BGS Predoctoral Student Individual Development Plan (IDP) Dissertation-stage students (Year 3+ PhD, Year 4+ combined degree)

Transcription

1 BGS Predoctoral Student Individual Development Plan (IDP) Dissertation-stage students (Year 3+ PhD, Year 4+ combined degree) BGS requires an annual IDP for all predoctoral students (PhD, MD-PhD and VMD-PhD). The goals of the IDP are to make sure students and mentors are communicating openly and that students are working proactively toward developing the skills they will need to succeed. Step 1. Self-Assessment of Skills, Achievements, and Goals Take a realistic look at your current skills, achievements and goals. Then fill out Parts A, B and C of this document and give them to your mentor. Part A is private between you and your mentor, while Parts B and C will become part of your Academic Record (shared with your Thesis Committee). Mentor also independently fills out Assessment in Part A and gives it to the student. Step 2. Discuss Assessment and Goals with Mentor, and Refine IDP Make time for a dedicated discussion with your mentor, separate from your research discussions. Identify and prioritize your training needs, and discuss with your mentor how these should be addressed in the coming period. Refine Parts B & C of the IDP together. The objectives of the IDP are to: Identify specific research and/or career goals and the skills and strengths that you need to develop in order to achieve these goals Define concrete actions to help develop these specific skills and strengths Step 3. Submit IDP, and Implement Your Plan Submit Parts B and C along with Research Update to your graduate group office and your thesis committee, one week before your scheduled thesis committee meeting. Keep your IDP accessible and refer to it on a regular basis are you sticking with the plan and making progress toward your goals? Revise and update the plan necessary.

2 A. Skills and Motivations and Career Planning PRIVATE DOCUMENT to be discussed between student and mentor only. Use this section to guide discussion and preparation of the IDP in Parts B & C. ASSESSMENT SCALE At the bench Strong ~ Weak Designing experiments Troubleshooting Quality of data Notebook maintenance Interpreting data Working with others Strong ~ Weak Lab citizenship Collaborative interactions Conflict resolution Networking Relationship with mentors/mentees Communication Strong ~ Weak Informal interactions Oral presentations Writing skills Teaching Learning Strong ~ Weak Seminar and journal club attendance Active participation in group discussions (in class, lab meeting, journal club, etc.) Mastery of the literature (specific & general) Independent and creative thinking Motivation Yes ~ No Enjoy working in the lab Feel I am being creative Confident in my abilities Work really hard Organize my time well My biggest worry is:

3 Career planning When do I aim to finish my PhD? Or, for combined degree students, when do I aim to defend my thesis and return to clinics? What type of work would I like to be doing immediately after my PhD? (postdoc or other?) What types of long-term careers interest me? What is important to me in a career? What skills are most important for my desired career? Who are my best role models or networking contacts for that career? Useful resources for post-phd career planning can be found at this link: MD-PhD students are referred to the MSTP office for advice on career planning.

4 Individual Development Plan for Date B. Achievements and Plans/Goals Achievements Last period Next period (planned) Courses Publications Fellowships (applied for or awarded) Conferences or seminar series attended Oral presentations Poster presentations Teaching experience Community service/ leadership experience Responsible Conduct of Research Training (RCR) Job applications/ PhD defense

5 Individual Development Plan for Date C. Skills to improve Skills to improve Action(s) Time frame Submit Forms B & C to your Graduate group office and Thesis committee prior to each thesis committee meeting.

6 Individual Development Plan for EXAMPLE Date B. Achievements and Plans/Goals Achievements Last period This period (planned) Courses List course numbers List course numbers Publications Citation for papers submitted, in press, or published Me et al, Title, to submit when? Fellowships (applied for or awarded) List submissions and dates Or awards Planned submissions and dates Conferences or seminar series attended Conference, date Seminar series X, weekly Conference, date Seminar series X, weekly Oral presentations Poster presentations Teaching experience TA, course number Mentee supervised Planned TA, course number Mentee to be supervised Community service/ leadership experience Responsible Conduct of Research Training (RCR) Job applications/ PhD defense Event, date Committee Online training, date BGS RCR Workshop, date Lab meeting RCR, date Career event? Postdoc/job applications? Event, date Committee Online training BGS RCR Workshop Lab meeting RCR Postdoc/job applications? Thesis defense?

7 Individual Development Plan for EXAMPLE Date C. Skills to improve Skills to improve Example Action(s) Time frame Technical/bench skills Learn technique x from (colleague) Take technical training course/workshop Writing skills Take a writing course Write conference abstract Write review article with mentor Write predoctoral grant proposal Write first draft of research manuscript Start/join peer-editing group Oral presentation skills Lab meeting, grad group, dept Creativity & independence in designing research project and/or conference presentations Give a practice talk to (lab, peers, other) before your next big presentation Videotape your presentation and then watch it to identify potential improvements Write prelim proposal or predoctoral grant proposal Write a specific aims page for potential upcoming experiments Grasp of literature Start/join a journal club Work with mentor on a list of key papers to read and discuss Write review article with mentor Organizational skills Meet weekly with mentor and generate weekly to-do-lists Prepare figures for a manuscript Set timelines for completion of experiments Quantitative skills Take a statistics class Teaching skills TA a course Supervise undergraduate or rotation student in the lab