INFORMATION + RESOURCES

Postdoctoral appointments at the University of Minnesota fall into two categories, Postdoctoral Associates and Postdoctoral Fellows. Postdoctoral associates are University employees who are receiving additional training while also performing service for the University, for which they are compensated. Postdoctoral fellow appointments are for persons receiving a fellowship or training award granting a stipend and allowing for advanced study or research.

You can learn more about appointments, benefits and other resources at the University by visiting the links below.
College of Biological Sciences Policies
  • Postdoctoral Safety Net. For when a Postdoc faces an issue with their advisor, or for all postdocs under an advisor who has violated University policy. 
Looking for your next job? We have a Slack channel for just this purpose here. 
To further your career development, great online resources are listed below:
  1. National Center for Faculty Development and Diversity (NCFDD) - facultydiversity.org. The National Center for Faculty Development & Diversity is an independent professional development, training, and mentoring community for faculty members, postdocs, and graduate students. NCFDD are 100% dedicated to supporting academics in making successful transitions throughout their careers. UMN has an institutional membership meaning that all faculty, post-docs, and graduate students from any of our system campuses have access to NCFDD resources at no cost (See https://faculty.umn.edu/professional-development/faculty/national-center-faculty-development-diversity.) To activate your UMN institutional membership:
    1. Visit www.FacultyDiversity.org/Join
    2. Fill in your registration information
    3. Complete the registration process
    4. You will receive a welcome email within 24 business hours confirming that your account is active and that you can access NCFDD resources
  2. ScienceCareers provides an excellent system called myIDP for deciding on your next career plans and plan for it. Furthermore, they provide a lot of great articles about surviving your postdoc and transitioning on to your next career.
  3. Postdoc Academy provides a comprehensive online program built on the National Postdoctoral Association core competencies to support skill development throughout postdoc training, from orientation to the next career step.
  4. CheekyScientist has videos, articles, and podcasts aimed at assisting PhDs and Postdocs in transitioning to Industry positions. 
  5. The Burroughs Wellcome Fund provides articles and books about the right moves when transitioning to a tenure-track faculty position. 
  6. LinkedInLearning (Formerly Lynda.com) is an online educational platform that helps you discover and develop business, technology-related, and creative skills through expert-led course videos. The University of Minnesota offers institutional access here: https://it.umn.edu/technology/linkedin-learning.
  7. Develop a personal website through Google or Drupal with the help of UMN IT guides online: https://it.umn.edu/comparison/compare-tools-create-website
  8. Access online training and Self-help guides from UMN IT on a variety of topics including Google tools, Drupal, SAS & JMP, Excel, etc. https://it.umn.edu/training-events and https://it.umn.edu/service-details/self-help-guides
  9. The Youtube series CrashCourse offers video playlists educating viewers on a variety of topics including Philosophy, Psychology, and History. https://www.youtube.com/user/crashcourse
  10. Coursera offers many free online learning courses from leading universities and companies: https://www.coursera.org/
  11. Update (or develop) your CV/Resume using resources from the Graduate School and Career Services  https://grad.umn.edu/academic-career-support/graduate-education-resources/transferable-skills-checklist https://careerhelp.umn.edu/
  12. Take part in an Academic & Career Development workshops offered by the Graduate School. https://grad.umn.edu/academic-career-support/academic-career-development-workshops
  13. Participate in a weekly Stress Buster Online Session: Join the Earl E. Bakken Center for Spirituality & Healing for their weekly informal hour of meditation and light movement on Tuesdays at 12:00 p.m. that will leave you feeling physically, emotionally, intellectually, and spiritually rejuvenated. https://umn-private.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_ZyePhO9ZTdmpaOKLZI-ZqA
  14. Work on your mental well-being through LearntoLive webinars: https://www.learntolive.com/webinars
  15. Prepare yourself for a career outside of academia with webinars from Beyond the Professoriate: https://beyondprof.com/upcoming-events/
  16. Training Modules to Enhance Data Reproducibility, from NIH National Institute of General Medical Sciences: https://www.nigms.nih.gov/training/Pages/training-modules-to-enhance-data-reproducibility.aspx
  17. NIH Office of Research Integrity - many resources and training options on the responsible conduct of research https://ori.hhs.gov/, under “RCR Resources” tab.
  18. NIH Training and Career Development Resources for Postdocs and Early Career Scientists: https://www.nigms.nih.gov/training/pages/trainingcareerdevelopmentresources.aspx.
  19. Negotiating a job offer: https://grad.illinois.edu/careers/negot.

 

An over view of resources and upcoming career development events can also be found here.