Education and Career Opportunities at Neuroscience 2016

SfN’s annual meeting is a great place for attendees to develop professional skills through career-focused workshops and to explore graduate schools and job options through a variety of events and resources.

Graduate School Fair
The Graduate School Fair provides prospective students and graduate school representatives with a unique opportunity to meet face to face. Neuroscience 2016 has four-day fair in the Sails Pavilion in the San Diego Convention Center. 

• Saturday, November 12, 1-3 p.m.
• Sunday, November 13–Tuesday, November 15, noon-2 p.m.

NeuroJobs Career Center
Whether you are actively seeking new employment or just curious about what job opportunities are available, the NeuroJobs Career Center gives you the chance to meet employers with open positions — on-site and at no cost. To see available jobs and request an interview, visit the NeuroJobs Career Center jobs board and select the checkered flag icon.

• Saturday, November 12–Tuesday, November 15, 8 a.m.-5 p.m.
• Wednesday, November 16, 8 a.m.-3 p.m.

Academic-Focused Workshops

• The Neuroscience Departments and Programs Workshop will discuss (1) how to best train and retain a talented work force to ensure a bright future for the field of neuroscience and (2) strategies for preparing the next generation of neuroscience trainees with the skills and expertise necessary for diverse career opportunities. This workshop is 9-11 a.m. Saturday, November 12.

• At the workshop Success in Academia: A Focus on Strategies for Women, a panel of female neuroscientist leaders in academia will direct a lively discussion about finding and negotiating a job, promotion and tenure, salary and space negotiations, and how to handle being the only female in the room. The “Success in Academia” workshop is 9-11 a.m. Saturday, November 12. 
• The demand for robust undergraduate neuroscience education is continually increasing. The workshop Creating, Sustaining, and Enhancing Undergraduate Neuroscience Programs discusses meeting demand in this area and how colleges and universities are increasingly exploring opportunities to create and enhance undergraduate neuroscience programs. The workshop is noon-2 p.m. Saturday, November 12.

• Navigating a productive and professional relationship between mentor and mentee is not always easy. The Optimizing the Mentor-Trainee Relationship workshop will address issues and best practices from the perspectives of both mentor and mentee and related to all stages of training. The workshop is 3-5 p.m. Sunday, November 13.

Career-Focused Workshops

• The popular Meet-the-Expert Series gives attendees a behind-the-scenes look at factors influencing various neuroscientists’ groundbreaking research. Each of the sessions allows attendees to engage in an informal discussion with veteran scientists. Experts at Neuroscience 2016 will include Ricardo Araneda of the University of Maryland, Michael Goldberg of Columbia University, Russell Swerdlow of the University of Kansas Medical Center, and more. The Meet-the-Expert Series has two sessions: 8-9:15 a.m. and 9:30-10:45 a.m. Saturday, November 12.

• The workshop Careers in Making Medicines: Translating Basic Research Into Pharmaceutical Development will outline career opportunities within the pharmaceutical industry. This workshop is noon-2 p.m. Saturday, November 12.

• The Biomedical Education and Careers for Scientists (PhD) and Physician-Scientists (MD-PhD) workshop will explore a wide variety of careers open to graduates of PhD and MD-PhD programs, as well as other career pathways available within research institutes or the pharmaceutical industry and other science-related fields. This workshop is 3-5 p.m. Saturday, November 12.

• Ever wonder how to obtain funding for your research? Attend a workshop about NIH funding where panelists will discuss funding opportunities and factors that NIH staff find important to the success of trainees in the realm of both training and grant writing. The workshop is 3-5 p.m. Saturday, November 12.

• Build connections and meet experienced neuroscientists at Career Development Topics: A Networking Event. This roundtable discussion will explore how to strike a work-life balance, secure grants, make a career transition away from the bench, choose a graduate school, and select a postdoctoral fellow position. The “Career Development Topics” event is 7:30-9:30 p.m. Saturday, November 12.