Professional Development
Professional development activities include regular workshops intended to build skills and networks required for a successful PhD, as well as expose students to the wide variety of post-graduation career paths. All initiatives provide NGG members with the opportunity to learn from experienced researchers with diverse backgrounds, as well as to further develop essential scientific skill sets. The professional development branch also seeks to provide students with exciting opportunities to learn from industry experts who are visiting Philadelphia.
For more information, or for suggestions of speakers to invite, please contact the Professional Development Chair, Jessie Greenslade, at jessie.greenslade@pennmedicine.upenn.edu.
Fuel for Successful Scientists
Fuel for Successful Scientists (FSS) is a career development workshop series that provides students with informal opportunities to pick the brains of successful UPenn faculty and find out how they got to where they are today. In these question & answer style sessions, students can learn to make the most of their time in graduate school and to form post-graduation career plans and decisions. Contact Emma (ecjanke@pennmedicine.upenn.edu) and Alexis (alexmary@pennmedicine.upenn.edu) with questions.
Student-Invited Seminar Series
The Student-Invited Seminar Series (SISS) facilitates professional development and community building by allowing dissertation-level students to invite and host neuroscience-related faculty speakers in the Mahoney Institute for Neurosciences (MINS) seminar series.
Return of NGG Alumni Speaker Series
The Return of NGG Alumni (RNA) RNA Speaker Series aims to bridge the gap between current and former NGG students, while allowing current students to learn about potential careers after they graduate. The goal is to invite NGG alumni from a diverse range of professions and provide current students with networking opportunities. The series will feature 1-hour sessions comprising a small talk by the alumnus about their current work followed by a Q&A session with current students.
NeuroNet
Access the student and alumni information database NeuroNet here!
Other Professional Development Opportunities
The Center for Teaching and Learning (CTL) hosts TA training, workshops and a Teaching Certificate program.
The Career Services office at Penn is eager to help graduate students with their career planning and decisions.
For information on more specific career opportunities, see the BGS Career Development Page, the Penn Science Policy Group, the Penn Biotech Group (consulting), and the Penn Data Science Group.