Report from the Annual National Postdoctoral Association Conference

Greetings from snowy Cleveland! Actually, I’m back. And thawing out after a brisk weekend on the shores of Lake Erie. Fortunately, all the activities of the 2018 National Postdoc Association (NPA) meeting were inside the classy confines of the Renaissance Hotel, where about 400 postdocs and postdoc office leaders gathered to talk about postdoc professional development, mentoring, diversity, and policy at the 16th annual event.

What I bring home to you is that the status of #postdoclife around the U.S. is much the same as it is here in sunny Arizona: Life is good, but there is always room for improvement.

Postdocs, by and large, are doing what they want to be doing – working on research, learning, and preparing for their next big opportunity. It was fitting when plenary speaker Dr. Rafael Luna, Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences at Boston College, challenged us to think about “what am I good at, what brings me joy, and what does the world need me to do?” Dr. Luna also reminded us to ask ourselves, and each other, “what are you doing for others?” - which is the Boston College credo where he was trained. He emphasized that postdocs could get much-needed leadership experience by volunteering to lead committees for their university’s postdoc affairs office (hint, hint).

Dr. Lydia Villa-Komaroff, founder of Intersections, Inc., was the conference’s Keynote Speaker. As Dr. Villa-Komaroff shared her career journey, she emphasized to the audience that “you will not get what you do not ask for.” She reminded us that good science doesn’t matter where you are, it matters how hard you work. She also shared that sometimes we are ready for a job we don’t think we are ready for, but that the key is to get on the phone and get good advice. That can be easier said than done. Fortunately, the Graduate College and Postdoctoral Affairs office are planning programming to help postdocs over the hump of getting out there (or on the phone) to get that advice. More info will be coming to you here and on social media.

Dr. Jessica Hutchins, Director of Curriculum and Graduate Programs at Washington University, in her session, “Strategies for Increasing Postdoc Participation,” shared some key ideas for increasing involvement, including creating committees of postdocs for outreach, social events, and career development (do you see a theme here?) and encouraged postdoc offices to do a comprehensive survey of their postdocs to identify key area for improvement and engagement. Thinking about Dr. Villa-Komaroff’s advice – this survey is one you won’t want to skip.

One of the highlights of the conference was the Poster Session, where postdocs from institutions across the U.S. presented posters of programs they had designed and implemented to improve the quality of postdoc education and life. One program, administered by University of Texas – Southwestern Medical Center, embeds 3 postdocs in a startup company for 5 weeks to help the startup solve a business-related challenge that the company is facing. This serves as an opportunity for scientists to get real-life business experience in real-life companies. Other great posters included a mentoring program from Boston Children’s Hospital and a science teaching program from the University of Washington.

The NPA postdocs and their administrators are facing many of the same questions I have come across in the first few months of the existence of our Postdoc Office here at ASU:

• What skills should we be teaching or offering outside of the lab?
• How do we improve the experience of postdocs at our institution?
• How do we encourage diversity and inclusion in our programs?
• What can we do to improve the experience for international postdocs?
• How can get PI’s to support our career and skill development activities?
• How can we increase attendance at our events?

So there is, of course, work to do. Over the coming months, you will see a flurry of new activity out of our office, including our first “Research Blitz” in June, an uptick in the frequency of our professional development opportunities, and an upcoming All-Campus Postdoc Conference not far away. I look forward to working with you all in making your postdoc experience at ASU as rewarding as we possibly can.