Postdoctoral Researcher Mentoring

To ensure a high-quality educational experience for postdoctoral scholars participating in research activities at IML-CZO, we have develop a Postdoctoral Researcher Mentoring Plan, which is fully supported by all participating insitutions.

Orientation:

In-depth conversations between mentors and the postdoctoral researchers will explore mutual expectations, which will be agreed upon in advance. Orientation topics will include

• The amount of independence the postdoctoral researcher requires
• Interaction with principal investigators and coworkers
• Productivity, including the importance of scientific publications
• Work habits and laboratory safety
• Documentation of research methodologies and experimental details, so that the work can be continued by other researchers in the future.

Career Counseling:

Counseling will be focused on providing the postdoctoral researcher with the skills, knowledge, and experience needed to excel in his/her chosen career path. In addition to guidance provided by the principal investigators, the postdoc will be encouraged to discuss career options with researchers and faculty at the partner institutions and with former students and colleagues of the principal investigators and senior personnel.

Experience with Preparation of Grant Proposals:

The postdoc will be directly involved in proposals prepared by the team. In the process, the postdoc will have opportunities to learn best practices in proposal preparation, including identification of key research questions, definition of objectives, description of approach and rationale, and construction of a work plan, timeline, and budget.

Publications and Presentations:

Publications are expected to result form the work supported by the grant, and will be prepared under the direction of the principal investigators and senior personnel and in collaboration with researchers in the team as appropriate. The postdoc will receive guidance and training in the preparation of manuscripts for scientific journals and presentations at conferences.

Teaching and Mentoring Skills:

These skills will be developed in the context of regular meetings within the team during which graduate students and postdoctoral researchers describe their work to colleagues within the group and assist each other with solutions to challenging research problems, often resulting in cross fertilization of ideas. They will also take an active role in coordinating the preparatory work for the Summer Institute and actively participating and leading the activities of the Summer Institute.

Instruction in Professional Practices:

This will be provided on a regular basis in the context of the research work and will include fundamentals of the scientific method, laboratory safety, and other standards of professional practice. In addition, the postdoctoral researcher will be encouraged to affiliate with one or more professional societies in his/her chosen field.

Ethics Training:

Postdocs will undergo appropriate ethics training either by attending seminars or through appropriate activities available at the respective universities.

Technology Transfer:

These activities will include regular contact with researchers in the team. The project will be built around open source technologies, and the postdoc will be expected to evaluate and assess the tradeoffs between this and other practices.

Success of the Mentoring Plan:

This will be assessed by monitoring the personal progress of the individual through a tracking his or her progress toward career goals after finishing the postdoctoral program.