Professional Development Events

The PDFO is dedicated to providing a wide variety of quality professional development opportunities to UBC’s postdoc community.

The PDFO is proud to offer four flagship professional development programs in addition to regularly-scheduled professional development workshops:

  • Foundations of Career Planning Program: A three-part workshop program designed to introduce postdocs to the support and resources required to establish the foundations of a post-PDF career in academia or with a primary focus on industry. By the end of the
  • Postdoctoral Fellows Teaching Internship (PDTI): In collaboration with the Centre for the Integration of Research, Teaching and Learning (CIRTL), the Postdoc Teaching Internship is comprised of a three-day Instructional Skills Workshop (ISW) and opportunities to work with a mentor.
  • Essentials of Project Management Program (formerly called the Summer Institute in Project Management): A program designed to provide a comprehensive overview of topics in research project management, including an introduction to the principles, and key elements of scope, time, cost, quality, stakeholder and risk management for projects in research. Participants attend six two-hour sessions over a two-month period, and modules are supplemented by online readings and videos.
  • Winter Institute in Advanced Project Management: A follow-up to the PDFO's Summer Institute in Project Management, the Winter Institute in Project Management covers intermediate and advanced topics in project management and leadership. Building on the learning outcomes of the Summer Institute, this pilot program will provide participants the opportunity to apply these learnings by working on a group project. Participants will also learn about essential elements of leadership and management.

Additional professional development resources that are available to UBC-appointed Postdoctoral Fellows can be found on the Professional Development Resources page.

Upcoming Workshops and Events

UBC offers and administers programs that provide professional development to PDFs. Events offered by the PDFO will open for registration approximately two weeks in advance of each session. Registration is required for all PDFO events. Participants who are successfully registered in a professional development session will receive a confirmation email from the PDFO within a week of the session.

The PDFO reserves the right to cancel, postpone, or reschedule a course due to low enrollment or other unforeseen circumstances. If this occurs registrants will be contacted via email as soon as possible.

Previous Events

Event Title Event Date Organizer
Facilitating Active Peer-to-Peer Engagement in Online Spaces (online) - Centre for Teaching, Learning and Technology
Faculty Perspectives on Writing the Op-Ed - Public Humanities Hub and the Centre for Writing and Scholarly Communication
Fall Coffee & Chat Socials with SFU/UBC PDA's - Coping with COVID-19: What keeps you happy? UBC PDA & SFU PDA
Fall Coffee & Chat Socials with SFU/UBC PDA's - New to Vancouver UBC PDA & SFU PDA
Fall Coffee & Chat Socials with SFU/UBC PDA's - Postdocs with Kids - UBC PDA& SFU PDA
Family Matters: Effective Ways to Learn from Home (Webinar) - alumniUBC
Finding and Using Open Education Resources - Centre for Writing and Scholarly Communication
Fostering research collaborations at the Graduate and Postgraduate levels - UBC Knowledge Exchange Unit (Office of the Vice-President, Research and Innovation)
Foundations of Career Planning Program - Postdoctoral Fellows Office
Foundations of Career Planning: Self-Branding and Compiling Professional Work Search Documents - Postdoctoral Fellows Office

Privacy Notification: Your personal information is collected under the authority of section 26(c) of the Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act (FIPPA). This information will be used for the purpose of planning and administering each professional development workshop and event offered by the Postdoctoral Fellows Office (PDFO). Questions about the collection of this information may be directed to the PDFO at postdoctoral.fellows@ubc.ca.