USPA events

Peer Review Workshop 11/7: 12 pm in Biomed 200

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The UCSC STEM Postdocs Association (USPA) is holding an event sponsored by the open access journals Bio-protocol and eLife on 11/7, 12 pm in Biomed 200.
 
Both journals have opportunities for early career researchers (e.g. postdocs) to serve as a reviewer. We also encourage PIs to attend and share their thoughts on peer review and learn about the publishing process at these journals.
Bio-protocol is a journal dedicated to making methods easily reproducible.  The journal publishes methods that are novel or serious improvements to the methods that are commonly used. Opportunities exist for senior graduate students and postdocs to review papers in conjunction with editors. Dennis Bua, the Director of Communications at Bio-protocol, will speak about how early career researchers can get involved.
eLife is a broad interest, open access, non-profit journal founded by the Howard Hughes Medical Institute, the Max Planck Society and the Wellcome Trust, and led by scientists. eLife is determined to improve the publishing process and has pioneered new models of open peer review (e.g. reviews are published with the article). eLife has recently launched an early career peer review program for postdocs to participate with senior scientists in eLife’s joint review process. Jordan Ward, an Assistant Professor in the MCDB department, and an eLife Ambassador and eLife Reviewer, will talk about eLife’s peer review process.
Why learn about peer review?
-Learning about the process and seeing how paper’s are evaluated can help you figure out the best way to present your own work and get it published.
-Reviewing in your own name at journals can help establish credentials for various documents and career advancement opportunities (e.g. EB-1A greencards).

-Serving as a reviewer helps everyone get quicker decisions on their manuscripts.  Hopefully someone will repay the favor so that your papers won’t sit on an editor’s desk for months!
Registration encouraged via the following link:
https://goo.gl/forms/cbcqP1KT2n67WtqW2

Preparing for your academic job interview chalk talk

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The UCSC STEM Postdoc Association (USPA) is organizing the workshop “Preparing for your academic job interview chalk talk“.
Update: *This event WILL be held regardless of the strike situation on campus.*
The chalk–talk is an essential part of an academic job interview. At this workshop, you will learn how to prepare your talk and what to expect from the interviewers, and two postdocs will have the chance to practice their talks and receive valuable feedback from experienced faculty.
When: October 24th 9:30am-1pm
Where: Biomed 200
This workshop will be structured in 2-parts:
– Q&A with a faculty panel regarding how to prepare your chalk talk (1 hr)
– Two UCSC postdocs will present practice/mock chalk talks to the faculty panel for feedback similar to a real job interview (2 hrs)

Our faculty panel of instructors includes:

    Russ Corbett-Detig, Assistant Professor, BME
    Carrie Partch, Associate Professor, Chemistry
    Susan Carpenter, Assistant Professor, MCD

    Jordan Ward, Assistant Professor, MCD
Please register here or email us at uspa@ucsc.edu if you have any questions.

Postdoctoral Benefits Open Enrollment Session

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11/6/2018, 12:00 PM – 300 Biomedical Sciences

The 2019 health benefits open enrollment period will run from October 25-November 20, 2018. This is the period during which you can make changes to enrollment and plan choices for medical, dental and vision plans. If you are already enrolled and do not wish to make any changes, no action is required. For any questions about open enrollment or benefits in general, contact the postdoc union at uaw5810@uaw5810.org or 510-845-5726.

Plan Options and Costs
There are two medical plan options (HMO and PPO) and two dental plan options (HMO and POS), see here for details about the plans and here for the plan costs. To view your current benefit choices and make changes during the open enrollment period, click here.

New for 2019: Enrolling Domestic Partners
In response to requests from our union and other UC employees, UC has changed its eligibility rules so that all UC employees are able to enroll a domestic partner and their partner’s eligible dependents upon meeting certain criteria. See here for more details and email the union if you have any questions.

PATH TO A STEM JOB IN INDUSTRY 

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PATH TO A STEM JOB IN INDUSTRY 

PATH TO A STEM JOB IN INDUSTRY 

Postdocs, grad students and staff scientists are all welcome!

DATE: Nov 5th (Monday) 

TIME: 11:00 AM. 

LOCATION: E2 - 180

 

REGISTER HERE

Slone Partners, a Life Sciences Hiring Agency, has been collaborating with the USPA to offer all of you STEM scientists an informative session about how you can successfully make the transition from academia into industry. 

TENTATIVE AGENDA:

10:45 am Check in

11:00am - 12:30pm Slone Partners, TwoPore Guys, and other companies will present important concepts for how you can move into STEM industry. We will have insights from HR as well as personal stories from PhDs who have made the switch themselves. 

12:30pm-1:30pm Professional photography session to take head shots for use in professional profiles(This will be offered to earlier registrants, postdocs will receive priority, and registration and confirmation are required to redeem this) 

When registering, please take this opportunity to let us know what questions you would like answered during the event. 

Please Join us! 

Feel free to contact us at uspa@ucsc.edu if you have any questions!

2018 Academic Job Search Q&A

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The USPA hosted an Academic Job Search Workshop featuring an open Q&A from four faculty mentors.  Postdocs from a variety of fields got to learn about how an academic job search works from both sides (from the department's point of view and the candidates).  Stay tuned for future workshops on other aspects of the Academic Job Search such as the "Chalk Talk".

 Preparing for your Academic Job Search

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 “Preparing for your Academic Job Search”

WHEN

SEPTEMBER 19 (WED)  12:30-1:30 PM

WHERE

PSB240

Please register here or email us at uspa@ucsc.edu if you have any questions.

In this Q & A workshop, we will cover many aspects of a faculty  job search including:

•How does a search committee get formed?
•What goes into a faculty job packet? 
•What are important criteria used to choose applicants?
 
Our instructors include:

Susan Strome

Distinguished Professor of MCD Biology

Needhi Bhalla

Associate Professor of MCD Biology

Susan Carpenter

Assistant Professor of MCD Biology

Daniel Kim

Assistant Professor of Biomolecular Engineering

2018 Postdoctoral Conference Travel Fund Now Open!

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The Postdoctoral Conference Travel Fund provides conference travel opportunities to postdocs in biological or biomedical science in the Division of Physical and Biological Sciences. This year, we will be able to make one or more awards totaling $1,100.

Award criteria:

•      Past and continuing evidence of research accomplishments

•      Ability for the award to substantially improve your career prospects

•      Financial need

Apply here.

Grant Writing Workshop 2018

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Grant Writing Workshop

hosted by UCSC STEM Postdocs Association (USPA)

Postdocs, grad students and staff scientists are all welcome!

 

TIME: June 25th (Monday) 9:30am-3pm

LOCATION: Biomed 300

 

INSTRUCTORS:

David States, Biomedical Research Development Specialist, Office of Research

David has decades of experience with research funding. Currently he works with UCSC faculty on federal grant proposals, especially on biomedical research topics.

Carrie Partch, Associate Professor, Chemistry & Biochemistry Department

Carrie has extensive experience with NIH on both sides: she has received multiple R01 grants, and has sit on the review panels. She also teaches a grant-writing course.

TENTATIVE AGENDA:

9:30am Check in

9:45-10:00am Introduction

10am-12pm David States: basic principles of grant writing, going over examples (for those who submit writing samples ahead of time), how to write NSF grants

12-1pm Lunch and networking

1-3pm Carrie Partch: NIH funding mechanisms and review process, going over examples (for those who submit writing samples ahead of time)

 

 

Registration is required.

Register here! Deadline June 19th.

 

Both instructors have taken time out of their busy schedules and offered to review your proposals and provide specific advice. In order to get the most out of this workshop, we strongly encourage you to submit your draft proposal, especially the specific aim page. You can submit any sections you find challenging to write. You may upload your draft in the registration form. These materials will not be shared with any one else besides the workshop instructors.

Feel free to contact us if you have any questions!

– UCSC STEM Postdoc Association (USPA)

Job Hunting in Industry Workshop: How to locate and apply for jobs, get interviews, and negotiate more from your first job offer

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We're excited to announce a workshop for STEM postdocs and graduate students who are interested in industry career:

Job Hunting in Industry:  How to locate and apply for jobs, get interviews, and negotiate more from your first job offer

Presented by Bill Lindstaedt, MS

Bill is the Assistant Vice Chancellor and manages Career Advancement, International and Postdoctoral Services at UCSF. He is a career counselor specializing in career development issues for doctoral level trainees in the sciences. He is also a co-author of Science Magazine's myIDP, a free career development tool launched designed to help research scientists take charge of their careers.

JOB HUNTING IN INDUSTRY:

How to locate and apply for jobs, how to get interviews, and how to negotiate more from your first job offer

Postdocs, grad students and research scientists are all welcome!

Space is limited. Register now!

Jan 12th (Friday) 1-4:30PM

Biomed

Did you know that only 10-15% of PhDs will get faculty jobs? Industry career has become the prevailing path for PhDs in life sciences. But it could be challenging to land a good job straight out of academia, and the training and resource to prepare PhDs for industry jobs is lacking.
This workshop is designed to provide PhD students and postdocs with the knowledge and skills to launch a successful job search for positions in industry research. 
The workshop is consisted of 3 segments: (feel free to choose the segment(s) of your interest to attend)
  1. Job Hunting for Industry Research Positions:  How to apply for jobs and get interviews - 1 hour
    You will learn how to prepare resumes and cover letters that will get you noticed during your search for research jobs in industry.   You will learn how to find information on companies and how to reach out to industry scientists who can connect you with job opportunities, and push your resume along through the selection process. After this workshop, you will understand how to execute three techniques that comprise a comprehensive job search.
  2. Succeeding in Interviews for Industry Research Positions - 1.5 hour
    After attending this 90-minute skill-building workshop, you will leave with a set of frameworks that will help you respond effectively to the most common questions asked of postdocs when they interview for that first industry researcher position.  You will improve your ability to respond to opening and closing interview scenarios, as well as tough and awkward interview questions.  Finally, we will discuss tips for tailoring your job talk to an industry setting.
  3. Compensation Negotiation for Industry Research Positions - 1 hour
    Know how to answer these common questions that everyone has as they are getting their first industry job offer.
  • What do I say when the employer asks me about my salary requirements before the job offer (during the interview)?
  • What do I say when the employer asks me about salary during the job offer discussion?
  • What kinds of benefits and compensation components will I see in my industry job offer letter?
  • Which job offer components are negotiable and which ones should I not try to negotiate?
  • Most importantly, how do I ask for more graciously, so that I get what I need while maintaining a positive relationship with my future employer?
 

Chalk-talk workshop recap

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We hope everyone find the workshop helpful for your current or future job search. Thank you for participating!

Big thanks to the panelists: Dr. Karen Ottemann, Dr. Jordan Ward, Dr. Daniel Kim and Dr. Camilla Forsberg for taking time out of their busy schedules to join us! They shared their personal experience in giving chalk-talks or judging chalk-talks. They also discussed the academic hiring process, what is expected in a chalk-talk and how to prepare for the talk. For a good talk, be sure to first state your overall goal for your future lab concisely and clearly, then describe the projects starting from the most important one, while confidently present yourself as the expert in the field. And keep in mind that sometimes things don’t go as you expected, so don’t panic and improvise!

Then postdocs Katlin and Paul each gave a excellent mock chalk-talk, and received feedback from the instructors. They are actively looking for jobs, so we hope this experience is helpful to them and wish them good luck!

Are you looking for jobs? Let us know what kind of workshops you would like to see so we can help you get the job you want!