Events

Need time to work on your fellowship or faculty application, or anything else? Do you like to write in a group setting? Join our Mini-Writing Retreats! Each session will start with a brief welcome and some helpful tips, but the focus of each session will be on writing—turning your ideas and draft materials into a final application.  REGISTER HERE Each retreat will be held in-person in New Cabell Hall, in Conference Room 552. Snacks and beverages will be provided for attendees. Additionally, Sam Lake and Kelly Oman, PhD Plus' Assistant Directors of Research Communication, will be there to answer questions and provide feedback on your draft materials. UPCOMING WRITING RETREAT DATESThis is the last retreat of the year, but stay tuned for additional events during the spring semester.

Consulting Workshop SeriesRegister here!This series, taught by Dr. Brendan Boler, is offered through 8 Sessions over the course of the academic year, 6 sessions in the fall semester and 2 sessions in the spring semester. It is designed to help graduate students and postdocs gain the knowledge, skills, and confidence needed for a consulting job. Trainees will learn a hypothesis-driven structured problem-solving approach used by many top strategy consulting firms and apply this approach to help improve their own skills in case interviewing. Students will also gain valuable experience with two important skills: data analytics for consulting using Excel, and storytelling for consulting using PowerPoint. Both of these skills are often tested as part of second-round job interviews and are key skills for success on the job. The course will require two deliverables (an Excel model and PowerPoint presentation), due by the 7th and 8th sessions. Students will have the time to complete the assignments during winter break. The assignments will each take about 6 hours of time, 12 hours total and are prerequisites for earning a digital badge for consulting. Upon successful completion (participation in 6 out of 8 sessions and assignment completion) of this series, graduate students and postdocs are eligible to receive a digital badge, issued by the PhD Plus Program through Credly, that demonstrates proof of completion of the program.In 2024-2025, the workshop sessions will take place:Fall 2024: The first six sessions in Fall take place 3:30-5 PM (ET) on Wednesdays from October 2 to November 6.Spring 2025: The remaining two sessions in Spring take place 3:30-5 PM (ET) on Wednesdays, Jan 22 & Jan 29.Fall Session Schedule: October 2: Consulting 101 & Practice Case Interview #1October 9: Communicating like a Consultant, Practice Case Interview #2October 16: Practice Case Interview #3 - Bain styleOctober 23: Networking for Consulting & Practice Case Interview #4October 30: Practice Case Interview #5 - McKinsey styleNovember 6: Telling Your "Why Consulting" Story & Practice Case Interview #6 Spring Session Schedule:January 22: Practice Case Interview #7 and Data Analytics for ConsultingJanuary 29: Practice Case Interview #8 and Data-Driven Storytelling for ConsultingRegister today!

Note: This series takes place on Tuesdays, Sept 24-Oct. 29 from 3:30-5:00 PMEnrollment will be capped at 25 - priority will be given to those who can commit to attending the majority of sessions.REGISTER HEREThis six-part workshop series is meant to give non-specialists a practical foundation for working with data and understanding approaches to answering questions with data that are rooted in statistical thinking. Topics covered:A) Data formatting: This session will get students comfortable with handling quantitative datasets, coding text into the appropriate format, understanding different types of variables (continuous, categorical, ordinal), understanding when transformations might be needed and how to execute them, and tidying data for analysis.B) Intro to graphs: Students will learn to visualize individual variables, relationships between different variables, and the appropriate way to present them depending on the question. This will also cover some basics of aesthetics associated with formatting figures to aid in showing patterns in the data through graphs.C) Intro to statistical thinking: Here students will learn the motivations for measuring central tendencies and spread of data, their relevance in hypothesis testing and data analysis, and how to interpret these summaries.D) Experimental design: We will cover appropriate study design to test hypotheses, types of statistical tests and how to determine which to use. Students will learn how to report statistical analysis in a way that describes patterns in the data.E) Storytelling with your data: Over the course of each of the previous 4 workshops, students will have time to come up with a question they would be interested in testing with a dataset of their choice (either gathered from existing databases, collected from their own projects, etc.) They will apply principles learned in the past 4 workshops to prepare, visualize, and analyze their own data and create a data analysis exercise for other students.F) Bridge to R: We will discuss the limitations of graphical user interface tools such as DCU and other platforms and when coding based statistical tools may be needed. We will then see how data visualizations and statistical tests can be conducted in a language such as R using our Bridge to R interface. At each point we will highlight relevant modules that students could take in other data literacy courses in R/Python.

Consulting Workshop SeriesRegister here!This series, taught by Dr. Brendan Boler, is offered through 8 Sessions over the course of the academic year, 6 sessions in the fall semester and 2 sessions in the spring semester. It is designed to help graduate students and postdocs gain the knowledge, skills, and confidence needed for a consulting job. Trainees will learn a hypothesis-driven structured problem-solving approach used by many top strategy consulting firms and apply this approach to help improve their own skills in case interviewing. Students will also gain valuable experience with two important skills: data analytics for consulting using Excel, and storytelling for consulting using PowerPoint. Both of these skills are often tested as part of second-round job interviews and are key skills for success on the job. The course will require two deliverables (an Excel model and PowerPoint presentation), due by the 7th and 8th sessions. Students will have the time to complete the assignments during winter break. The assignments will each take about 6 hours of time, 12 hours total and are prerequisites for earning a digital badge for consulting. Upon successful completion (participation in 6 out of 8 sessions and assignment completion) of this series, graduate students and postdocs are eligible to receive a digital badge, issued by the PhD Plus Program through Credly, that demonstrates proof of completion of the program.In 2024-2025, the workshop sessions will take place:Fall 2024: The first six sessions in Fall take place 3:30-5 PM (ET) on Wednesdays from October 2 to November 6.Spring 2025: The remaining two sessions in Spring take place 3:30-5 PM (ET) on Wednesdays, Jan 22 & Jan 29.Fall Session Schedule: October 2: Consulting 101 & Practice Case Interview #1October 9: Communicating like a Consultant, Practice Case Interview #2October 16: Practice Case Interview #3 - Bain styleOctober 23: Networking for Consulting & Practice Case Interview #4October 30: Practice Case Interview #5 - McKinsey styleNovember 6: Telling Your "Why Consulting" Story & Practice Case Interview #6 Spring Session Schedule:January 22: Practice Case Interview #7 and Data Analytics for ConsultingJanuary 29: Practice Case Interview #8 and Data-Driven Storytelling for ConsultingRegister today!

PhD Plus Career Design courses and series help students identify their core values and interests, explore diverse career pathways and practice professional development strategies. This series is best suited for Master's and PhD students in year 2 and above, and Postdoctoral Scholars at all stages of training.Please note: This series is strongly encouraged for participation in the PhD Plus Internship Program. Career Design for Master's Students consists of four weekly, 1-hour, in-person sessions.REGISTER HEREIntroduction, series overview, self-assessmentParticipants will complete a self-assessment exercise before the first sessionData on career outcomes and introduction of the range of possible career pathsParticipants will hear about actual and potential career paths for graduate students and postdocs in their disciplineParticipants will learn how to conduct informational interviews and will apply this skill before the end of the seriesIdentifying transferrable skills  Participants will extract skills from their graduate school and/or postdoctoral training experiencesParticipants will go through simulations in fields of interestParticipants will learn how to dissect a job ad to figure out what hiring committees are looking forIdentifying skill gaps and making a planParticipants will be introduced to 1Mentor, a new software platform designed to assist graduate students and postdocs in identifying skills acquired and skills needed for specific career pathsParticipants will draft an action plan and next steps for their career journey

PhD Plus Career Design courses and series help students identify their core values and interests, explore diverse career pathways and practice professional development strategies. This series is best suited for Master's and PhD students in year 2 and above, and Postdoctoral Scholars at all stages of training.Please note: This series is strongly encouraged for participation in the PhD Plus Internship Program. Career Design for Master's Students consists of four weekly, 1-hour, in-person sessions.REGISTER HEREIntroduction, series overview, self-assessmentParticipants will complete a self-assessment exercise before the first sessionData on career outcomes and introduction of the range of possible career pathsParticipants will hear about actual and potential career paths for graduate students and postdocs in their disciplineParticipants will learn how to conduct informational interviews and will apply this skill before the end of the seriesIdentifying transferrable skills  Participants will extract skills from their graduate school and/or postdoctoral training experiencesParticipants will go through simulations in fields of interestParticipants will learn how to dissect a job ad to figure out what hiring committees are looking forIdentifying skill gaps and making a planParticipants will be introduced to 1Mentor, a new software platform designed to assist graduate students and postdocs in identifying skills acquired and skills needed for specific career pathsParticipants will draft an action plan and next steps for their career journey

PhD Plus Career Design courses and series help students identify their core values and interests, explore diverse career pathways and practice professional development strategies. This series is best suited for Master's and PhD students in year 2 and above, and Postdoctoral Scholars at all stages of training.Please note: This course or series is strongly encouraged for participation in the PhD Plus Internship Program. Career Design consists of five weekly, 1-hour sessions.REGISTER HEREIntroduction, series overview, self-assessmentParticipants will complete a self-assessment exercise before the first sessionData on career outcomes and introduction of the range of possible career pathsParticipants will hear about actual and potential career paths for graduate students and postdocs in their disciplineParticipants will learn how to conduct informational interviews and will apply this skill before the end of the seriesIdentifying transferrable skills  Participants will extract skills from their graduate school and/or postdoctoral training experiencesParticipants will go through simulations in fields of interestParticipants will learn how to dissect a job ad to figure out what hiring committees are looking forIdentifying skill gapsParticipants will be introduced to 1Mentor, a new software platform designed to assist graduate students and postdocs in identifying skills acquired and skills needed for specific career pathsIndividual Development PlanParticipants will draft an action plan and next steps for their career journey

PhD Plus Career Design courses and series help students identify their core values and interests, explore diverse career pathways and practice professional development strategies. This series is best suited for Master's and PhD students in year 2 and above, and Postdoctoral Scholars at all stages of training.Please note: This course or series is strongly encouraged for participation in the PhD Plus Internship Program. Career Design consists of five weekly, 1-hour sessions.REGISTER HEREIntroduction, series overview, self-assessmentParticipants will complete a self-assessment exercise before the first sessionData on career outcomes and introduction of the range of possible career pathsParticipants will hear about actual and potential career paths for graduate students and postdocs in their disciplineParticipants will learn how to conduct informational interviews and will apply this skill before the end of the seriesIdentifying transferrable skills  Participants will extract skills from their graduate school and/or postdoctoral training experiencesParticipants will go through simulations in fields of interestParticipants will learn how to dissect a job ad to figure out what hiring committees are looking forIdentifying skill gapsParticipants will be introduced to 1Mentor, a new software platform designed to assist graduate students and postdocs in identifying skills acquired and skills needed for specific career pathsIndividual Development PlanParticipants will draft an action plan and next steps for their career journey

PhD Plus Career Design courses and series help students identify their core values and interests, explore diverse career pathways and practice professional development strategies. This series is best suited for Master's and PhD students in year 2 and above, and Postdoctoral Scholars at all stages of training.Please note: This course or series is strongly encouraged for participation in the PhD Plus Internship Program. Career Design consists of five weekly, 1-hour sessions.REGISTER HEREIntroduction, series overview, self-assessmentParticipants will complete a self-assessment exercise before the first sessionData on career outcomes and introduction of the range of possible career pathsParticipants will hear about actual and potential career paths for graduate students and postdocs in their disciplineParticipants will learn how to conduct informational interviews and will apply this skill before the end of the seriesIdentifying transferrable skills  Participants will extract skills from their graduate school and/or postdoctoral training experiencesParticipants will go through simulations in fields of interestParticipants will learn how to dissect a job ad to figure out what hiring committees are looking forIdentifying skill gapsParticipants will be introduced to 1Mentor, a new software platform designed to assist graduate students and postdocs in identifying skills acquired and skills needed for specific career pathsIndividual Development PlanParticipants will draft an action plan and next steps for their career journey

PhD Plus Career Design courses and series help students identify their core values and interests, explore diverse career pathways and practice professional development strategies. This series is best suited for Master's and PhD students in year 2 and above, and Postdoctoral Scholars at all stages of training.Please note: This course or series is strongly encouraged for participation in the PhD Plus Internship Program. Career Design consists of five weekly, 1-hour sessions.REGISTER HEREIntroduction, series overview, self-assessmentParticipants will complete a self-assessment exercise before the first sessionData on career outcomes and introduction of the range of possible career pathsParticipants will hear about actual and potential career paths for graduate students and postdocs in their disciplineParticipants will learn how to conduct informational interviews and will apply this skill before the end of the seriesIdentifying transferrable skills  Participants will extract skills from their graduate school and/or postdoctoral training experiencesParticipants will go through simulations in fields of interestParticipants will learn how to dissect a job ad to figure out what hiring committees are looking forIdentifying skill gapsParticipants will be introduced to 1Mentor, a new software platform designed to assist graduate students and postdocs in identifying skills acquired and skills needed for specific career pathsIndividual Development PlanParticipants will draft an action plan and next steps for their career journey