Biophysical Society Bulletin | January 2023

Career Development

IdentifyingLeadershipOpportunitiesduring GraduateandPostdoctoral Studies Many academic and non-academic

engagement. I also felt that such institutional involvement provides a platform to discuss challenges that could be faced by students or postdoctoral researchers and brings them to the attention of senior administrators and decision makers. I have always believed that no one should feel shy or less important at institutions, especially students and postdoc toral researchers, when it comes to participating in dialogues and discussions aimed at implementing changes or address ing challenges. For any organization to operate effectively, voices from all stakeholders must be heard. Thus, by partici pating in institutional associations and committees, students and postdoctoral researchers not only can gain leadership skills but also can advocate for institutional policy change by providing meaningful input. The next step would be joining student or early career com mittees of large international or national bodies or societies. Although names vary, almost every scientific society has committees that are composed of early-career researchers such as students and postdoctoral researchers. For example, the Biophysical Society promotes establishing Student Chap ters at participating universities and research institutions. The Society also has several committees such as the Early Careers Committee that encourage active participation from students and postdoctoral researchers and seek their input in annual conference organization-related activities, outreach events, and social activities during conferences. Apart from discipline-specific scientific organizations, the surge in advocacy for evidence-based science policy also requires effective input from students and trainees. Because trainees face several challenges such as tuition fee increases, stagnant fellowship support from national funding bodies, accessibility of educational resources, and targeted funding streams, they can participate in science policy-associated organizations and enhance their leadership, networking, and communication skills. Inevitably, sometimes we wonder about the benefit of engag ing in leadership activities and when those benefits might be realized. Based on experience, I believe that the benefits of participating in leadership activities are enormous, can lead to an extensive network of peers on campus and outside, and can open doors to a career path that was likely never considered while initially pursuing graduate and postdoctoral studies. However, it takes time to realize the benefits of the investment in these activities, and patience is a virtue. — Molly Cule

roles for individuals with a background in life sciences disciplines, in one way or another, require an individual to make decisions, understand the role and responsibilities of their unit, and help execute them, as well as seek new av enues to enhance the way certain pro cesses are performed. For such roles, effective leadership skills are essential.

Under the current education system at many institutions, of ten the curriculum is focused on subject-specific skill develop ment. As a result, the majority of the graduate students and postdoctoral researchers (referred to as trainees), although excellent in terms of achievements in their specific discipline, often lack transferable skills such as leadership, networking, communication, and collegiality. Therefore, institutions must implement ways by which researchers are trained such that they are not only outstanding in their specific disciplines but also acquire transferable skills. Such measures will allow us to close the gap between job opportunities that require more than a strong background in a particular scientific discipline and the narrow candidate pool. For many institutions, the implementation of programs that support discipline-specific research skills and transferable skills, including leadership training, will likely take many years. In the meantime, trainees can take initiatives that allow them to acquire such skills. There are several ways trainees can discern leadership oppor tunities. To begin with, universities and research institutions have graduate student and postdoctoral researcher associ ations. They also have various committees, such as faculty search committees; equity, diversity, inclusion, and acces sibility committees, etc., that require representation from student and/or postdoctoral researchers. To gain insights into what leadership opportunities could look like, what types of organizational and management skills can be gained, and to navigate communications and networking skills at the insti tutional level, trainees can join such institutional associations. Often, such involvement at the institutional level does not require too much time investment, and rewards in terms of expanding one’s network on campus and enhancing commu nication and other transferable skills can be significant. Subsequently, trainees can also join national graduate student and postdoctoral researcher associations to further expand the breadth of their transferable skills and enhance their leadership skills. My experience with a researcher as sociation was influential in many ways and a lot of activities I am involved with are because of that very first successful

January 2023

12

T H E N E W S L E T T E R O F T H E B I O P H Y S I C A L S O C I E T Y