seminars and workshops

CNS offers seminars and workshops throughout the academic year and summer months, focusing on 5 main areas:

• Career Exploration and Professional Development for Non-Academic Careers
  • Panel Discussions with PhDs in a variety of careers
  • Seminars focused on: Job Search Strategies; Resume and Cover Letter Guidance; Interview Preparation
  • Networking and Recruitment Events
• Grant Application Workshops
  • NSF-GRFP, NIH NRSA Awards, K99/R00 Awards
• Academic Careers Workshops
  • Helping students and postdocs prepare for the academic job market
• Training Programs
  All of the below listed options are offered free of charge from CNS.
  • CNS Concentration in Teaching and Mentoring is offered through TIDES (the Texas Institute for Discovery Education in Science).
  • CNS Concentration in Communicating Science is offered in partnership with the Moody College of Communication and consists of a 1-semester coursework experience.
  • CNS Concentration in Leadership and Project Management is offered in partnership with the McCombs School of Business, and consists of two 0-credit hour courses.
  • CNS Concentration in Science and Public Policy
  • Data Science Workshops - Workshops offered at the beginning of each semester.
• Responsible Conduct of Research Training
  • Sessions may cover: Research Misconduct; Responsible Publication/Authorship; Peer Review; Conflict of Interest; and more

Seminars are often held on Tuesdays (the 3rd Tuesday of each month) from noon-1:00pm in NHB 1.720, with video-link to graduate students and postdocs at the Marine Science Institute.

All CNS-sponsored Professional Development events advertised via our weekly newsletter using the CNS postdoc email listserv (cns-postdocs@utlists.utexas.edu). If you wish to be added, email sburghart@austin.utexas.edu

Individual Consultations and Career Coaching

The Career Development Specialist for CNS graduate students is Dr. Po-Tsan Ku.  Po-Tsan has a PhD in cell and developmental biology, and also holds an MBA from the McCombs School of Business.  He first came to Austin for his postdoctoral work, and started his corporate career at Ambion, Inc.  He has 13 years of experience in the biotechnology industry, and has held senior management positions in multiple companies.  

Po-Tsan is available for individual consultations with grad students and postdocs in all CNS disciplines.  He can provide the following services:

• Job Search Strategies
• Career Exploration
• Identifying Skills that Transfer to Industry
• Converting CV to Resume
• Resume Review and Editing
• Academic Job Search (Faculty and Postdoc positions)
• Interview Preparation
• Salary Negotiation

To make an appointment with Po-Tsan, call the Career Design Center at 512-471-6700.

Other Resources and Services

UT-Austin Faculty Innovation Center provides an array of resources and services to promote innovation and excellence in teaching and learning. This includes online resources with information about preparing the teaching statement and the teaching portfolio for academic careers.

Versatile PhD is a web-based resource for graduate students and postdocs interested in non-academic careers.  Historically, Versatile PhD has served humanities and social sciences graduate students, but additional content relevant to STEM PhDs is being developed. The University of Texas is a subscribing institution - sign up here.

The American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) has online career development and job search resources, and supports an online tool for personal career planning:  MyIDP (Individual Development Plan).