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.
  • 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.

    PDFO Workshops and Seminars

    Event Title Event Date Organizer
    Foundations of Career Planning: Starting With You: Clarifying Key Characteristics and Personalizing Your Development Plan - Postdoctoral Fellows Office
    Foundations of Career Planning: Self-Branding and Compiling Professional Work Search Documents - Postdoctoral Fellows Office
    Foundations of Career Planning: The Best Candidate Wins - Job Interview and Negotiation Strategies - Postdoctoral Fellows Office
    Postdoc Teaching Practicum - Postdoctoral Fellows Office
    Postdoc Instructional Skills Workshop - Fall 2023 - Postdoctoral Fellows Office

    Other Workshops and Seminars

    Event Title Event Date Organizer
    Introduction to Policy Communications - Graduate Pathways to Success
    Anti-Racism Response Training (ART) - Canadian Association for Graduate Studies
    The Importance of OpEd’s - McCall MacBain Postdoctoral Fellows Teaching and Leadership Program at McGill University
    Delivering Powerful Presentations - Part I - McCall MacBain Postdoctoral Fellows Teaching and Leadership Program at McGill University
    Chicagoland Postdoc Recruitment Initiative - Northwestern University, University of Illinois Chicago, and the University of Chicago
    Op-eds for Policy - Graduate Pathways to Success
    Delivering Powerful Presentations - Part II - McCall MacBain Postdoctoral Fellows Teaching and Leadership Program at McGill University
    Policy Reports - UBC’s Centre for the Study of Democratic Institutions (CSDI), Knowledge Exchange Unit, Graduate Pathways to Success
    Rutgers Brain Health Institute Postdoc Recruitment Event - Rutgers Brain Health Institute
    UBC Postdoc Research Day - UBC Postdoctoral Association
    Job Talks - McCall MacBain Postdoctoral Fellows Teaching and Leadership Program at McGill University
    Online Communication: The role of social media in knowledge translation - McCall MacBain Postdoctoral Fellows Teaching and Leadership Program at McGill University
    Appetizers for the Mind Event - McCall MacBain Postdoctoral Fellows Teaching and Leadership Program at McGill University
    Teaching Panel: Q&A - McCall MacBain Postdoctoral Fellows Teaching and Leadership Program at McGill University

    Previous Events

    Event Title Event Date Organizer
    NPAW 2023: National Postdoc Appreciation Week Barbecue - Postdoctoral Fellows Office
    NPAW 2023: The Non-Academic Job Search (Panel) - Postdoctoral Fellows Office
    NPAW 2023: Orientation for Postdoctoral Fellows - Fall 2023 - Postdoctoral Fellows Office
    NPAW 2023: Finding a Faculty Position and the Academic Interview Process (Panel) - Postdoctoral Fellows Office
    3-Minute Postdoc Slam - UBC Postdoctoral Association
    NPAW 2023: NPAW Kickoff Event - Coffee with the President - Postdoctoral Fellows Office
    Project and Time Management - Mitacs Training
    Building Your Project Network Map - Mitacs Training
    Postdoc Instructional Skills Workshop - Postdoctoral Fellows Office
    Project and Time Management - Mitacs Training

    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.