Professional Development

The Center offers the following opportunities for professional development:

• ISB Annual Symposium. The Center participates in the annual ISB Symposium. In 2009, David Botstein, director of the NIGMS-funded center for systems biology at Princeton – Center for Quantitative Biology - will deliver the opening keynote and speak on the latest advances and ongoing challenges in the area of biological networks in the cell.

• Association for Women in Science (AWIS). The Center hosts an annual networking event in support of women in the science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) fields. The event focuses on providing networking opportunities for participants and includes research presentations from John Aitchison, Center Associate Director, Dr. Aimee Dudley, Faculty and Dr. Amy Schmidt, Postdoctoral Fellow. In 2009, based on feedback from 2008, the AWIS event has been redesigned to give junior researchers the experience to present their research to a broad and multidisciplinary audience.

• Annual ISB Retreat. Foremost the three day Annual Retreat provides an informal venue to communicate freely across the organization about strategy, research and challenges. In addition it provides an opportunity for all types of students, scientific collaborators and start-up companies, to participate in a combination of talks and break-out sessions.

• Research in Progress Seminars (RIP). Weekly RIP seminars offer scientists the opportunity to present their recent unpublished results and receive feedback. Postdoctoral fellows and research scientists are especially encouraged to present their work, as it provides a useful venue for practicing public speaking.

• Panel Discussions: Biotechnology Start-ups. This series educates scientists on the opportunities and challenges of starting a company by inviting panelists to share their hands-on experience and expertise.

  

• Who says women in science don’t take risks? This series of autobiographical presentations features women who have participated in unusual or challenging endeavors related to science. In addition, the Center provides a variety of activities aimed at professional development.

• "How did I get from there to here?" career development paths. We periodically invite pairs of Faculty, research staff and administrators to tell us about their career choices. The sessions have conveyed the non-linearity of career development and have proven to be very popular and well attended by both research and non research staff.

• Discussion group. The discussion group provides an environment for presenting and asking questions about systems biology-related topics. Cross-disciplinary research requires a willingness to become familiar with concepts and languages that one might not have been trained in. Senior researchers, Postdoctoral fellows, Graduate students, and technicians have facilitated sessions.

• Research Career Information sessions. We conduct sessions with details oriented to aspects of research careers.

• Ad Hoc Grant Review sessions. The Center offers the opportunity for Faculty or senior research scientists to present their Specific Aims to an ad hoc review panel.

  

• SysBioForum. The internal online "SysBioForum" serves two purposes: repository for information and a stimulus for discussion. As of November 2007, 131 registered users have contributed 972 posts on the forum.

• Microfluidics Interest Group (MIG). This forum allows interested participants to exchange experimental results and innovations, brainstorm solutions, and discuss technological improvements for the Microfluidics and Imaging Core facility.

• Software developer coffee hour. These meetings provide a forum for developers to problem solve, share knowledge, aid other projects and to avoid ‘re-inventing-the-wheel'. The meetings are open to everyone.