sessions for Newark postdocs will be at the Medical Science Building, Room H645.
Fellowship Advising Sessions for Postdocs
Do you want additional feedback or guidance on your grant or fellowship proposal? Do you want to learn about grants and fellowships to support your postdoctoral training at Rutgers?
Schedule an appointment with Ben Arenger, Senior Fellowship Adviser, for an individual fellowship advising session.
Ben is available every Tuesday at our office by appointment only.
Would you like to be our featured postdoc of the month?
Rutgers is proud to be home to a vibrant and growing community of over 600 postdocs! Would you like to highlight your research or your career goals on our website?
Contact us opa@oq.rutgers.edu
Rutgers I-Corps Site Solicitation for Applications for Spring 2018 Cohort | Deadline: January 31
*On behalf of Mark DeGuzman Research Project Coordinator at Office of Research & Economic Development, Rutgers-Newark:
Teams of postdocs, graduate students and faculty interested in entrepreneurship are invited to apply.
Dear Rutgers Innovators,
We are actively recruiting STEM-based teams with University-owned and student-owned innovations from all campuses across Rutgers. Teams must include an Entrepreneurial Lead (typically a student) and at least one other member, either an Academic Lead (typically a faculty member) or a Business Mentor (industry expert). The goal is to help teams explore technology commercialization pathways for their technologies. Teams will receive up to $2500 for reimbursable expenses related to Customer Discovery.
We invite your team to apply for our first upcoming cohort during the Spring semester 2018 using the online application (http://go.rutgers.edu/9nqao6mb). If accepted, we expect your full participation in the lectures, customer discovery interviews, and delivery of short team presentations for the duration of the cohort. The application deadline is January 31st, 2018. Rutgers NSF I-Corps Site application
During the 4-session program (see dates below), classroom instruction time will focus on Steve Blank’s Lean Startup methodologies and Alex Osterwalder’s Business Model Canvas, along with short class presentations. Teams are expected to conduct 20+ customer interviews during the 5-week period with weekly presentations of their findings and their future plans.
Through class lectures, videos, and evidence-based entrepreneurship, we will support your team in identifying the value of your research to potential customers in the real world, to help you craft a plan forward.
The following dates for this upcoming Spring 2018 cohort on the New Brunswick Campus are:
- Tuesday, February 27 9am – 1pm
- Tuesday, March 6 9am – 1pm
- Tuesday, March 20 9am – 1pm
- Tuesday, March 27 9am – 1pm
If the timing of this 1st Cohort does not fit your schedule, please be aware that Rutgers will have multiple cohorts over the 5-year grant period with a goal of assisting 30 teams per year.
By participating in the Rutgers I-Corps Site Program, you become part of the National Innovation Network and position your team for more commercialization success with eligibility for the NSF I-Corps National program, SBIR/STTR Awards, or additional follow-on funding from incubators or investors.
For those who apply to Rutgers I-Corps Site, but are not accepted in this upcoming cohort, please review our feedback and re-apply for future cohorts. If you have colleagues that may be a good fit for the program, please forward this information and encourage them to apply. If you have any questions or need assistance with your team, please contact us at i-corps@ored.rutgers.edu.
Best Regards,
Rutgers I-Corps Site Team
Enroll Now | Online Course on Best Practices for Biomedical Research Data Management
Harvard Medical School is offering a course on Best Practices for Biomedical Research Data Management. This course is designed to address present and future data management needs, including making data discoverable, understandable, and reusable so that research is organized and reproducible. The course is aimed at a broad audience including biomedical students and researchers. It started January 8, 2018, and enrollment is available here.
iBiology: Using Slides Effectively in an Oral Presentation
Scientists inevitably have to give oral presentations about their work. In this video, communications and digital media expert Boyd Branch offers practical strategies for the effective design of oral presentations using slides. He discusses how to use text, color and images to create compelling and clear oral presentations.
Full-time Scientist position at Visikol
*On behalf of Dr. Michael Johnson, Founder & CEO at Visikol, and Rutgers alumnus:
Interested in cutting edge drug discovery research and the development of novel tissue imaging tools? Want to work on accelerating drug discovery and getting therapeutics to patients more quickly?
If so, you might be interested in joining the Visikol team.
This Scientist position will execute on client drug discovery projects as well as assist with the build-out of several novel drug discovery assays. This individual will utilize his/her expertise in cell biology to reproducibly generate several 2D and 3D cell culture models to be used in the company’s services. This individual will also be responsible for prioritizing and executing on both the development of new assays, the execution of client projects and generating content for co-marketing efforts with Visikol’s channel partners.
As an employee of Visikol, you will actively work with clients developing life-saving therapeutics as well as develop novel assay methods for answering complex biological questions. We recognize that our strength and competitive advantage lies primarily with our people. We support our employees in a number of ways to foster a healthy working environment, meaningful work, diversity and inclusion, mobility, networking and work-life balance.
For more information and to apply visit the Visikol website.
Supporting the Needs of Postdocs: 2017 National Postdoctoral Association Institutional Policy Report
A new institutional policy report from the National Postdoctoral Association (NPA) in collaboration with Sigma Xi, The Scientific Research Honor Society, seeks to improve the postdoc experience. It will be published as a supplement to the January/February 2018 issue of Sigma Xi’s magazine, American Scientist, and has been posted online at the Sigma Xi website and the NPA website.
Supporting the Needs of Postdocs: 2017 National Postdoctoral Association Institutional Policy Report summarizes the results from a 2016 survey of 130 NPA institutional Sustaining Members that hire postdocs.
Reading Material
Keeping an Edge on Your Career Development
*Article published on Inside HigherEd
I often hear from Ph.D. and postdoc students that they are worried it is too late for them to transition to something new, especially after they put in all these years of study and training. But you shouldn’t let your age or years of education stop you from pursuing your interest or newly discovered passion. It won’t necessarily be easy, but that doesn’t mean you need to give it up (or let others discourage you) because “it’s too late.” Read more.