Professional Development Workshops and Seminars
The Northwestern University Postdoctoral Association (NUPA) offers free workshops, seminars, and coffee chats with alumni to help postdoctoral trainees and students improve their career prospects, explore alternative career paths and develop skills for career success. Many events are open to postdocs and graduate students, i.e., you do not have to be a NU postdoc to participate.
If you are interested in learning more email nupa@northwestern.edu. Stay tuned for more exciting events by following our Eventbrite page and on the Professional Development channel on our Slack.
Upcoming events
Intro to Pedagogy Programming for Postdocs at the Searle Center
We are pleased to invite you to a discussion with Dr. Erika Nadile, Assistant Director of STEM Education at the Searle Center for Advancing Learning and Teaching at Northwestern. Dr. Nadile will go over programming provided by the Searle Center and Northwestern’s connection to the CIRTL Network, in addition to guiding us through a practice exercise. If you are a postdoc and are interested in learning more about pedagogy, are thinking of applying to academic positions where you may need to write a Teaching Statement, or are curious about expanding your skillsets, this event may be right for you!
When: March 18th 2025 (Tuesday)
Time: 11 am – 12:00 pm (CST)
Zoom link: TBD
PhD and Postdoc Career Development Series: Chicago Edition
We will be co-sponsoring an event in a series held by Northwestern Career Advancement and the Graduate School, specifically their in-person career development series for PhD students and postdoctoral scholars on the Chicago campus. The series will consist of monthly hour-long workshops from Tuesday, January 21 – Tuesday, May 13, as well as two alumni panels during the weeks of March 31 and May 19. This is a great opportunity for postdocs and you can register at this link!
Session 4: Best Practices in Writing Non-Academic Application Materials for PhDs
Tuesday, April 22 from 3:00–4:00 PM, Searle Seminar Room
In this session, we’ll discuss the difference between academic CVs and resumes and best practices for writing compelling non-academic application documents. We’ll also explore how to leverage AI tools to analyze job descriptions to write more effective and targeted application materials.
For more information about this exciting series of events, please consult this website!
Past Events
K99/R00 Pathway: A Panel Discussion for Postdoctoral Fellows
We are pleased to invite you to a virtual panel discussion focused on the K99/R00 Pathway to Independence Award. This informative session will provide valuable insights into the application process, review criteria, and strategies for success. Please email Chris Lane, chris.lane@northwestern.edu, with questions you have for the panelists. We hope to see you there!
When: 27th February 2025 (Thursday)
Time: 11am-12:30pm (CST) on Zoom
February Postdoc Writing Group
Are you a postdoc looking to boost your writing productivity and connect with fellow researchers? Join our Virtual Postdoc Group Writing Hour.
When: 12th February 2025 (Wednesday)
Time: 11 am (CST) on Zoom
How to Prepare for Faculty Job Applications
Are you thinking about applying for tenure-track professor positions in the future? Do you have questions about the process of preparing your materials and what applying for jobs is like? If so, we are planning to host this event to help answer your questions. We will have a short presentation and have panelists to discuss their experience preparing for the academic job market.
Join us with Dr. Julia Oktawiec, Dr. Cat Majors and Dr. Jenna Christensen.
Zoom, Friday, May 31, 2024, 2 – 3pm CDT
Initiating and Succeeding with Critical Advisor Conversations
EVERYONE struggles with having critical conversations with their advisors. Whether you wish to ask for a raise, solve a team conflict, discuss work/life integration, or talk about which of your current postdoc projects you can take with you when you leave the group, it is tricky to ask complicated questions and be heard in discussion, while simultaneously preserving and even growing advisee-advisor relationships.
To support postdocs and their mentors, the Postdoc Academy created the Productive Postdoc Conversation toolkit. Informed by research and interviews of postdocs and faculty members, the toolkit helps facilitate mentoring conversations on topics crucial for the postdoc experience.
Speaker: Prof. Bennett Goldberg (he/him) – Goldberg is an expert in research mentoring, specifically supporting PhDs, postdocs and early career faculty both in the US and abroad. Goldberg co-created the Postdoc Academy project that has reached 10,000 postdocs nationwide and has led postdoc learning communities in strategic professional development at Northwestern for five years.
Friday, May 17, 2024, 3:30 – 4:30pm CDT
Location: Feinberg School of Medicine – McGaw – Kellerman Classroom (McGaw 2-322)
Thursday, May 16, 2024, 3:30 – 4:30 pm CDT
Location: 2nd Floor atrium F-wing in Tech. Earth and Planetary Sciences open space
How to Start a Lab: Making the Transition from Postdoc to PI
Curious about launching your own lab and transitioning from postdoc life?
Join our panel discussion to get expert advice from Northwestern professors who recently made this transition.
Panelists: Dr. Ann Kennedy, Assistant Professor in Neuroscience; Dr. Junsoo Kim, Assistant Professor in Mechanical Engineering; Dr. Lisa Johnson, Assistant Professor in Medical Social Sciences.
Zoom, Thursday, May 2, 2024, 4 – 5pm CDT
Financial Dimensions of Startup Enterprises
Zoom, Thursday, April 18, 2024 12 – 1pm CDT
Why Did a Medical Startup Not Work Out?
A medical device startup that did not work out, you tell me why after you hear the story.
Speaker: Michele Migliuolo, Professor of Entrepreneurship, Huizenga College of Business and Entrepreneurship.
Michele brings extensive experience as an executive in manufacturing and sales of scientific capital equipment and analytical instruments. His diverse background includes roles as a longtime angel investor, advisor, and coach for technology startups. Michele is also an entrepreneur, having co-founded five high-tech companies in the semiconductor, medical device, and energy sectors. He is well-versed in the entrepreneurial ecosystem, having served as an executive in residence, consultant, and mentor for startup incubators and economic development agencies in Pennsylvania and Ohio.
Zoom, Thursday, March 21, 2024 3 – 4 pm CDT
NIH K99/R00 Panel Discussion
The NIH K99/R00 Pathway to Independence Award is a prestigious and empowering award designed to aid postdoctoral researchers (or clinician-scientists) in their transition to being independent researchers in tenure-track positions. However, this award has a 20 – 25% success rate. What are the factors that influence which applications get chosen for funding? What types of struggles do applicants have when applying that are avoidable (and ones that aren’t)? Many postdocs at Northwestern in health-related fields are considering applying for this award, so we at NUPA wanted to provide a panel geared toward answering some of these and other questions. Our panelists include Professor Joshua Ziarek, who is a former K99/R00 recipient and a current member of the Department of Pharmacology at Northwestern as well as someone who served on NIH study sections assessing K99/R00 awards, and two current awardees, Dr. Catherine Majors and Dr. Ewa Bomba-Warczak (who has the MOSAIC K99/R00 in particular). We look forward to seeing you there! Please email julia.oktawiec@northwestern.edu with questions you are interested in posing to the panelists.
Zoom, Thursday, February 22, 2024, 11am – 12pm CST
Information Session on Immigrant Visa Options for Postdoctoral Scholars
This event aims to provide our international postdoctoral scholars with valuable insights into the USA immigration and visa process.
TGS Commons, Evanston. Friday, January 26, 2024, 3 – 7pm CST