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.
- Fundamentals of Project Management Program (formerly called the 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-and-half hour sessions online via Zoom, and modules are supplemented by online readings and videos.
- Applied Project Management Program (formerly called the Winter Institute in Advanced Project Management): A follow-up to the PDFO's Fundamentals of Project Management Program, the Applied Project Management Program is designed to equip participants to apply project management principles and practices to their projects and work environments through a series of written assignments and facilitator feedback.The Applied Project Management Program runs concurrently with the Fundamentals of Project Management Program and involves a series of written assignments between class sessions. Assignments will be graded and the facilitator will provide written feedback for each assignment submission. This format will allow participants to apply the learnings of the Fundamentals of Project Management program to a real-world project scenario directly applicable to their field(s).
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.
Previous Events
| Event Title | Event Date Sort ascending | Organizer |
|---|---|---|
| Postdoc Instructional Skills Workshop (with CTLT) (online) | - | Postdoctoral Fellows Office |
| Fall Coffee & Chat Socials with SFU/UBC PDA's - Coping with COVID-19: What keeps you happy? | UBC PDA & SFU PDA | |
| Canadian Career Symposium for Graduate Students and Postdoctoral Fellows | - | Graduate and Postdoctoral Development Network |
| Halloween Social | UBC Postdoctoral Association | |
| Business Writing for Today's Professionals (with Mitacs Training) | - | Postdoctoral Fellows Office |
| Fall Coffee & Chat Socials with SFU/UBC PDA's - New to Vancouver | UBC PDA & SFU PDA | |
| What Every STEM PhD Should Know About Working in Industry (online) | Beyond the Professoriate | |
| Fall Coffee & Chat Socials with SFU/UBC PDA's - Postdocs with Kids | - | UBC PDA& SFU PDA |
| UBC ARC Cloud Computing Research Fall Training | - | UBC Advanced Research Computing (ARC) |
| Opportunities for Humanities and Social Science PhDs in the Private Sector (online) | Beyond the Professoriate |
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.