Michael F. Rubner, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, DMR 0819762

1. MIT MRSEC launches mentoring seminar series for postdoctoral associates In January 2011, the Center for Materials Science and Engineering (CMSE) at MIT co-hosted the first of a planned series of seminars to address professional development needs of postdoctoral associates. To start the seminar series, CMSE collaborated with the Department of Materials Science and Engineering (DMSE) to present a seminar titled “Is There Life After Being a Postdoc at MIT?” All CMSE and DMSE postdocs were invited. A panel of two current MIT faculty members and two former MIT postdocs now working in industry told the group of 25 postdoctoral associates about the progress of their careers, how specific decisions impacted their careers, and their strategies for managing professional and family lives. Additional CMSE and DMSE faculty joined the group for the social hour that followed the panel discussion to encourage networking. Attendees found this program very useful. On exit surveys, postdocs provided a list of topics for future events and a handful volunteered to serve on a planning committee. CMSE will partner with other academic departments to present similar programs to address the suggested topics. Dr. Ayush Verma (Novartis), Prof. Angela Belcher, Prof. Christopher Schuh and Dr. Alan Lund (Xtalic Corp.) discuss their careers and offer advice to postdoctoral associates (bottom). Michael F. Rubner, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, DMR 0819762