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For Juliet Moncaster, PhD, of Surgery, the Office for Postdoctoral Careers (OPC) has been an invaluable resource since it opened last June.
Moncaster, who earned her PhD from Imperial College London, came to BWH two years ago to begin her postdoctoral fellowship and research Alzheimer’s disease. “I wanted to meet other postdocs and feel like part of a large, bright, valuable and central group of researchers,” she said.
Enter the OPC, which brings together hundreds of BWH fellows to learn about available opportunities and provides guidance for future career choices.
“The OPC enables postdocs to meet and network, receive training and learn about the issues concerning them,” Moncaster said.
Since its establishment, the OPC has made its programs and resources available to the more than 800 research and clinical/research fellows at BWH. Through monthly networking luncheons, a weekly newsletter, a newly created page on the Research intranet and a bimonthly seminar series detailing research policies and protocol, the OPC keeps postdoctoral fellows in the know.
“In only six months, the OPC has created a palpable buzz among the BWH postdocs and the broader research community,” said Audrey Haas, executive director for the Center for Faculty Development and Diversity, the umbrella organization that coordinates resources for all BWH faculty and includes the OPC, the Office for Minority Careers and the Office for Women’s Careers.
The OPC actively engages postdocs in the BWH and Harvard research communities. Postdocs constitute more than half of the Postdoc Advisory Committee, a group that meets monthly to prioritize and refine the OPC’s goals. In coming weeks, two newly elected postdocs will join the Research Oversight Committee (ROC), the leadership arm of the Biomedical Research Institute, to ensure postdoc concerns are represented as policies, programs and strategic initiatives are developed. All BWH postdocs can vote for representatives on the ROC via the OPC homepage.
Barbara Bierer, senior vice president of Research and director of the OPC, and Caroline Rotondi, administrative director of the OPC, collaborate with the other Harvard affiliate hospitals to discuss items of mutual interest and benefit for the wide network of postdocs. Thanks to these efforts, Boston was selected to host the 2008 National Postdoc Association conference.
Based on feedback from postdocs, the OPC soon will offer additional resources on the Research intranet, career development seminars and management training for those pursuing research careers.
“We hope to continue raising awareness and highlighting the essential contributions of postdocs in the research enterprise at BWH,” Caroline Rotondi, administrative director of the OPC, said.
For more information, visit http://bwhbri.partners.org/BWH-OPC/home.asp