The Academic Job Search Series is sponsored by The Graduate School and the Office of Postdoctoral Services.
Thurs Aug 8, 11 am – 12 pm
WHAT: BWF Postdoctoral Career Awards at the Scientific Interface: Insider Tips for Writing a Successful Application
REGISTER: https://duke.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_3vzYbhjEuOTSMM6
Postdocs often seek awards providing independent funding and financial support to facilitate the transition to faculty. Career Awards at the Scientific Interface (CASI), offered by the Burroughs Wellcome Fund (BWF; headquartered in RTP), presents an award that provides $560,000 over five years to bridge advanced postdoctoral training and the first three years of faculty service. BWF recently enhanced their CASI awards with increased postdoctoral stipend levels ($80,000-$85,000), and assistance to offset childcare expenses (up to $5,000/year).
This award is targeted to scientists trained in the physical, computational, mathematical, and engineering sciences who are applying these approaches to answer biological questions. Awards are open to non-US citizens from all countries and awardees may conduct their research at US or Canadian institutions. BWF strongly encourages persons from groups historically underrepresented in the sciences to apply.
In this Zoom session, Dr Tammy Collins, Program Officer at BWF and Duke PhD, will give an overview of the CASI program and provide tips for writing a competitive application by understanding what reviewers are looking for. Additionally, you will learn about some of the flexibilities and advantages of philanthropic funding, and we will briefly compare and contrast CASI with the K99/R00.
Speaker: Tammy Collins, PhD, is a Program Officer at the Burroughs Wellcome Fund (BWF), a nonprofit philanthropic organization whose mission is to nurture a diverse group of leaders in biomedical sciences to improve human health. At BWF, Collins directs the Career Awards at the Scientific Interface (CASI) program and the Innovations in Regulatory Science Awards (IRSA). Prior to joining BWF, she was the Director of the Office of Fellows’ Career Development at the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS).
Tues Aug 13, 11 am – 12 pm
REGISTER: https://nih.zoomgov.com/meeting/register/vJItdOytpz0iGcjEuu4parQogZaHGcezA1c
Weds Aug 14, 11 am – 12 pm
WHAT: Finding Funding Workshop for Postdocs
REGISTER: https:// https://duke.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_cDeIxtJYO9s9wkS
Looking for funding? Seeking a fellowship to support research? Want to fund travel for a summer project? Take this opportunity to learn how to search for funding by using a variety of tools, including the Duke Research Funding Database, MyResearchHome, and Pivot. Find funding in all disciplines: sciences, engineering, social sciences, humanities. This is a special session just for postdocs led by Duke’s Funding Specialist Alicia Korenman.
Thurs Sept 19, 11:30 am – 1 pm
WHAT: NIH K99/R00 Grant Writing Workshop
REGISTER: https://ocrd.duke.edu/programming
This workshop provides practical, step-by-step guidance for writing NIH Pathway to Independence Award (K99/R00) program proposals. The information provided in this workshop is most applicable to Duke postdocs, but all interested members of the Duke community are welcome to attend.
Tues Sept 24, 10 am – 12 pm
WHAT: Improving Spoken English with Scott Morgan
REGISTER: https://duke.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_79BW7XrDNt022Gy
Back by popular demand! Noted speaker Scott Morgan returns to Duke to present one of his most requested workshops, Improving Spoken English. This workshop is essential for non-native English speakers! The 2-hour workshop will give attendees new insight into how we communicate in the often-confusing English language.
This workshop is open to all members of the Duke community (postdocs, graduate/undergraduate students, faculty, staff).
Speaker: Scott Morgan has been teaching leadership and communication skills for over 30 years. His clients include nearly all the institutes at the National Institutes of Health and dozens of universities: Harvard Medical School, UC Berkeley, UNC Chapel Hill, Cornell, Maryland, Ohio State, Duke, NC State, NYU, and the Elliott School of International Affairs at George Washington University. Corporate clients include GE Appliances, Mandiant Cybersecurity, Avanir Pharmaceuticals, Infosys, International Paper, Merck, Celgene, Tanium, and Northrop Grumman. With 30 years of broadcast experience, Scott teaches media and communication strategy to many think tanks and research organizations around the globe with clients from Central Asia, Japan, UAE, Saudi Arabia, Nigeria, and South Africa. He is a Senior Mentor at the Leadership Academy at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, and holds a master’s degree in psychology from Columbia University. He authored the book ‘Speaking about Science’, published by Cambridge University Press.
Thurs Sept 26, 11 am – 12:30 pm
WHAT: Speaking about Science with Scott Morgan
REGISTER: https://duke.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_837m0exHFEDpvTM
In evaluations, postdocs and graduate students say that this Scott Morgan workshop is one of the most useful they have attended! This interactive seminar addresses the main issues of good scientific presentations. The core of the workshop is a 7-step preparation process that will help you deliver a clear and engaging talk for a variety of audiences. Topics include:
- Identifying the theme and focus,
- How to create effective visual aids, and
- How to begin and end a talk.
Speaker: Scott Morgan has been teaching leadership and communication skills for over 30 years. His clients include nearly all the institutes at the National Institutes of Health and dozens of universities: Harvard Medical School, UC Berkeley, UNC Chapel Hill, Cornell, Maryland, Ohio State, Duke, NC State, NYU, and the Elliott School of International Affairs at George Washington University. Corporate clients include GE Appliances, Mandiant Cybersecurity, Avanir Pharmaceuticals, Infosys, International Paper, Merck, Celgene, Tanium, and Northrop Grumman. With 30 years of broadcast experience, Scott teaches media and communication strategy to many think tanks and research organizations around the globe with clients from Central Asia, Japan, UAE, Saudi Arabia, Nigeria, and South Africa. He is a Senior Mentor at the Leadership Academy at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, and holds a master’s degree in psychology from Columbia University. He authored the book ‘Speaking about Science’, published by Cambridge University Press.
Thurs Sept 26, 11:30 am – 1 pm
WHAT: NIH K Award Workshop
REGISTER: https://ocrd.duke.edu/programming
This workshop provides practical, step-by-step guidance for writing faculty- or postdoc-level mentored Career Development (K) Awards. Duke faculty, postdocs, and research staff welcome.
Thurs Oct 10, Thurs Oct 17, Thurs Oct 24, from 11 am – 12 pm
WHAT: Postdoc Research Communication Series: The Art of Research Communication
Sure, your research on fill-in-the-blank is fascinating and important, but in order to help the public understand why it matters (and why they should support it!), you need to be able to communicate what you do in ways that are clear and engaging. In this 3-part series, noted Research Communication expert Jory Weintraub, PhD, will teach you how to communicate your research effectively, no matter what field you are in.
The workshops will be participatory and include interactive exercises to provide opportunities to practice your research communication skills, so please have your audio and video enabled. For maximum benefit, participants are encouraged to attend all events in the series.
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Session 1: Research Communication Fundamentals
When: Thurs Oct 10, 11 am – 12 pm
Register for Session 1: https://duke.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_3pGuXUe2MONMlYW
This activity-based session will introduce the fundamentals of research communication, including concepts such as:
- Your message: What is it, why does it matter, and how do you craft it?
- Your audience: Why is it so important to “know your audience”, and how do you frame your message for your them?
- Avoiding jargon and other essential skills for engaging your audience and communicating clearly
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Session 2: Communicating Your Research Through Storytelling
When: Thurs Oct 17, 11 am – 12 pm
Register for Session 2: https://duke.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_9ThVAV5VLbW3F5A
Research demonstrates that people learn new information more effectively, understand it better and remember it longer when it is delivered in the form of a story. In this session, we’ll dig more deeply into this and discuss the elements of great storytelling. You will then be introduced to a fun and simple method for telling the story of your research in three sentences, and get the opportunity to try it yourself (and receive facilitatory and peer feedback).
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Session 3: Engaging the Public in Your Research Through Outreach
When: Thurs Oct 24, 11 am – 12 pm
Register for Session 3: https://duke.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_0lfmzY00xFOdhpY
Once you’ve learned the fundamentals of research communication and how to tell the story of your work, it’s time to apply these skills by engaging the public through outreach. This session will introduce and explore strategies for doing this, and participants will develop their own outreach plan.
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Speaker: Jory Weintraub, PhD, is the Director of Science Engagement at North Carolina State University. From 2015-2022 he was the Science Communication Director with the Duke Initiative for Science & Society, and taught undergraduate and graduate courses in science communication at Duke. He received a PhD in Immunology, did a postdoc in STEM education, and has spent the last 25 years doing, teaching and coaching science communication and science outreach.
Thurs Nov 7, 11 am – 12:15 pm
WHAT: Salary Negotiation: Dos and Don’ts
REGISTER: https://duke.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_9shjMSOWfxwJHLw
Do you struggle with how and when to ask for a salary increase? Do you worry about the response of your PI or HR rep? This Zoom session will help set you up for success by exploring when to ask, how to prepare, and what to include in the conversation. After we investigate the foundation and structure of the request, we’ll practice having the actual conversation!
Speaker: Melissa Segal, LCSW, is CEO of InterHuman Solutions and an experienced facilitator and manager with strong skills in leadership development, strategic planning, program implementation, and organizational culture. She specializes in restorative practices, conflict work, and getting clients to “yes.” She is also a former Duke business manager who has handled negotiation processes for faculty, trainees, and professional staff, and has advised both current team members and potential hires on how to advocate for their needs.
