Postdoc Academy

The Postdoc Academy will blend interactive online and in-person content built on the National Postdoctoral Association (NPA) competencies to support skill development throughout postdoc training. Content uses inclusive, active-learning approaches and is delivered flexibly to be a resource for the postdoc audience directly as well as the postdoc offices and associations across the country. The Postdoc Academy team is building two, free Massive Open Online Courses (MOOC), open educational materials, in-person workshops, and supported learning communities.

Postdoc Academy: New Postdoc Orientation

This MOOC, launching in January 2020, will address foundational skills and career planning, establishing the professional habits postdocs will need to strategically prepare for their career and succeed in their postdoc. Themes explored include managing the transition from graduate training to postdoc, maximizing the utility of career planning tools, working effectively in intercultural research environments, and developing work-life resilience.

Postdoc Academy: Preparing for the Workforce

This MOOC, launching in January 2021, will build advanced skills that will enable postdocs to transition to independence. Themes explored in this MOOC include project management, transitioning from trainee to mentor to career professional, dealing effectively with conflict, leveraging classroom experiences, successful networking, scientific communication, and developing leadership skills.

Postdoc Academy: Train-the-Trainer 

We will partner with professional societies and national networks to deliver a Postdoc Academy train-the-trainer program to cultivate the capacity within institutions around the nation to adopt and adapt our materials to serve the professional development needs of their postdocs. This component of the project will launch in the spring of 2020.

This collaborative project aims to improve the quality and inclusiveness of postdoctoral training, working with partner organizations such as NPA, the National Research Mentor Network (NRMN), and the CIRTL Network.

For more information, please visit the Postdoc Academy website.