Tag Archives: postdocs

Hokanson, Peterson & Williams Clayton Win 2024 Top Postdoctoral Awards

SEATTLE, Wash. /ScoopCloud/ -- During its annual conference, the National Postdoctoral Association (NPA) announced that Sarah Hokanson, Ph.D., Karen Peterson, Ph.D., and Sade Williams Clayton, Ph.D., are the 2024 winners of the organization's three most prestigious awards.

"These three awards represent the top honors that the NPA can bestow on individuals," said Caleb M. McKinney, Ph.D., M.P.S., chair of the NPA board. "We should all pause to reflect on this trio of excellence in mentorship, distinguished service to the postdoctoral community, and impeccable leadership while in one's postdoc position."

The NPA Gallagher Mentor Award recognizes the very best of mentors across the nation who advocate for postdoctoral scholars, celebrate diversity, equity, inclusion and belonging (DEIB) values, and empower their postdoc scholars to succeed. The NPA is dedicated to both recognizing champions and serving as a model for greater DEIB across the postdoctoral community.

Dr. Sarah Hokanson was selected as the 2024 Gallagher Mentor of the Year today to a field of applauding peers. "Mentoring is my most important, fulfilling, and joyful responsibility," she explained. "I am so grateful to be in collaborative learning relationships with such outstanding postdoctoral scholars and to have the opportunity to support them to make an impact through our work." Hokanson is assistant vice president and assistant provost of research development for Ph.D. and postdoctoral affairs at Boston University.

The NPA Distinguished Service Award recognizes the highest appreciation for an individual who has demonstrated a profound, sustained, or leadership contribution to improving the postdoctoral experience. Today, that honor was bestowed on Dr. Karen Peterson, an early advocate and former board member of the NPA.

"I'm very honored to receive this award from the NPA," commented Peterson, "which is leading the way to improve the lives of postdoctoral fellows and has been instrumental to my own career development over the past two decades." Peterson is the scientific ombudsman and director of the Office of Scientific Career Development at Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center.

This year, the NPA presented its first Postdoc of the Year Award, bestowing that honor on Sade Williams Clayton, Ph.D., a postdoctoral research fellow at Washington University in St. Louis. The award recognizes a postdoc who has advanced the postdoctoral community in an exceptional manner beyond their work duties and in alignment with the NPA mission and core values.

"I am so humbled by this recognition," said Williams Clayton. "I applaud the National Postdoctoral Association for providing this award as a platform to uplift the hard work that postdocs provide at and away from the bench to better the academic community."

"I'm thrilled that we are able to celebrate the incredible achievements of Dr. Williams Clayton beyond those of her day job," said Tom Kimbis, executive director and chief executive officer of the NPA. "The launch of the NPA Postdoc of the Year Award sends another strong signal that the NPA recognizes the irreplaceable role of postdocs in the greater research environment."

Individuals and organizations can follow the work of Drs. Hokanson, Peterson, and Williams Clayton online while also collaborating with the NPA, which is committed to advancing the skills and careers of our nation's hard-working postdoctoral scholars.

About the National Postdoctoral Association:

The National Postdoctoral Association (NPA) is a nonprofit, 501(c)(3) charitable and educational association headquartered in Bethesda, MD. Founded in 2003, the NPA envisions an inclusive community where all postdocs are empowered, valued, recognized, and supported in their current and future endeavors. The NPA serves the entire postdoctoral community, including its 20,000 individual and 250 organizational members.

Learn more: https://www.nationalpostdoc.org/

NPA Annual Conference 2024:

Learn more: https://www.nationalpostdoc.org/events/eventdetails.aspx?id=1779542

During its annual conference, the National Postdoctoral Association (NPA) announced that Sarah Hokanson, Ph.D., Karen Peterson, Ph.D., and Sade Williams Clayton, Ph.D., are the 2024 winners of the organization's three most prestigious awards.

Related link: https://www.nationalpostdoc.org/

2023 NPA Gallagher Mentor Award Finalists Announced

ROCKVILLE, Md. /ScoopCloud/ -- The National Postdoctoral Association (NPA), in partnership with Gallagher, today announced the finalists for the 2023 NPA Gallagher Mentor Award. The award recognizes a faculty member or advisor who engages in exceptional mentoring of postdoctoral scholars.

The prestigious NPA Gallagher Mentor Award recognizes those who advocate for postdoctoral scholars; exhibit outstanding communication skills; embed diversity, equity and inclusion values in mentoring; demonstrate respect for the work and career paths of postdoctoral scholars; create productive working environments to enhance the postdoctoral experience; and show resilience and creativity as mentors in navigating change.

"Recognition as a mentor in the academic community is an exceptional achievement, as it demonstrates great dedication to those whose professional careers are just beginning," said Caleb McKinney, Ph.D., MPS, chair of the NPA board of directors and interim assistant vice president at Georgetown University Medical Center.

The 2023 finalists for the NPA Gallagher Mentor Award are:

* Ya-Ting T. Liao, Ph.D., Associate Professor, Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, Case Western Reserve University

* Christian A. Meissner, Ph.D., Professor, Department of Psychology, Iowa State University

* Lakesh Sharma, Ph.D., Assistant Professor of Soil Fertility and Sustainable Agriculture, Soil, Water, and Ecosystem Sciences Department, University of Florida

"The NPA recognizes the selfless actions of each of these impressive individuals in mentoring postdoctoral scholars," stated NPA executive director and chief executive officer, Thomas P. Kimbis. "It is hard to understate their contributions to those scientists and researchers fortunate enough to interact with them every day."

The winner of this year's award will be announced at the 2023 NPA Annual Conference, taking place in Philadelphia on April 21-22, 2023 and through a virtual event May 11-12, 2023. This year marks the twentieth anniversary of the founding of the NPA, which will be celebrated during these events.

Registration remains open for this event and is accessible to anyone around the world. Learn more: https://www.nationalpostdoc.org/page/2023AC

About the National Postdoctoral Association:

The National Postdoctoral Association (NPA) is a nonprofit, 501(c)(3) educational association headquartered in Rockville, MD and celebrating its 20th anniversary in 2023. Founded in 2003, the NPA envisions an inclusive community where all postdocs are empowered, valued, recognized, and supported in their current and future endeavors. The NPA serves the entire postdoctoral community, including its nearly 25,000 individual and 250 organizational members.

Learn more: https://www.nationalpostdoc.org/

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The National Postdoctoral Association (NPA), in partnership with Gallagher, today announced the finalists for the 2023 NPA Gallagher Mentor Award. The award recognizes a faculty member or advisor who engages in exceptional mentoring of postdoctoral scholars. The prestigious NPA Gallagher Mentor Award recognizes those who advocate for postdoctoral scholars.

Related link: https://www.nationalpostdoc.org/

Virtues and Skills of Researchers Across the U.S. Celebrated During 12th National Postdoc Appreciation Week

ROCKVILLE, Md. /ScoopCloud/ -- The National Postdoctoral Association (NPA) today kicked off the 12th annual National Postdoc Appreciation Week (NPAW), taking place through Friday. NPAW is the nation's largest celebration of postdoctoral scholars who serve at more than 300 institutions, acknowledging the significant contributions "postdocs" make to research, innovation and scientific discovery. This year's NPA theme, "I Am a Postdoc," celebrates the fact that postdocs not only achieve greatness in their work, but also come from diverse backgrounds, possess valuable professional skills, and embrace fundamental virtues.

Postdocs are individuals holding doctoral degrees engaged in a temporary period of mentored research or scholarly training to gain needed skills to excel in their careers. These scholars conduct a large share of critical, cutting-edge research across all disciplines at universities, research institutions and industry members across the United States.

"The NPA founded NPAW as a platform to celebrate postdocs and their contributions at and outside of the workplace," said William Mahoney, Jr., Ph.D., vice chair of the NPA. "We're thrilled to join our partners, members, and sponsors in providing postdocs with more of the recognition they so richly deserve."

Since its founding by the NPA in 2009, NPAW has grown into a truly national event, with universities, medical centers, industry members, and others hosting events this week to acknowledge the contributions of postdocs. Popular events during NPAW include professional and career development workshops, networking activities, and social events celebrating the immense contribution of postdocs to our nation's thought leadership.

"NPAW celebrates the inspiration and perspiration of the more than 70,000 postdocs working in the U.S. across all disciplines - from immunology to psychology - to make a better world for us all." said Tom Kimbis, NPA executive director and CEO. "Although more Americans learn every day who postdocs are and what they do, postdocs remain a largely unseen force in the U.S. economy. Through NPAW and beyond, the NPA is dedicated to changing this culture of invisibility."

In addition to the dozens of events occurring locally, national NPAW activities following on the theme of "I Am a Postdoc" include remarks by the Honorable Sethuraman Panchanathan, director of the National Science Foundation; Robert T. Pennock, Ph.D., University Distinguished Professor, Michigan State University, and president of Sigma Xi; and, Keith Micoli, Ph.D., assistant dean of postdoctoral affairs at New York University School of Medicine. These will be complemented by a career connection opportunity for postdocs to network with former postdocs now in permanent positions, as well as a hands-on workshop led by NPA partner Postdoc Academy providing training on finding preferred career paths.

A calendar of 2021 NPAW events can be found at https://www.nationalpostdoc.org/2021NPAW.

Many local events are being conducted virtually and are open to participation by researchers at other institutions in a spirit of collaboration and cross-fertilization of ideas. This year, NPAW is made possible by NPA Distinguished Partner, Gallagher Insurance, and NPA Gold Partner, Proteintech.

The NPA is a national charitable and educational non-profit association headquartered in Rockville, Maryland, that seeks to improve the postdoctoral experience by supporting a culture of inclusive connection. At the individual, organizational, and national levels, the NPA facilitates enhanced professional growth, raises awareness, and collaborates with stakeholders in the postdoctoral community. Membership in the NPA is open to all organizations and individuals interested in advancing the interests of postdocs in the United States. Affiliate membership in the NPA for most postdocs is free and available at https://www.nationalpostdoc.org/.

To support NPA and its charitable mission to assist postdocs, please visit https://www.nationalpostdoc.org/page/donate or text 20FORNPA to 44-321.

*LOGO link for media: https://www.Send2Press.com/300dpi/20-0916s2p-natpostdoc-logo-300dpi.jpg

The National Postdoctoral Association (NPA) today kicked off the 12th annual National Postdoc Appreciation Week (NPAW), taking place through Friday. NPAW is the nation's largest celebration of postdoctoral scholars who serve at more than 300 institutions, acknowledging the significant contributions "postdocs" make to research, innovation and scientific discovery.

Related link: https://www.nationalpostdoc.org/

New Study Shows Positive Trends and Continued Challenges for University Postdocs

ROCKVILLE, Md. /ScoopCloud/ -- The National Postdoctoral Association (NPA) today announced the release of Growing Progress in Supporting Postdocs: 2021 National Postdoctoral Association Institutional Policy Report.

Developed in collaboration with Sigma Xi, The Scientific Research Honor Society, and with support from the Burroughs Wellcome Fund, the report provides data and analysis of current postdoc office structures as well as insights into postdoc policies and programs at their institutions. The report is the third in a series of triennial reports on this topic.

The report analyzes the impact of how certain important and measurable factors, such as the number of postdocs at an institution, affect postdoc policies, benefits, and training programs. The latest data show positive trends when compared to the last edition, such as the continued creation of new postdoc offices at research facilities, a small increase in postdoc office budgets, and a few more institutions offering family friendly benefits to postdocs, to name a few.

"We are headed in the right direction in many areas of the postdoctoral experience," noted Tom Kimbis, executive director and chief executive officer of the NPA. "However, there are clear areas demanding improvement illustrated in this report that should be considered by all institutions supporting postdocs."

The report's key recommendations to institutions that hire postdocs are to increase the staff and budget for postdoc offices, provide higher compensation and equality in postdoc benefits, implement a uniform postdoc onboarding process, offer an intentional training program, build a diverse postdoc population, and implement better career tracking of postdocs after they leave their training institutions.

The report is part of an ongoing data collection project that began in 2012. This is the first look at longitudinal data covering a span of six years and originating with the last three NPA Institutional Policy Reports, and includes identification of areas of strength and weakness in institutional progress over that time. The institutions covered in this year's iteration represent 36,000 of the country's approximately 70,000 postdocs. Work is underway to begin the next round of data collection starting in 2022.

Growing Progress in Supporting Postdocs is being released as a supplement to the May-June 2021 issue of Sigma Xi's publication, American Scientist, and is also available online at the Sigma Xi and NPA websites. Fuller data from the expansive report is also available to NPA members only on the NPA website.

Learn mote: https://www.nationalpostdoc.org/page/policy_report_databa

About National Postdoctoral Association:

The National Postdoctoral Association (NPA) is a nonprofit, 501(c)(3) educational association headquartered in Rockville, MD. Founded in 2003, the NPA envisions an inclusive community where all postdocs are empowered, valued, recognized, and supported in their current and future endeavors. The NPA serves the entire postdoctoral community, including its 18,000 individual and 215 organizational members.

The National Postdoctoral Association (NPA) today announced the release of Growing Progress in Supporting Postdocs: 2021 National Postdoctoral Association Institutional Policy Report.

Related link: https://www.nationalpostdoc.org/

NPA Announces Chalasani, Tetzlaff Win Awards of Highest Distinction

ROCKVILLE, Md. /ScoopCloud/ -- The National Postdoctoral Association (NPA) today announced that Sreekanth Chalasani, Ph.D. and Julie Tetzlaff, Ph.D. are the 2021 winners of the organization's two most prestigious awards for exceptional service to the postdoctoral scholar community.

Chalasani, associate professor at the Molecular Neurobiology Laboratory at the Salk Institute, was announced as the winner of the 2021 NPA Gallagher Mentor Award among an exceptional field of finalists. Tetzlaff, associate professor at the Medical College of Wisconsin, was recognized by peers across the nation as the winner of the 2021 NPA Distinguished Service Award.

The NPA Gallagher Mentor Award recognizes the very best of mentors across the nation who advocate for postdoctoral scholars, celebrate diversity, equity and inclusion values and empower their postdoc scholars to succeed.

"A great expert is a person who has made all the mistakes," explained John Beacom, Ph.D., winner of the Mentor Award last year. "A great mentor is a person who will share those mistakes so others can avoid them."

"I am deeply honored to be selected as the NPA Gallagher Mentor of the Year from the National Postdoc Association," said Chalasani. "I would like to thank my current and former postdocs, all of whom have helped me become a better mentor. I also congratulate all of the award finalists for their fantastic work supporting postdocs."

The NPA Distinguished Service Award recognizes the highest appreciation for an individual that has demonstrated a profound, sustained, or leadership contribution to improving the postdoctoral experience. "The postdoctoral community is fortunate to have the NPA advocating on their behalf to improve the postdoctoral experience," commented Tetzlaff. "I thank them for giving me this award and bringing even more positive visibility to postdocs everywhere."

"Drs. Chalasani and Tetzlaff are receiving the highest honors that the NPA awards," stated NPA Board chair Stephanie Eberle, M.Ed. "In their own exceptional ways, they have excelled at creating agency and opportunity for postdoctoral scholars to succeed and advance in their work and careers."

The two awards were presented at the 2021 NPA Annual Conference before a record audience of postdoctoral scholars, faculty members, industry leaders and academic administrators.

Learn more: https://www.nationalpostdoc.org/page/2021AC

About National Postdoctoral Association:

The National Postdoctoral Association (NPA) is a nonprofit, 501(c)(3) educational association headquartered in Rockville, MD. Founded in 2003, the NPA envisions an inclusive community where all postdocs are empowered, valued, recognized, and supported in their current and future endeavors. The NPA serves the entire postdoctoral community, including its 18,000 individual and 215 organizational members.

The National Postdoctoral Association (NPA) today announced that Sreekanth Chalasani, Ph.D. and Julie Tetzlaff, Ph.D. are the 2021 winners of the organization's two most prestigious awards for exceptional service to the postdoctoral scholar community.

Related link: https://www.nationalpostdoc.org/

National Postdoctoral Association Unveils New Strategic Plan

ROCKVILLE, Md. /ScoopCloud/ -- Today, the National Postdoctoral Association (NPA) released a strategic plan for the coming three years to move closer towards its vision of "an inclusive community where all postdocs are empowered, valued, recognized, and supported in their current and future endeavors."

The 2021-2024 plan features a dozen strategies oriented around four pillars of NPA activity -- advocacy; diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI); member development; and operational excellence. The pillars and strategies were developed through an inclusive, eight-month process that included surveys of postdocs and university offices, consultation with external stakeholders, and use of best practices.

"The pillars of this strategic plan represent the next logical steps in our growth," said Stephanie Eberle, M.Ed., NPA Board Chair, "diversifying our research community, advocating for equity and opportunities within it, and maintaining the intentional, dependable service this important community deserves."

Since 2003, the NPA has been dedicated to improve the postdoctoral experience by supporting a culture of inclusive connection. This new member-driven plan is designed to bring even greater focus to the NPA's efforts by honing in on areas of greatest value and importance to postdocs and the institutions that support them.

The release coincides with the NPA's 19th Annual Conference, also occurring this week, and which has itself shattered attendance records and positioned the organization to jumpstart work under the new plan. The 18,000 member association hopes to further engage with its members, partners, allies and other stakeholders as it builds out specific initiatives and activities to implement its new strategies.

"We are committed to excellence in helping our members succeed -- from developing career pathways to building more inclusive communities -- and to creating novel and collaborative ways of enabling such success," commented Thomas P. Kimbis, J.D., NPA executive director and CEO. "We encourage stakeholders to connect with us to create win-win scenarios under our new plan."

About National Postdoctoral Association:

The National Postdoctoral Association (NPA) is a nonprofit, 501(c)(3) educational association headquartered in Rockville, MD. Founded in 2003, the NPA envisions an inclusive community where all postdocs are empowered, valued, recognized, and supported in their current and future endeavors. The NPA serves the entire postdoctoral community, including its 18,000 individual and 215 organizational members.

*LOGO link for media: https://www.Send2Press.com/300dpi/20-0916s2p-natpostdoc-logo-300dpi.jpg

Today, the National Postdoctoral Association (NPA) released a strategic plan for the coming three years to move closer towards its vision of "an inclusive community where all postdocs are empowered, valued, recognized, and supported in their current and future endeavors."

Related link: https://www.nationalpostdoc.org/