August Happenings
Dear Fellows,
August is a special month. It’s the time of year when a new influx of postbacs enter NICHD to begin work in their respective labs. Many of these fellows are taking one or two gap years while conducting mentored research projects and developing competitive applications for medical school or a doctoral program. To these new fellows, welcome!
For postdoctoral fellows, August marks the beginning of another impactful cycle: the time of year when the largest amount of faculty jobs open. I encourage all fellows interested in pursuing academic careers (even if your job search is years in the future) to look through the jobs ads that arise in the coming weeks. What types of faculty positions are out there? What are these positions looking for in a candidate? Academic job applications are notoriously time-consuming to prepare. They may contain up to six different documents that need be tailored for each position. A common mistake I find applicants making is failing to understand the academic job market landscape and further failing to write job applications that match the needs of a prospective employer, in effect missing many opportunities for fulfilling careers.
Finally, August is the month that the NICHD Office of Education typically hosts its day-long immersive grant writing workshop. Though usually more immediately relevant to our postdoctoral fellows who need to secure funding to move their research careers forward, grant writing skill translates to successes beyond that. Grant writing is persuasive writing, creating a focused message and clear vision. All trainees can benefit from that, so please consider signing up for our August session.
Kind regards,
Megan Bohn, Ph.D.
Director, NICHD Office of Education
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This newsletter is for NICHD fellows and by NICHD fellows. We want to hear from you! Please send your questions, comments, and ideas to the NICHD Office of Education Director, Dr. Megan Bohn, at megan.bohn@nih.gov.