This action funds a multi-disciplinary workshop of NSF Postdoctoral Fellows focused on the new NSF strategic plan and its impact on career development of young scientists. Broader impacts include better methods for evaluation of early career interventions, not only for the invited participants but also for the broader postdoctoral community of scholars.
The National Postdoctoral Association (NPA) serves new researchers within three to five years of receiving the doctorate degree, or "postdocs," through building community and developing and providing resources. If postdoctoral scholars are to lead innovation and discovery in the future, it is essential that the scientific community understands the challenges faced by them today and provides the support needed to overcome these challenges. The NPA is uniquely positioned to build this understanding and to make informed recommendations for supporting postdoctoral scholars and retaining them in the research workforce. The NPA seeks to broaden participation across all disciplines and provide insights regarding the challenges faced by postdoc populations within these disciplines to federal agencies and other funders who support postdoctoral fellowships, as well as to postdocs as they prepare to move forward in their careers and to the postdoctoral offices and associations who support them. Accordingly, the NPA organized and hosted a 1.5-day workshop, "Leading Innovation and Discovery," at the National Science Foundation (NSF) in Arlington, Va., during the 2011 National Postdoc Appreciation Week, on Sept. 19-20. The NPA invited postdoctoral fellows and sponsoring scientists from NSF postdoctoral fellow programs, among which were: -Postdoctoral Research Fellowships in Biology (BIO/INFORMATIC and BIO/Minority); -Atmospheric and Geospace Sciences Postdoctoral Research Fellowships (AGS-PRF); -Mathematical Sciences Postdoctoral Research Fellowships (MSPRF); -Astronomy and Astrophysics Postdoctoral Fellowships (AAPF); -Earth Sciences Postdoctoral Fellowships (EAR-PF); and -Postdoctoral Fellowships in Polar Regions Research. A total of 36 NSF postdoctoral fellows attended the workshop, including 1 AGS fellow, 16 BIO/INFORMATIC fellows, 10 BIO/Minority fellows, 2 EAR fellows, 6 math fellows, and 1 Social and Behaviorial Economics (SBE)/Minority fellow. A webcast was also held for some of the sessions. Approximately 35 fellows signed up for this Webcast, but it is not known how many participated. The workshop focused on the ways in which the NSF specifically involves innovation and discovery in its strategic planning and program development, with the ultimate goal of receiving input from the fellows regarding NSF postdoctoral programs and innovation and discovery. The workshop provide opportunities to (1) to recognize the contributions made to U.S. innovation and discovery by the postdoctoral fellows; (2) to facilitate a conversation that explores strategies and practices that best prepare postdoctoral researchers to lead innovation and discovery; (3) to provide professional and/or career development for the postdoctoral fellows and their sponsoring scientists; and (4) naturally following from the first three objectives, to allow the NPA to add to its knowledge base regarding postdoctoral experience, in order to better serve the postdoctoral community. The first three objectives were met as follows: 1. The contributions of the postdoctoral fellows were tangibly recognized by providing them travel awards to the workshop and by hosting a poster session in which they presented their research. Several speakers also noted their contributions, including Dr. Cora Marrett, NSF Deputy Director. 2. The fellows received a packet that included resources on leading innovation and logic models prior to the workshop. The primary conversation to explore strategies and practices that lead to innovation and discovery focused on the use of logic models to reach desired outcomes. The NSF logic models were used as examples, and handouts of the models for the different postdoctoral fellowships were given to use in small group/large group discussion. 3. The workshop itself provided an opportunity for professional development and networking, as the fellows were able to interact one-on-one with NSF program officers and their peers. The poster session provided a hands-on opportunity to develop presentation and communication skills as the fellows describe their research. Throughout the workshop, the fellows had the opportunity to become more acquainted with the NSF strategic plan, the NSF performance goals, and the NSF grant process. The presentations by NSF staff were clear and concise and highly valued by the participants. The session "Give me a job!" led by Mary Mitchell, author and consultant, provided guidance on job interviews and talking to the layperson about science. The NPA conducted a workshop evaluation survey by sending a link to the participants approximately two weeks after the workshop. The survey was completed by 28 participants, and the results are in the attachment. The majority of the participants benefited from the workshop; for example, 96% of the respondents noted that they strongly agreed or agreed that the workshop was very useful, and 99% noted that they would the NSF to fund more of these workshops for postdoctoral fellows.
