Executive Summary Final - the Center for Nanoscale Science - an ...

Education and Human Resources Development
distribution of our museum shows, two copies of each show reside at Penn State and are
used extensively by our faculty and graduate students to present the show locally. We
have presented our museum shows over 100 times in classrooms, for visiting school
groups, and in summer camps and workshops.
Postdoctoral Mentoring Plan
Our mentoring plan for postdoctoral fellows begins
with the development of an Individual Development
Plan (IDP) by each postdoctoral fellow working in
conjunction with the lead faculty mentor(s) on their
project. The purpose of the IDP is to outline the specific
long-term career goals and short-term objectives of the
postdoctoral fellow, identify areas for specialized
training, and facilitate effective communication of
expectations between the postdoc and faculty mentor(s).
The faculty mentor(s) then provides the postdoctoral fellow with counseling tailored to
match their long-term career goals in academia, industry or government. Depending on
their interests and goals, the postdoctoral scholar is offered a variety of training
opportunities including both formal workshops and seminars and informal mentoring.
Key components of our mentoring plan include:
• Introducing our postdocs to the local environment and campus-wide resources
available to support their research, teaching, and professional development.
• Creating and implementing Individual Development Plan that are tailored to meet
career goals of each individual postdoctoral fellow. These plans are based on
published best practices and follow methods as presented in the National
Postdoctoral Society mentoring toolkit. 1
• Participating in the Scholarship and Research Integrity (SARI) program at Penn
State to provide the postdoctoral scholars with comprehensive, multilevel training
in the responsible conduct of research.
• Participating in brownbag lunch series where speakers are invited discuss topics
related to career development including leadership, professional ethics, work-life
balance, conflict resolution, career paths inside and outside of academia, and
entrepreneurship. Attending seminars on applying for academic positions and
negotiating start-up packages. The Penn State Postdoctoral Society sponsors these
activities.
• Presenting research results at the MRSEC weekly lunchtime seminar series, weekly
group meetings, and biweekly IRG meetings to develop communication and
presentation skills.
• Participating in a journal club organized by the Penn State Graduate School to
review and critique journal articles and provide guidance on writing scholarly
publications.
1
http://www.nationalpostdoc.org/publications/mentoring-plans/mentoring-plan