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Lew Attends National Postdoctoral Association Meeting
Betina Lew, 2009–2010 Chair of the SOT Postdoctoral Assembly (PDA), attended the seventh annual meeting of the National Postdoctoral Association (NPA) the end of March 2009. The conference was hosted by a large number of Houston, Texas, research institutions, with the majority of the sessions at the University of Texas Cancer Center. NPA values include:
- Postdocs make invaluable contributions to the research enterprise.
- Postdocs share personal responsibility for the progression and outcome of their careers.
- Disparities within the postdoctoral community should be corrected to the maximum extent practicable, while recognizing the unique needs of each stakeholder.
- The U.S. research community should make every effort to attract the best and brightest men and women from all groups, including international scholars, underrepresented minorities, and persons with disabilities.
Stacy Gelhaus, the current Chair of the NPA Board of Directors, opened the meeting and highlighted some of the accomplishments of the organization in its five year history. NPA has assumed a leadership role in addressing the many issues facing members of the postdoctoral community. For example, the call for NIH policy changes led to NIH establishing the Pathways to Independence award to help postdocs successfully transition to tenure-track faculty positions.
One of the speakers was Peter Fiske, Ph.D., President and CEO of PAX Mixer, Inc. and author of several books aimed to help scientists with career development. He pointed out that most postdocs do not appreciate the value and transferability of the skills acquired during their postdoctoral years and encouraged attendees to dedicate 10% of their time to career development. Another speaker was Nobel Laureate Peter Doherty, Ph.D., Professor at the University of Tennessee Health Science Center in Memphis and the University of Melbourne, Australia, and author of several books including The Beginner's Guide to Winning the Nobel Prize: Advice for Young Scientists. A session focused on the value of individual development plans (IDPs). The IDP is a "framework" or "planning process" for identifying short- and long-term goals, and includes helpful steps for achieving them, such as clarifying expectations and milestones and facilitating communication between postdocs and mentors.
More details about this meeting will be found in the article in the Spring Post-y, the SOT PDA newsletter.
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