Within campus labs, classrooms, and the many spaces wherein research in all its stages takes place are postdoctoral researchers also building their careers. The Postdoctoral Association seeks to provide academic, professional, social, and cultural support for this key campus community.
Consisting of postdocs, the Postdoctoral Association serves as an advocate for the university postdoc community and supports professional and career development. The association is governed by its charter and hopes to bring more postdocs together at its next meeting on Friday, June 25 at 2 p.m.
Postdoctoral research associate Dr. Courtney Boise has been involved with the association as a member and president. After earning a doctoral degree in psychology, Boise became a postdoc at the Nebraska Center for Research on Children, Youth , Families & Schools and has since been advocating for the postdoc community in terms of awareness, professional development support, and opportunities to connect.
She emphasized the valuable contributions postdocs make toward research during their time at the university and the importance of community among them, noting postdocs as an essential part of the team.
“[Postdocs] are critical to the mission of the university because we do a lot of research and teaching that wouldn’t get done if we weren’t here, so we’re trying to increase our visibility and create a space for networking,” she said.
Vice president and member, Dr. Lise Pingault, joined the university in 2018 as a postdoctoral research associate in the Department of Entomology. She highlighted the opportunity to network, gain leadership skills, and connect with postdocs from various fields on campus and across universities as perks that postdocs would otherwise miss if not part of the Postdoctoral Association.
Preparing postdocs for the next stage of their careers is one of the primary focus areas for the association. Career development workshops in topics like grant writing and contract negotiation as well as increasing an understanding of how the job-search process works are part of what the current leaders see as career support for postdocs.
Pingault also pointed to hosting and promoting social events for postdoc appreciation week and community gatherings throughout the year as another priority for the future of the Postdoctoral Association.
Postdocs interested in joining the meeting on June 25, 2021 should subscribe to the postdoc mailing list to receive more details about the meeting. For more information on the association, postdocs can learn more or reach out to the Postdoctoral Association at unlpda@unl.edu.