Spring Issue 2006

Happy First Birthday Post-Doctoral Assembly: Recent Accomplishments and Future Directions

Jennifer Duringer, 2006-2007 PDA Chair

Jennifer Duringer

The Post-Doctoral Assembly (PDA) has accomplished much in its first year as an official committee of SOT. Elections for PDA Board positions were held on-line in February for the first time, with voting open to all PDA members (i.e., SOT members who are identified as post-docs). Personal statements were submitted by all candidates and posted for review during the election process. Officers who will serve for 2006-2007 are as follows: Jennifer Duringer (transition from Co-Chair to Chair), Michail Panagiotidis (Co-Chair), Aaron Rowland (Secretary-Treasurer), and Kristin Mitchell (Councilor).

Jose Manautou

The PDA also had a very successful Annual Meeting in San Diego and participated in multiple events.

• The first “Post-Doctoral Event” was Sunday night and included a keynote address from Jose Manautou, winner of the 2006 Achievement Award, and comments by George Corcoran, Council Liaison. Incoming and outgoing PDA Board members were also introduced, followed by informal discussion amongst all attendees regarding future endeavors of the PDA.
• The PDA partnered with the Career Resource and Development Committee (CRAD) to offer a seminar entitled “Life After Your Post-Doc: Advice on Finding and Landing a Job.” A stellar panel representing experts from industry, academia, and the government were present to give advice on an array of topics including the job search, CV preparation, interview tips, salary negotiation, and benefits. We hope those who were able to attend found this session entertaining and informative. For those who could not attend, you’re in luck! The PDA Board took some notes! The summary of answers to each question is posted at the SOT PDA Web site. We hope that our continued partnership with CRAD will provide for additional post-doctoral sessions at future SOT meetings.
• The PDA will also post the minutes from our meetings in San Diego and the PDA Board conference calls. Our hope is that by posting meeting minutes, the SOT Post-Doctoral membership can stay informed of active PDA programs and also those in every stage of development. If you see something you would like to comment on or help with, just let us know! Be sure to check out the PDA minutes at the Web site. You might even see yourself in a picture from the Annual Meeting!
• This year the Student Advisory Committee and the PDA suggested the format for the meeting between Council, students, and post-docs be more informal. The goal was to provide an opportunity for students and post-docs to network with Council members and to facilitate communication about issues they would like to have addressed in the coming year. The meeting was very effective, as many new acquaintances were made and a variety of issues were discussed. Thank you to all those who attended, and we look forward to seeing you all at the meeting with Council next year!

The PDA Board has been working hard since our inception to bring post-docs in the Society the resources and leadership opportunities they need. We have many innovative ideas for the coming year, which were refined in discussions at the Annual Meeting. Current initiatives include:

• Conducting a survey of post-docs to get to know our members and to better gauge their needs.
• Submitting a proposal for a platform session at the 2007 Annual Meeting that will highlight abstracts submitted by post-docs in a specific area of research.
• Designing a “First Time Presenters Program” that will welcome first-time post-doctoral poster presenters to the Society and PDA. Experts will be asked to volunteer to visit post-docs at their posters and will encourage their membership in SOT.

• Increased collaborative efforts with Specialty Sections, Regional Chapters, and Special Interest Groups.

• Creation of more awards geared towards post-docs.

We welcome the input and help of any PDA member for these initiatives. Please feel free to contact us at SOT Headquarters. We want to get you involved!