Impact
Ph.D. granting institutions need strong career and professional development programs. We have published in peer-refereed journals to share best practices about a variety of topics, including experiential learning. Graduate student participants have been interviewed to highlight the student-led aspects of experiential and skill building programs we offer. We are centered around individual needs, inviting participants to flexibly hop on to explore at a time when they are ready, and to dive in to test options, adding experiences to their resumes. We empower you to seize and create your own experiential opportunities, as you will throughout your career. Our efforts:
Serve unmet student and postdoc needs through responsive programming
Guidance to organize events for themselves and others to network with professionals in industry get first-hand advice, and learn about internship opportunities
Hone their communication, writing and publishing skills leading to fellowships like the AAAS Mass Media Fellowship or CCST Fellowship
Organize skill building workshops for research communication, social media use, consulting careers and advocacy for policy-related careers. Partner with student and postdoc groups to offer workshops on building professional connections, career searches, and more
Provide guidance and funding to build career-relevant skills
Create new opportunities through partnerships for doctoral students to gain tangible skills and explore careers in publishing, validate skills in story telling or writing policy memos through published works.
Fund grad students and postdocs to attend non-profit, or professional society conferences to help create new networks and build new skills like drug development, conservation science, or intellectual property management.
Connect with and support existing offerings on campus to build community around communication, consulting (Cornell Graduate Consulting Club), science policy (Advancing Science and Policy), entrepreneurship (e.g. Commercialization Fellowship), innovation, biosafety, or careers in librarianship.
Leverage existing resources off-campus by providing funding to learn project management skills, become certified (e.g. in Lean Six Sigma) or take advantage of existing offerings through AAAS workshops.
Increase connections to alumni and professionals in various careers
Explore possibilities through site visits and immersive treks to help doctoral students decide whether a career in policy, government, development, federally funded research centers, entrepreneurship or industry is for them, and meet mentors with similar backgrounds.
Learn about a profession by connecting with alumni and other professional mentors who navigated their post-PhD professional life in consulting and industry, innovation, communication related roles, museums and non-profits, or who are now offering opportunities.
Partner with faculty run professional seminars or student run organizations to broaden audiences and reach out to those who might not be aware of our services and support.