PDA Newsletter September 2026

Tue Sep 15 16:19:26 EDT 2026

[cid:9f2d91de-8c90-403a-9db3-a08e24097e49]
________________________________
🍕 LUNCH HOUR with the MIT Postdoctoral Association (PDA)!

Join us for the first Postdoc Lunch Hour of the academic year to enjoy pizza, connect with fellow postdocs, and meet our brand-new shiny PDA officers for 2026/2027 who volunteer their time to help make your postdoc experience at MIT even better! We hope to see you there!

When: 12:30pm-1:30pm, Wednesday, September 16th
Where: E25-401 (in person)

(Save the date: Next meeting on October 14, 1:30 - 2:30 pm)
________________________________
🌍 ISchO coffee hour

As a reminder, the International Scholars Office (ISchO) invites all international postdocs to a coffee hour on September 23:
Meet and greet your ISchO Advisor and fellow international postdocs. Enjoy coffee and snacks.

When: September 23, 2026, 10:00 - 11:00 am
Where: E19-202

________________________________
💬 Join the MIT Postdoc WhatsApp group for announcements

Our community building committee is creating a WhatsApp group to better inform you about our upcoming events, in addition to Slack and email. Please join if you’re interested:

https://chat.whatsapp.com/Gu7ujbjDfCmBLsjY0TCBKE?mode=gi_t

________________________________
💬 Join the Greater Boston Postdoc WhatsApp channel

Our colleagues across Boston have created a WhatsApp channel to connect postdocs in the Greater Boston area. The goal is to provide a platform for postdocs from different institutions to connect, exchange opportunities, and build a broader professional network. One of the ideas is to organize a monthly exchange to facilitate regular interaction beyond our individual universities, hospitals, and research institutes.

The aim is to build a strong and supportive community, foster collaborations, and create professional connections that extend beyond our time in Boston.

Feel free to invite fellow postdocs who may be interested. Join here:
https://chat.whatsapp.com/EB9MxG0cZ6VDBmfcFfBVKM?s=sw&p=i&mlu=3

________________________________
📅 Grad Student Council (GSC) Monthly Events

The Graduate Student Council has kindly put together a monthly event announcement just for postdocs! Many of their events are open to the entire MIT community, and they’ve put a lot of effort into making us feel welcome. It’s a great opportunity to connect with grad students and share interests. Let’s show our appreciation by joining their activities and building stronger ties across our communities!
Check it out here: GSC Event Announcements<http://gsc.mit.edu/current-anno>

________________________________
🌍 Travel Guidance

MIT has prepared travel guidance cards—one version for U.S. citizens and permanent residents, and another for non-citizens and non-residents. We encourage everyone to carry the appropriate version when traveling internationally, as a precaution for the foreseeable future. The reference cards can be found here<https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1YUdTqEYacl5rx8z5EqYXrXGQXm8FHymx?usp=share_link>.
Other resources:
International Travel Guidance – ISchO: https://ischo.mit.edu/travel-and-visa-renewal/travel-advisory
Legal Considerations – Office of the General Counsel:
https://ogc.mit.edu/practice-areas/international-activities/special-topics-immigration-and-international-travel/ogc
On-Campus Guidance for Interactions with Immigration and Law Enforcement:
https://ogc.mit.edu/practice-areas/international-activities/special-topics-immigration-and-international-travel/mit
https://ogc.mit.edu/system/files/documents/guid_immigr_law_enforc_on_campus_mar-2025_2.pdf
Loaner Laptops for International Travel – ISchO:
https://ist.mit.edu/secure-devices-travel

________________________________
📢 Reach out to us through slack, email, and instagram!
💬 Join the Slack channel: mit-postdocs.slack.com<https://mit-postdocs.slack.com/>
📧 Email the PDA: contactpda at mit.edu
📸 Follow us on Instagram: @mitpda<https://www.instagram.com/mitpda/>

This is my first newsletter as PDA Correspondence Secretary! I’m very excited to build on the amazing work of Danlei and keep our postdoc community informed. If you have any suggestions, please reach out let me know!

- See you on Wednesday, Florian

[cid:b5a12141-68fd-43b1-877c-cc495933fc3e]

-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://mailman.mit.edu/pipermail/mit-postdocs/attachments/20260915/00ab5e4c/attachment-0001.htm>
-------------- next part --------------
A non-text attachment was scrubbed...
Name: image.png
Type: image/png
Size: 26464 bytes
Desc: image.png
URL: <http://mailman.mit.edu/pipermail/mit-postdocs/attachments/20260915/00ab5e4c/attachment-0002.png>
-------------- next part --------------
A non-text attachment was scrubbed...
Name: image.png
Type: image/png
Size: 339735 bytes
Desc: image.png
URL: <http://mailman.mit.edu/pipermail/mit-postdocs/attachments/20260915/00ab5e4c/attachment-0003.png>