Award announcement: The Graduate School Awards Eight Professional Development Grants for 2025
Bioethics & Science Policy Professional Development Conference in D.C.
Science and Society’s M.A. program is a uniquely interdisciplinary program that explores ethical, legal, political and social implications across bioscience and technology. Program alumni often have to actively forge a career path for themselves. We would like to help current M.A.-BSP students launch a job search by providing them with an opportunity to get advice from and network with professionals in bioscience and technology policy. To that end, we are seeking support for a two-day student-led conference in May 2025 at the Duke in D.C. office. The conference will serve the Fall 2024 and Spring 2025 M.A. cohorts. We will invite Duke alumni and relevant organizations to attend, and the M.A. program faculty have offered to make introductions to D.C. policymakers working in government, NGOs, and private industry. Students will help run panels, discuss hot topics, and explore career options with guests.
Career Exploration Lunches for Budding Plant Biologists
The Triangle area is home to a robust community of biotechnology companies focused on plant biology applications, state and federal agriculture labs, and academic plant biology researchers, and indeed Duke has a strong representation of plant biology research groups. However, there are few opportunities for plant biology trainees at Duke to network with scientists at other local institutions, gain a better understanding of available career tracks, and prepare to be the best possible candidate for plant research-focused positions within and outside of academia. By hosting monthly informal conversations and lunches with professionals from Triangle-area plant biology endeavors, we will provide all trainees interested in plant biology careers with opportunities to network and learn about different careers. This will be the first step of creating a pipeline for plant researchers at Duke to identify and successfully obtain positions after their training concludes.
Catalyzing Connections: Coffee with a Chemist
Networking for career exploration is vital for understanding where you want to go after graduation, literally. Current professional development programming in the Chemistry Department includes the Coffee with a Chemist event series. Guests of this informal networking hour have been limited to local alumni and academics who have been invited by the department, but students who have attended these events want non-academic careers featured, and preferably graduates who have relocated out of the Triangle area. In an effort to improve upon the popular event series, the Professional Development Committee proposes hosting a non-local alum to give graduate students, postdocs, and undergraduates a perspective on relocating to a chemistry hub city while sharing career advice.
Neurobiology Career Series
The graduate students of the Duke Neurobiology Department will continue to host a monthly career seminar series featuring professionals with Ph.D. training in neuroscience/neurobiology who have successfully followed a variety of diverse career paths. The primary goal of this series is to increase awareness among graduate students and postdoctoral scholars of careers available to neuroscientists beyond the academic pipeline. The series will feature professionals from a variety of fields including data science, biotechnology, pharmaceuticals, science writing, teaching, and others. This series will provide a forum for students to learn about available career paths, hear the specific steps they should be taking to prepare themselves for the job search, and make valuable connections that will help them as they transition to the next stages in their careers.
Nicholas School of the Environment Ph.D. Student Writing Retreat
A writing retreat is essential as it provides a structured, distraction-free environment that fosters both productivity and creativity, allowing students to make significant progress on large, complex writing projects like dissertations. This retreat will support dissertation advancement and cultivate a collaborative academic community, helping students recharge and write in a focused, supportive setting. This proposal seeks funding for a writing retreat designed for 4th-year and above Ph.D. students affiliated with the Nicholas School of the Environment (NSOE) PhD program. The retreat offers participants focused writing time to advance their dissertations, along with professional development workshops facilitated by experts from the Thompson Writing Program and Duke University Libraries.
Post-Ph.D. Pathways: Leading the Future of Nursing
We propose a hybrid event series designed to empower Ph.D. students and current postdocs at Duke University School of Nursing (DUSON). With a series of four sessions with expert speakers and guided discussions on critical topics, we aim to provide participants with essential information, practical examples, and effective tools for navigating and optimizing their future careers as nursing scholars. Attendees will have the unique opportunity to hear directly from Ph.D.-educated nurses who are DUSON alumni across both academia and industry, fostering a comprehensive understanding of career pathways. This initiative will not only enhance professional development but will also strengthen the network of emerging nursing leaders, positioning them for success in an evolving healthcare landscape.
The Physics Department Graduate Seminar Series
The Physics Graduate Seminar Series, held weekly, provides graduate students with the opportunity to practice giving presentations to their peers in preparation for important academic milestones: preliminary exams, conference talks/abstracts and dissertation defenses. Each session fosters skill sets in organization and time management, communication, peer feedback and time management, all essential for academic and non-academic career paths. This series is scheduled and organized by the Graduate Student Organization (GSO) in the Physics Department.
Networking and Alumni Engagement Opportunities for Genetics & Genomics Students
This proposal aims to provide professional development opportunities to students by facilitating networking events with industry professionals and engaging with alumni to explore a wide range of career options. These events are intended to connect academic research with practical applications, offering students insights into the challenges and opportunities within various career paths. This initiative seeks to promote students’ growth through mentorship and knowledge exchange. As part of this initiative, we will host lunches with industry professionals, providing students with the opportunity to learn about the latest industry trends and explore potential career avenues. Through the alumni mixer, students will gain insights into the practical applications of their studies, learn about diverse career paths, and expand their professional networks. These events will help students gain a clearer understanding of the opportunities available to them, enhance their professional networks, and receive valuable career guidance.