This award will support Professional Development Courses that will take place during the upcoming winter meeting of the American Astronomical Society. The proposed activities include two half-day workshops, one two-hour seminar, and one career panel on the topics of; Effective Mentoring, Writing Effective Scientific Papers, the Effective Visual Communication of Data, and Making the most of Oral Presentations.
The goal of the courses is to provide expert training in an array of non-scientific tasks that are crucial to the effectiveness of scientists and educators. Many astronomers have had little or no formal training in the topics that will be covered. For researchers that are also educators these courses will help in both aspects of their careers. The courses will also increase the effectiveness of the participants in these topics which will directly promote the progress of science. In particular, the courses will likely have a large impact on young investigators and participants from underrepresented groups. The courses will be professionally evaluated to assess the impact of the sessions.
The NSF supported activity was two half-day workshops, one two-hour seminar, and one career panel at the Austin Meeting of the American Astronomical Socitey in January 2012. Based on attendance and particpant feedback, the activity was very succsseful. The interactive workshops were on Becoming a More Effective Research Mentor (22 participants) and Structuring Your Scientific Paper (24 participants); the one seminar was on Oral Presentations (~70 attendees), and the Career Panel was on non-traditional career paths (~300 attendees). The goal of this annual activity is to provide astronomers with the toolsets necessary to be successful on their chosen career path. As it continues to be held and impact more people, it has the potential to be transformative in Astronomy by giving Astronomers access to the various skills that make us excel at what we do. Future telescope director's might have some leadership training, job applicants will know the basics of negotiation, our graphs and talks will be more effective at communicating our scientific results. The hope is that the skills learned at these workshops will be widely applicable to any career field that the participants might end up in. These workshops are enhancing the skills of scientists that might eventually work in private industry, science policy, media, etc.
