Weekly PDA Newsletter - October 2, 2016

Sun Oct 2 20:48:41 EDT 2016

Dear MIT Postdocs,

Please join us for our monthly MIT-PDA meeting on *Monday, October 3rd at
12:00pm in Rm E25-202* (lunch will be provided). Now that the semester is
in full swing and the PDA committees are forming, this is the perfect time
to get involved!

Wish you all a great week!

Cheers,

Meghan

-----

Dr. Meghan Huber

Corresponding Secretary

Postdoctoral Association of MIT (PDA)

Follow the MIT-PDA on social media!

MIT-PDA

website <http://pda.mit.edu>

Facebook <https://www.facebook.com/groups/44093460815/>

Twitter <https://twitter.com/MITPDA>

Instagram <https://www.instagram.com/mitpda/>

LinkedIn <https://www.linkedin.com/groups/2506720/profile>

Boston-PDA

website <http://bostonpostdocs.org/>

NEXT MIT-PDA MEETING

October 3, 2016

12:00pm

Rm E25-202

Lunch will be provided!

REGISTER HERE
<https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1-vT1gzgyik3JHFWaRgQwAVeVoiaoQFK7iP2MO4dtKwo/viewform>

Please join us for our monthly MIT-PDA meeting! Get involved with any of
the various committees (e.g., sports, advocacy, community building) and
have your voice heard. This is also a great opportunity to meet your fellow
postdocs on campus!

Meeting Agenda

   -

   Welcome and Introductions
   -

   Elections
   -

      Orientation Committee Chair
      -

      Fundraising Committee Chair
      -

   IT /Transition Related Updates
   -

      Website, Dedicated Emails
      -

      Handbooks
      -

   Officer Reports Procedures
   -

   2016-2017 Budget Meeting
   -

   Updates from meeting with VPR Regarding Associate/Fellow Benefit Parity
   -

   Discussion about Advocacy Priorities.
   -

   BPDA Meeting Update
   -

   Updates from VPR Office

MIT-PDA NEWS AND EVENTS

Postdoc Orientation Sessions

The PDA offers Postdoc Orientation Sessions open to all postdocs at MIT.
Topics covered include:

   -

   Data on postdoc population at MIT

   -

   MIT oversight of postdocs
   -

   Defining postdoc expectations
   -

   Differences between fellows and associates
   -

   PDA structure and initiatives
   -

      How to get involved

The sessions will be typically the 1st and 3rd Monday of each month at 12pm
(45-60min) in E49-5145. Lunch will be provided. The dates for the next six
months are as follows: October 3, October 17, November 7, November 21,
December 5, December 19. If you are interested in participating, you can
register via Atlas or using this link
<http://web.mit.edu/training/course.html?course=CDT21061c>.

Postdoc Jogging Club (PDA PInG Initiative)

Interested in meeting new people and experiencing the outdoors? Join the
postdoc jogging club. Email aklotz at mit.edu if interested. All speeds and
levels of experience welcome.

GLIMPSE (PDA PInG Initiative)

If you would like to be interviewed by GLIMPSE podcast or would like to
help with the podcast (music, logo, artwork), please contact us at
glimpse.podcast at gmail.com. For more information, please visit us at:
http://glimpse.mit.edu/

OTHER MIT EVENTS

This Week

Wolf Greenfield Tech Talk

Join us for lunch and find out how you can use your science or engineering
background as a Technology Specialist at Wolf Greenfield and help assist
these companies and institutions with their IP portfolios. It might change
your life!

Date and Time Monday, October 3rd, 12:00 - 1:00 pm

Location 32-144

Evaluating, Negotiating & Accepting...

Sometimes making a decision and committing to an internship or job
opportunity is hard. How can you be sure the offer is the best one for you?
How can you convey an interest in the position and ask for more time? How
do you balance multiple interview processes and offer deadlines that do no
align? In this session we will cover: - Recruiting expectations for
students and employers. - How to effectively communicate with employers if
you have questions or need more time to make a decision. - Evaluating
offers and the decision making process. - Making a commitment and what is
expected. Participants are encouraged to send their specific questions in
advance to Tamara Menghi at trmenghi at mit.edu to be incorporated in this
workshop content and activities.

Date and Time Monday, October 3rd, 5:00 – 6:30 pm

Location 2-190

Registration Advanced registration requested via CareerBridge
<http://www.myinterfase.com/mit/student>

Cisco Systems - Info Session & Networking Night

Be Considered FIRST! Spark Your Future! Join us to learn about Cisco's New
Grad & Intern Opportunities, plus a Q&A and networking with employees.
Bring your resume! Food and drink provided. For more information, visit
cisco.com/go/university <http://www.cisco.com/go/university>.

Date and Time Monday, October 3rd, 6:00  - 7:30 pm

Location 4-163

Quant Research Opportunity - PDT Partners Info Session and Q & A

Do you love thorough and meticulous research, deep dives into complex
datasets, and are curious about finance? We combine the best parts of
academia without many of the more mundane aspects, and are looking for
recent PhDs and Postdocs to join our research team. At PDT we take a
data-driven, scientifically-rigorous approach to understanding financial
markets. We are a New York City-based quantitative hedge fund specializing
in algorithmic trading. PDT’s researchers enjoy a highly collaborative
environment that resembles a top academic research department — this is not
a typical finance job. We have a long history of hiring, training, and
retaining quantitative researchers from a variety of disciplines and
backgrounds including CS, EE, statistics, mathematics and physics from MIT,
Harvard, Stanford, Berkeley, Carnegie Mellon, Princeton, Yale, and the
University of Chicago. We’d welcome a chance to get to know you, and to
chat about opportunities with our team — please stop by:

   -

   PDT Partners Casual Information Session / Q&A

Food provided. If you know other PhD candidates or Postdocs who are
interested in learning about quantitative research and trading, feel free
to pass along our invitation.

Date and Time Monday, October 3rd, 6:00  - 7:30 pm

Location The Charles Hotel (1 Bennett Street, Cambridge): Rogers Stratton
Room

Registration careers at pdtpartners.com

   -

   PDT Partners On-Campus Interviews

Date Tuesday, October 4th

Time By Invitation

Apply Online http://grnh.se/k16pew / CareerBridge Job ID: 35153

Exponent Engineering and Scientific Consulting - Info Session at MIT

Learn about technical consulting. Speakers:    Maureen Reitman,
Sc.D.Corporate VP, Principal Engineer & Practice Director and Lindsey
Gilman, Ph.D. Senior Associate. Solve detective-like problems using your
engineering and scientific training. Develop your social and business
skills while working with clients ranging from attorneys to executives to
technical staff. Work alongside hundreds of bright, like-minded engineers
and scientists from around the world. Help answer a wide variety of
engineering and science problems that vary day-by-day and cross over a
multitude of disciplines. These are only a few of the everyday experiences
you will encounter as a Technical Consultant at Exponent. Learn more about
how your background can fit into this exciting world. Examples of
engineering failure analysis and proactive engineering projects will be
discussed. Dinner will be provided!

Date and Time Tuesday, October 4th, 6:00 - 7:30 pm

Location 3-270.

Registration Register at https://exp2110.exponent.com/Recruit/Register/2460

MIT Endicott House Fall Plant Sale

The Annual Plant Sale, sponsored by the MIT Endicott House, will be held on
October 5 on the Student Center Steps. A selection of flowering plants,
perennials, herbs, and planters will be offered for sale. All items are
reasonably priced and nurtured at our greenhouse. Members of our Staff will
be available to answer your gardening questions. We hope to see you there!

Date and Time Wednesday, October 5th, 9:00 am - 2:00 pm

Location Student Center Steps

28th Annual Warren Alpert Foundation Prize Symposium (organized by Harvard
Medical School)

Each year the recipient(s) of the Warren Alpert Foundation Prize are
recognized at a scientific symposium hosted by Harvard Medical School. In
honor of Rodolphe Barrangou, Emmanuelle Charpentier,  Jennifer Doudna,
Philippe Horvath, Viginijus Siksnys for remarkable contributions to the
understanding of the CRISPR bacterial defense system and the revolutionary
discovery that it can be adapted for genome editing.

Date and Time: Thursday, October 6th, 1:30 – 5:30pm

Location Joseph B. Martin Conference Center, New Research Building, Harvard
Medical School, 77 Avenue Louis Pasteur, Boston

Registration hms_events at hms.harvard.edu

Effective CVs for the Academic Job Search

The CV is used for the academic job search and in some cases for PhD's
seeking a research position in other settings.  This workshop will cover
the important elements of a CV, including strategies for how to showcase
your particular knowledge and experiences effectively.  We will also
discuss some aspects of the academic job search – such as obtaining letters
of recommendation.  It’s helpful to bring a copy of your CV or a draft with
you to refer to as we go through the material in the workshop.

Date and Time Thursday, October 6, 2:00pm – 3:00pm

Location 35-225

Registration Advanced registration requested via CareerBridge
<http://www.myinterfase.com/mit/student>

Mindfulness and Diversity Awareness: Working Interpersonally and Building
Community

Come and explore the ways that mindfulness practice can help us communicate
respectfully across our difference. Combining lecture, experiential
activity, and discussion, Dr. Peter Grossenbacher will offer a
mindfulness-based approach to cultivating awareness and inclusive
community. Interpersonal mindfulness practice invites noticing one's own
experience as it happens, expressing this experience to others, and in
turn, learning of other people's direct experience. Engaging this practice
fosters a personally meaningful and socially shared sense of present-moment
awareness. Peter Grossenbacher, Professor and Chair, Contemplative
Psychology Department at Naropa University, graduated from U.C. Berkeley in
mathematics and cognitive science. He received his doctorate at the
University of Oregon in experimental psychology focusing on human
electrophysiology and attention. His book, Finding Consciousness in the
Brain: A Neurocognitive Approach, offers insights into the brain's
involvement in conscious experience. After researching multisensory
attention and synesthesia at the University of Cambridge and the National
Institute of Mental Health, he joined the faculty at Naropa University in
2000.

Date and Time Friday, October 7th, 12:00 - 1:00 pm

Location 66-144

Next Week

Behavioral Interviewing 101

While your technical skills will get you the interview, it is your
behavioral attributes that will get you the job. This session will discuss
preparation and strategies for a successful interview.

Date and Time Wednesday, October 12, 2:00 - 3:00 pm

Location 4-231

Registration Advanced registration requested via CareerBridge
<http://www.myinterfase.com/mit/student>

Does your Resume Communicate the Right Message?

Learn about the many ways of creating a resume that effectively targets the
Hiring Manager. Can your resume survive a 15 second scan and still get into
the YES pile? Discussions will surround the strategies of effective
messaging and how to be "on-point" with your written communication. Your
resume is not an autobiography, but rather a list of relevant
accomplishments that links your skills to the needs of the company. You'll
use these techniques in your lifelong career strategies.

Date and Time Thursday, October 13, 1:30 - 3:00 pm

Location E39-040

Registration Advanced registration requested via CareerBridge
<http://www.myinterfase.com/mit/student>

CHECK OUT THESE SITES FOR ADDITIONAL EVENTS

postdocs.mit.edu (Office VPR)

MIT GECD Events <https://gecd.mit.edu/mit-events>

MIT Spouses&Partners Events <http://spouses.mit.edu/mit-events>

MIT Events <http://events.mit.edu/>

Boston PDA Events <http://bostonpostdocs.org/events-calendar/>

Mass-AWIS Events <http://mass-awis.org/category/events-calendar/>*

*NOTE: Association of Women in Science Massachusetts Chapter (
http://mass-awis.org/): Since MIT is a Collegiate Rep of AWIS, the MIT
community can attend Mass AWIS events at the member price.  First, apply
for your free membership through the national AWIS website
http://www.awis.org/ as a Collegiate Rep and select the Massachusetts
Chapter. Do this prior to registering for any events.

MIT RESOURCES FOR POSTDOCS

MIT Writing & Communication Center

The Center provides free professional advice about all types of writing and
speaking/oral presentations, including specialized help for non-native
English speakers. See. http://cmsw.mit.edu/writing-and-communication-center/

MyLife Services

MyLife Services
<http://o6os.mj.am/link/o6os/xlkt8jnnqpg8/1/-kBne3WjUT8Ww6LEA98gxw/aHR0cDovL2hyd2ViLm1pdC5lZHUvd29ya2xpZmUvbWl0bXlsaWZlc2VydmljZXM>
is
a free, confidential, 24/7 counseling, consultation, and work-life referral
service provided by KGA, Inc., a trusted external provider of employee
assistance programs. Postdoc Associates and Fellows are eligible for
services provided by KGA, Inc. through the Work-Life Center and MyLife
Services. You can now access a network of experts who can help with the
challenges of life and work, such as:

   -

   Financial planning, debt management, and legal issues
   -

   Personal and work relationships
   -

   Sleep and nutrition
   -

   Stress, anxiety, depression, and other emotional concerns
   -

   Child and elder care

This includes 5 FREE confidential mental health counseling sessions, as
well as access to 24/7 confidential counseling services. We encourage you
to learn more about MyLife Services by calling 1-844-405-LIFE
(1-844-405-5433) or going online
<http://o6os.mj.am/link/o6os/xlkt8jnnqpg8/2/y46EmaQ0aMF6d85vixaLTg/aHR0cDovL2hyd2ViLm1pdC5lZHUvd29ya2xpZmUvbWl0bXlsaWZlc2VydmljZXM>.
You will hear more about MyLife Services later in the summer and early
fall, and a postcard with additional details will be in your campus mailbox
in the coming days. For more information or to provide feedback, please
contact the MIT Work-Life Center.

Spouses&Partners Connect

Offers social and career-related groups and events for your
spouse/partner/family. http://spouses.mit.edu/. Here are some of this
week’s of events for spouses and partners:

MIT Employee Resource Groups

Join an Employee Resource Group (ERG) at MIT!

ERGs are employee-led groups formed around common interests, issues and/or
a common bond or background. ERGs host activities such as lectures,
socials, dinners, etc. Both Postdoctoral Fellows and Associates are invited
to join. Current ERGs include:

   -

   African, Black, American, Caribbean @MIT (ABAC at MIT) ERG
   -

   Asian Pacific American ERG
   -

   Latino ERG,
   -

   Lesbian, Gay, ,Bisexual, Transgender (LGBT) ERG
   -

   Millennials ERG
   -

   Women in IT ERG

Check out the link for more information and upcoming events:
http://hrweb.mit.edu/diversity/ergs/current

OTHER RESOURCES

Save Science

Please take 30 seconds of your time right now to help ensure science
funding and prevent government shutdown using our super easy online email
tool at http://save-science.org/.  The fate of next year's science budget
is your hands during this critical week. You can read more about the
federal budget and 2017 science funding on our blog
http://goo.gl/CDFRxZ. Please
also forward this email to any list serves that might help get the word out
particularly at institutions in other states. Your voice really does count.

Thanks for doing your part for science funding.

Free Membership for the National Postdoctoral Association

The National Postdoctoral Association (NPA) is a member-driven organization
that provides a unique, national voice for postdoctoral scholars. Since
2003, we have taken on the ambitious agenda to enhance the quality of the
postdoctoral experience in the United States. We have assumed a leadership
role in addressing the many issues confronting the postdoctoral community
that are national in scope and requiring action beyond the local level. Get
your free affiliate membership with the National Postdoctoral Association
here: http://www.nationalpostdoc.org/?page=individual_members
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