Dartmouth is home to approximately 200 postdoctoral fellows working across several departments on campus.
The Dartmouth Center for the Advancement of Learning (DCAL) hosted its’ annual Future Faculty Reception and Postdoc Appreciation event, co-sponsored by the Office of Outreach and the Dartmouth College Postdoc Association (DCPDA).
Dean Jon Kull of the School of Graduate and Advanced Studies also attended the reception to welcome postdocs and incoming students, as well as share information regarding the role of the new School in the postdoc community. Attendees were able to network with each other while learning more about the resources offered by DCAL, DCPDA, the Office of Outreach, and the Graduate School.
DCAL facilitates professional development through a wide offering of workshops and discussion groups, posted regularly on the Events Calendar. The Future Faculty Teaching Series is for graduate students and postdocs interested in teaching and learning, and a monthly discussion group, referred to as the Learning Community for Future Faculty (LCFF), focuses on teaching in the college classroom.
Molecular and Cellular Biology graduate student Kelly Salmon uses the LCFF to improve her teaching skills noting, “The LCFF covers a broad range of teaching-related topics, so I am always learning something new”.
The DCPDA hosts social events like the Future Faculty Reception to develop and maintain connections across the postdoc community. Current DCPDA President Jibran Khokhar welcomed postdocs and encouraged them to network at events such as the reception. Biochemistry postdoc Lorna Young uses the DCPDA events like these to meet postdocs from other departments, share experiences, and network.
As well as events on and around campus, postdocs and graduate students can also participate in numerous outreach events highlighted by the Science and Technology Outreach office. MCB graduate student Jessica Desimone noted, “The Science and Technology Outreach office also has resources to help graduate students create new outreach opportunities that will foster relationships between Dartmouth scientists and the local community”. DeSimone and Salmon hope to utilize the Office of Outreach for Science Day—an event sponsored by Graduate Women in Science and Engineering (GWISE) that introduces high school students to research on campus.
For information about any of the opportunities available to postdocs at Dartmouth, professional or social, please send an email to the DCPDA.