Career and Professional Development Programs and Events

This fundamental program covers topics such as career management, career exploration, career path selection, networking, goal setting, and developing an Individual Development Plan (IDP). It is run annually, beginning each Fall with workshops and seminars, and ending in the Spring with networking panels.

Please check with your PI or Faculty Adviser to determine if your funding requires you to file an IDP annually.

Please visit the Columbia University IDP Program website for more information. 

The Academic Application & Early Career Success Series, formerly the Academic Application Boot Camp, is designed to prepare postdoctoral scholars, researchers, and scientists for the academic job market and to support their transition into independent academic positions and early career success.

For more information, please click here.

These workshops focus on creating a targeted resume, a professional CV, drafting a persuasive cover letter, interviewing effectively, networking strategically, and managing one's career. 

Please click here to view the recorded lectures from the Career Advancement Series. 

OPA organizes an annual Postdoc Research Symposium to create an opportunity for Postdocs and Associate Research Scientists to present their research to the Columbia University community.

This annual series exposes trainees to a variety of career opportunities that exist for doctoral level researchers. This program is run annually in the winter and spring.

Please visit the IDP program website listed above for information on the career panels.

OPA organizes a number of networking and employer events throughout the year. These include networking events with Postdoc alumni, employer on-campus and virtual recruitment/info sessions, as well as employer site visits. OPA also advertises internship and employment opportunities throughout the year.   

There are a large number of events and programs that occur throughout the year that are not organized by OPA, but would be of interest to Postdocs and Associate Research Scientists. We organize these events into the "OPA Weekly Listings" email, sent out to Postdocs and Associate Research Scientists on our email list every Thursday. 

Please contact us at [email protected] to join the OPA mailing list.