Activities & Initiatives
Science Events
PDA seminar series
In the spring semester, the PDA is sponsoring a monthly pizza-lunch seminar series, which is open to the whole Tri-Institutional community (Rockefeller University, Cornell, MSKCC). Two postdocs or RA's present their work in 25 min. talks, followed by a few min. discussion. This is a great opportunity to present your work in an informal setting and get input from other experts in and outside of your field. If you wish to talk about your work, contact the PDA (pda@rockefeller.edu).
Social Events
Here are some of the parties that the PDA sponsors and/or organizes. If you have ideas for other events, we might be able to sponsor them, as long as postdocs from more than one lab attend.
PDA Campus Parties
The PDA organizes two campus-wide parties annually, for all members of RU - postdocs, students, faculty, administration and stuff - to come and socialize with appropriate drink and calorie contents. Some of our previous themes have been:
Winter 2011: DJ Juan with dance, ethanol and middle-eastern inspired dinner
Summer 2010: Summertime Jazz with wine-and-cheese, live music
Summer 2009: Outdoor BBQ, DJ Juan's music medley and open-air dancing
Each of our parties attracts a few hundred people, so its always a great and fun way to meet new people!
Intra-lab BBQs
The PDA sponsors $150 for labs to host their own Inter-lab BBQs. Meet our one simple condition and take the geld from us: have postdocs from >1 lab attend. Please contact the PDA for reimbursement.
Intra-RU Pool Tournament
The PDA sponsors two fun events each year on campus-the pool tournament and the darts tournament. This is a fun play-off at the Faculty club, with lots of beer and pizza to help the participants aim their strikes and the audience to cheer loudly. Look out for our emails advertizing these events each year. Email us if you want to spearhead these events, or if you want us to sponsor any other such events on campus (scrabble or chess, anyone?)
Superbowl Sunday, Soccer, Cricket...
The PDA sponsors beer and pizzas for Superbowl, World cup Soccer and World cup Cricket.
PDA Luncheons
The PDA and Dean's office plan to host luncheons in the Abby Dining room for ~12 postdocs on a monthly basis. The seating arrangements will be aimed to facilitate interactions between postdocs from different labs.
Retreat
The annual PDA retreat is perhaps the largest and most important of all PDA undertakings. Completely on our own, we organize a two day event outside of NY in a scenic resort, where RU postdocs get to present their scientific acumen (as talks or poster sessions), and show off their non-scientific talents (dance, dinner-table quiz, afternoon volleyball, kayaking etc). It is a matter of satisfaction for us to know that more than a few scientific collaborations were started by a chance meeting at our retreat!
6TH Annual Retreat, Aug 3-4, 2011
Venue: Ocean's Place, NJ Date: August 3 and 4, 2011
Invited speaker: Tom Maniatis, Columbia University and Sean Muthian, Pfizer
Guest speakers:Nina Papavasilou, Sid Strickland
Program Schedule: Schedule.doc
Attendance: 94 participants
Photos: http://www.flickr.com/photos/67395746@N06/sets/ ( from Yingpu Yu, Rice Lab)
5th Annual Retreat, Aug 4-5, 2010
Venue: Skytop Lodge, Poconos, PA
Invited Speaker: Dr. Richard Axel, Columbia University
Guest Faculty: Dr. Fred Cross, Rockefeller University
Program: Schedule.doc
Attendance: 84 participants
4th Annual Retreat, Sept 21-22,2009
Venue: Hudson Valley Resort, Catskill Mountains
Invited Speaker: Dr. David Roth, New York University
Program: Schedule.doc
Photos: http://www.flickr.com/photos/30145890@N02/sets/72157622633273727/ (From Daniel Andor, Hudspeth lab)
3rd Annual Retreat, 2008
Venue: Water's Edge Resort, Westbrook, CT
Invited Speaker: Dr. Tom Pollard, Yale University
Attendance: 97 participants
Travel Awards
Each year, $400-800 is disbursed to postdocs who want to attend conferences, workshops or courses that are relevant to their current or future career pursuits. All travel awards are distributed bi-annually in spring and fall. The next deadline for applications will be October 31, 2011.
Academic events: Priority will be given to postdocs in their 3rd to 5th year at RU that have not attended a conference/ workshop before. After priority is granted as above, applicants will be selected in a lottery-based system. If you are interested, complete the Application for academic career development fund and send it to the Dean's office.
Non-academic events: We have recently instituted a travel award fund specifically for postdoc participation in non-academic career development events. If you are interested, complete the Application for non-academic career development fund and send it to the Dean's office.
Career Development
Career Counseling
The Rockefeller PDA has an agreement with Robert Tillman, currently Director of Faculty Professional Development at Columbia University Medical Center, to provide career counseling free of charge to RU postdocs/RA's. Among the services he provides are C.V./résumé preparation assistance and mock interviews. He also has a personal website with a number links to information on career related topics: http://bobtillman.sqaurespace.com /career-essentials/. To schedule an appointment with him, please contact him directly at tillman.bob@gmail.com or 917.696.0837.
Links
http://www.scienceallianceforum.org/career-resources/
http://www.aaas.org/
http://sciencecareers.sciencemag.org/
http://www.postdocjournal.com/
http://www.researchgate.net/jobs/research/
http://www.nyas.org/
Books
Outside the Ivory Tower: A Guide for Academics Considering Alternative Careers. Margaret Newhouse. Office of Career Services, Harvard University, 1993.
Alternative Careers in Science, Second Edition: Leaving the Ivory Tower (Scientific Survival Skills), Cynthia Robbins-Roth, Editor, Elsevier Academic Press, 2006
Career Development in Bioengineering and Biotechnology, Madhavan, Oakley and Kun, Editors, 2008.
Career Opportunities in Biotechnology and Drug Development, Toby Freedman, 2008, Cold Spring Harbor Press
PDA in print
Science/Nature etc
- "Sustainability in Science: A Nature Biotechnology article by Rockefeller PDA members Aakanksha Singhvi and Pallavi Sachdev summarizing discussions during the 2009 PDA retreat.
- "Paying the rent", Nature Jobs
- "Rental Disagreements", Nature Jobs
- "Location, location, location", Nature
Natural Selections
The PDA co-sponsors together with the Dean's office Natural Selections, the Rockefeller University monthly Newsletters (http://selections.rockefeller.edu/cms/index.php). We also regularly contribute articles about current initiatives, meetings with the administration, or social and science related events that we organize and/ or sponsor. A list of past articles can be found here.
