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Issue 2 |
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What's New? The Postdoctoral Scholars Advisory Council has gone through a transition this Fall, with several long time members departing MIT, and other new and enthusiastic members joining. We are glad for all contributors to our mission at MIT. In this issue, you'll read more about our recent activities, that have focussed this Fall on mentoring. The Council has continued its advocacy work in the area of benefits, and continues to plan other social and educational activities for postdocs. Janet
Mentoring Pilot Launched Fifty MIT faculty members and postdocs celebrated the sucessful start of the first postdoc mentoring program at MIT with a kickoff event on Wedndesday, December 8, 2004, at the R&D Pub. The pilot program is sponsored by Alice Gast, Vice President for Research at MIT and the Council. It includes an initial number of thirty faculty members who volunteered to join the pilot and help postdocs prepare for their longterm goals and a range of career opportunities. For information and questions regarding the program contact Marilyn Smith at www-mitpostdocs@mit.edu. Hauke
Benefits IAP The Council has been working with the Provost’s Office to improve the benefits of postdoctoral fellows and associates. An IAP seminar has been organized by Danica Chen and Emily Walsh, that will highlight the distinctions between postdoctoral associates and fellows in terms of MIT benefits. Come and find out about the crical role postdocs play in the MIT community, and how the Council is working to improve quality of life for postdocs. Invited speakers include: Marilyn Smith (Office of the Provost), Janet Fischer (Office of the Provost), Fred Crowley (Assistant Controller), and Shawn Foley (Manager of Health and Welfare Benefits). January 7, from 11AM to 1PM, in 68-181. Marcia
Career Planning The fact that a postdoc is a temporary stop in the career of a PhD means that a substantial portion of the postdoc is spent preparing and applying for the NEXT job opportunity. In this edition of the newsletter we ask Hannah Bernstein, Assistant Director of the MIT Careers Office and head of PhD and Postdoctoral Career Services, for advice on the steps postdocs should take for launching the successful job search. Tips for successful job search According to Hannah Bernstein, the successful job search begins with self-evaluation, determining the most important facets of your career, for example geographic location, compensation or intellectual challenge. The next task is to assemble a plan of action. The Careers Office has assembled a suggested timeline for job search preparation that can be found on the web at http://web.mit.edu/career/www/graduate/timelinepostdoc.html. Resources at MIT Once the goals of your job search are clear, the resources available at MIT can be fully exploited. One of the most valuable resources to which you have access may be your faculty advisor. Your advisor may have personal connections to prospective employers that would yield a great advantage in a competitive job search. The next step is registering with the MIT Careers Office, which can be done by visiting the webpage at http://web.mit.edu/career/www/. Registering for MIT MonsterTrak will give you access to electronic resume submission, lists of recruiters that are coming to campus, job openings around the country and many other valuable resources. There are also several events hosted by the Careers Office occurring over IAP that can be explored by going to http://student.mit.edu/iap/nscareers.html. Preparing for the academic career The MIT Careers Office also has services available for postdocs planning an academic career search. There are CV workshops and sessions on preparing for the academic job interview. Hannah Bernstein suggests taking advantage of the MIT Writing and Communications Center (http://web.mit.edu/writing/) to hone oral presentation skills for the job talk. Finally, Hannah Bernstein also meets personally with postdocs who have questions about aspects of the academic job search. Jonathan
The MIT Libraries What your Subject Specialist can do for you Have you ever gotten stuck in your research? Ever wondered where to go next when looking for information in your research area? Do you want to know the pros and cons, ins and outs of databases in your chosen topic? The MIT Libraries can help. We have a team of Subject Specialist Librarians covering all disciplines and all subjects taught and researched at MIT. They know the MIT library system and can be regularly consulted. They have substantial expertise and experience in working with information resources, can introduce you to library resources and show you how to use them efficiently. Scholar Librarians support research Subject Specialists are often called ‘Scholar Librarians’ and some have made significant contributions in their subject field. Typical projects from Erja Kajosalo, Librarian for Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, include helping setting up the database software SciFinder Scholar (see http://libraries.mit.edu/guides/cheatsheets/sci-finder/index.html). He also helps to find which journals have RSS feeds so that researchers have an easy way to check the table of contents of upcoming journals. In recent projects with postdocs, he supported their work by researching phase diagrams, chemical properties or finding information about chemical substances. Here is the link to MIT Libraries subject guides. For the name and email address of the subject specialist you wish to consult click on the appropriate subject link. Graham Howard, Librarian Humanities Library, MIT, contributed to this article.
Our Members Yuxing Ben (Mathematics), Penny Beuning (Biology), Bingzi Chen (Biological Eng.), Yu Chen (RLE), Peter Chien (Biology), Kirsten Edepli (CCR), Jonathan Habif (RLE), Marcia Haigis (Biology), Dirk Holste (Biology), Hauke Kolster (LNS), Anurag Maheshwari (Biological Eng.), Thomas Maxisch (Materials Science), Amanda Mower (Picower Center), Magdalena Sauvage, (McGovern Institute), Annegret Schulze Lutum (Biology), Yongting Wang (Chemistry). We try to represent postdocs across all disciplines of MIT, as space permits. If you are interested in joining the Council, please contact our administrators Janet Fischer and Marilyn Smith.
Comings and Goings Andrew Lawrence returned to the UK in October, to begin work at the European Center for Medium Range Weather Forecasts. Cheers, Andy! Jeelan Moghraby also returned to the UK in October. Toodles&thanks, Jeelan. Hauke Kolster begins a new job in Biomedical Imaging at the MGH-NMR Athinoula A. Martinos Center in Charlestown, MA in January. Thanks for everything, Hauke! Gone but not forgotten, Al Martinez returned from Caltech in December 2004 for lunch and Einstein chatter!
Winter 2005 Activities MIT IAP: Independent Activities Period http://web.mit.edu/iap/ • Life as a Postdoc at MIT Upcoming Events: • Post New Years PARTY for Postdocs • Ombuds Workshop Meet MIT Ombuds Toni Robinson and Mary Rowe, and discuss issues and concerns experienced by real or imaginary postdocs. • Postdoc Lunch Table So TAKE a BREAK from the LAB!! Just come to the Bio Cafe (1st floor of Building 68, near the food trucks) at any time between 12:00 and 1:30. Look for the BLUE signs.
Did you know . . . ? • MIT enables postdoc associates to take MIT courses for free (also non-MIT courses for up to $5,250/year) • Depending on your nationality, you may qualify for exemption of Federal and Massachussetts taxes • If your commute costs you more than $150/mo you can deduct this amount in your tax declaration Any tips you want to share with us? Email to: Magdalena The Postdocs@MIT Newsletter is published by the |