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Winter 2025

Expandable List

Join us for one of our open offerings. All postdocs are welcome to join us virtually in our hyflex learning environment to experience one of our program offerings in teaching or leadership. Experience innovative programming first hand as you engage and network with seasoned faculty, industry experts and other PDFs. Registration is free. REGISTER HERE

 

January 15th – Social Media and Knowledge Translation

1:00pm – 3:00pm Led by Arun Jacob (ONLINE)

 

February 12 – 5MRT (5min Research Talks) in the LIVElab at McMaster University

12:00pm –  4:00pm (IN PERSON and ONLINE)

 

February 26 – Leadership Networking

10:00am – 12:00pm led by Jordan Moore

 

March 5 – Appetizers for the Mind (Postdoc research talks featuring the winners of the 5MRT)

5:00pm – 6:00pm Reception
6:00pm – 8:00pm Talks (IN PERSON and ONLINE)

 

March 26 – Entrepreneurial Leadership Discussion Panel

10:00am – 1:00pm Panel of Postdocs, Industry leaders and MILO and Reception (IN PERSON or ONLINE)

Deliverable: Create a mini job talk for industry or academia.

 

10:00am-12:00pm – Job talks: Preparing for Academia vs. Industry

Led by: Jennifer Polk
Location: Alumni Memorial Hall, West Room

Creating a job talk for a tenure track position is a very different process than preparing an industry resume. Learn more about how to adapt language, formatting and design to best represent your skills in academia and industry.

 

12:00pm-1:00pm – Lunch

Location: Alumni Memorial Hall, West Room

 

1:00pm-3:00pm – Job Talks (Panel of Experts)

Location: Alumni Memorial Hall, West Room

Many Postdocs strive for a job in academia, estimates range from 75-81% of PDFs aspire to attain a tenure track professorship. The issue: there are limited appointments in academia. The market is highly competitive, and the interview process can be laborious! Join our panel of experts to gain an insider’s perspective on the academic job search, job talk and interview process.

Panelists:

Panelists will represent different areas of academia to allow for a more “well-rounded” and insightful conversation. Leadership from Science, health sciences, engineering, grad studies and more, will join the discussion and share their knowledge about job talks (do’s and don’ts) as well as negation strategies.

Deliverable: Create a social media presence (twitter, Instagram and linked in)

 

10:00am-11:00am – Journal Club (in person facilitation)

Led by: Dr. Jannis Erhard, Dr. Pierre Sarr, Dr. Jennifer Holzer, Dr. Ben Sclodnick
Location: Psychology Building room 205

 

11:00am-12:30pm – Lunch: 5min job talks

Location: Psychology Building room 205

Present your 5min job talk and receive feedback from your peers.

 

1:00pm-3:00pm – Social media and knowledge translation skills

Led by: Arun Jacobs
Location: Alumni Memorial Hall, West Room

How can you create an online presence that will have a greater impact. Social media can be used as a tool in knowledge translation. The right post, online reflection, or advice can reach influential policy makers or even get you your next job!

Deliverable: Create your 5min research talk.

 

10am-12:00pm – Knowledge translation and presentation skills

Led by: Andrew Churchill
Location: Alumni Memorial Hall, West Room

Learn the art of presenting and conveying an effective message with this workshop on knowledge translation.

 

12:00pm-1:00pm – Lunch

Location: Alumni Memorial Hall, West Room

 

1:00pm-3:00pm – (Continuation) Knowledge translation and presentation skills

Led by: Andrew Churchill
Location: Alumni Memorial Hall, West Room

Learn the art of presenting and conveying an effective message with this workshop on knowledge translation.

Deliverable: Complete the EQI and review your results

 

10:00am-11:00am – Journal Club (in person facilitation)

Led by: Dr. Jesse Pazdera, Dr. Thomas Argaw, Dr. Oludoyin Adigun
Location: Psychology Building room 205

 

11:00am-12:30pm – Lunch: 5min Research talks (5MRT)

Location: Psychology Building room 205

Present your 5min Research talk (5MRT) and receive feedback from your peers.

 

12:30pm-3:00pm – Emotional intelligence (EQI)

Led by: Nancy Watt
Location: Alumni Memorial Hall, West Room

Emotional influence every aspect of our lives: from conflict resolution to leadership, being aware of your EI is a necessary skill for anyone in a leadership position.

Group work: case studies in emotional intelligence

Deliverable: Bring a draft of your talk to the workshop

 

10:00am-12:00pm – Reflections on Emotional intelligence in Leadership

Led by: Katie George
Location: Alumni Memorial Hall, West Room

How can emotional intelligence impact your leadership style? Review concepts related to emotional intelligence and apply your new knowledge to solve case studies with your peers. You will also learn more about how your EI can influence your interview style.

 

12:00pm-1:00pm – Lunch: 5min job talk

Location: Alumni Memorial Hall, West Room

Present your 5min job talk and receive feedback from your peers.

 

1:00pm-3:00pm – Presentation Skills and Presenting to the Crowd

Led by: Ginette Mohr
Location: Alumni Memorial Hall, West Room

Ginette Mohr award winning performer, director and social worker will guide program members through the fine art of performance. Delivering your message in a meaningful way can be a challenge. Verbal communication skills will be honed in this workshop to allow program members to excel as they prepare for the McCall MacBain talks.

Deliverable: Present your 5min research talk (5MRT) in the LIVELab and compete against regional postdocs!

 

10:00am-11:00am – Journal Club (in person facilitation)

Led by: Dr. Bita Pourbahari, Dr. Rhea Desai, Dr. Haitham Shoman, Dr. Daniela Caballero Diaz
Location: Psychology Building room 205

 

11:30pm-12:30pm – Lunch and 5MRT (virtual presentations)

Location: Psychology Building LIVELab atrium 2nd floor 

 

12:30pm-4:30pm – 5MRT (in person presentations)

Location: Psychology Building LIVELab

Come prepared with your 5min research talk and experience the stage at the LIVElab! Students, staff and community members will be welcomed to the event to provide feedback and identify the top talks.

Mid-term break – Recenter, Reset, Rejuvenate

Deliverable: Prepare a networking strategy (to be employed next week at the networking event)

 

10:00am-12:00pm – Leadership networking (it doesn’t have to be your worst nightmare!)

Location: Alumni Memorial Hall, West Room

Learn from leadership experts about the subtle art of networking. How can you utilize these strategies to better convey your “why” to those in academia and industry

 

12:00pm-1:00pm – Lunch: 5min job talk

Location: Alumni Memorial Hall, West Room

Present your 5min job talk and receive feedback from your peers.

Reception and networking opportunity.

Winners of the McCall MacBain 5min research talks will compete in this evening event! Come and cheer on your peers and hone your networking skills.

 

10:00am-11:00am – Journal Club (in person facilitation)

Led by: Dr. Ruchira Nandasiri, Dr. Nazia Pathan, Dr. Myanca Rodrigues
Location: Psychology Building room 205

 

12:00pm-1:00pm – Lunch: 5min job talk

Location: Psychology Building room 205

Present your 5min job talk and receive feedback from your peers.

 

5:00pm-6:00pm – Reception and networking opportunity

Location: Psychology Building LIVELab

 

6:00pm-8:00pm – Appetizers for the mind event: McCall MacBain Talks: 5 Min research talks

Location: Psychology Building LIVELab

Join us in the LIVElab for a research competition featuring knowledge translation to a general audience. Researchers from around Ontario compete in front of a live audience and a panel of judges to demonstrate their knowledge translation skills. Winners for the practice talks.

Bring your completed EdCog research report form and discuss with your research partner

 

10:00am-12:00pm – EdCog Research Reports

Location: Alumni Memorial Hall, West Room

Discuss your current EdCog research experience with educational research projects. Speak with your peers about barriers, successes and future goals. Discuss conflict management strategies and how to communicate effectively with a team.

Learn from Dr. Joe Kim about how to better engage with you education research supervisor and how to get the most from your experience.

 

12:00pm-1:00pm – Lunch: 5min job talk

Location: Alumni Memorial Hall, West Room

Present your 5min job talk and receive feedback from your peers.

 

1:30pm-3:30pm – Innovative Teaching Practices: Enhancing Student Learning through Community-Engaged Education

Led by: Ayesha Khan
Location: Alumni Memorial Hall, West Room

Deliverable: Create a proposal related to your research related to public policy.

 

10:00am-11:00am – Journal Club (in person facilitation)

Led by: Dr. Sina Baleka, Dr. Idowu Olawoye, Dr. Azadeh Momeni
Location: Psychology Building room 205

 

11:00am-12:30pm – Lunch: 5min job talks

Location: Psychology Building room 205

Present your 5min job talk and receive feedback from your peers.

 

12:30pm-3:00pm – Leading through Public Policy

Led by: Vass Bednar
Location: Alumni Memorial Hall, West Room

Learn how researchers can better engage government and influence public policy to enhance their impact. Bring your research to the next level and create real change.

Due: Bring an entrepreneurial idea to this workshop. How can you get your ideas off the ground?

 

10:00am-12:00pm – Entrepreneurial Leadership

Location: Alumni Memorial Hall, Great Hall

Panel of postdocs, industry leaders and policy makers (from academia to industry), in collaboration with The Office of the Vice-President of Research (OVPR), and The McMaster Industry Liaison Office (MILO)

How can you express your WHY to expand your impact beyond academia. Expand your learning about entrepreneurial leadership and identify how these concepts might apply to you.

 

12:00pm-1:00pm – Lunch

 

1:00pm-3:00pm – Academics as Entrepreneurs

Led by: Brandon Aubie
Location: Alumni Memorial Hall, West Room

Learn how you can translate your academic skills to benefit your entrepreneurial pursuits. Speaker Brandon Aubie (Q-Reserve) will discuss his journey from academia to industry and starting his own tech company.

Deliverable: Present your EdCog research findings/experience

 

10:30am-11:30am – Journal Club (in person facilitation)

Led by: Dr. Lei Zhang, Dr. Amin Ahmadfard, Dr. Matthew Lees
Location: Alumni Memorial Hall, West Room

 

12:00pm-1:00pm – Lunch

Location: Alumni Memorial Hall, West Room

 

12:00pm-1:00pm – EdCog Research Reports

Location: Alumni Memorial Hall, West Room

Present your current EdCog research findings and experience with educational research projects. Speak with your peers about barriers, successes and future goals.

12:00pm – Final Program Day! Lunch and Debrief

Location: The Buttery

Final program day: Debrief and lunch. Join us for the final lunch and program debrief. Share your experiences and speak with facilitators that have taught you throughout the program.

 

Key Winter Deliverables

McCall MacBain Talks

After attending workshops relating to effective PowerPoint design and how to give a fantastic presentation, postdoctoral fellows will develop a 5-minute talk about their research aimed towards a general audience. The top McCall MacBain Talks will also present at the Alumni Appetizers for the Mind event. This will allow the postdoctoral fellows an opportunity to continue honing their science communication and leadership skills.

Education Research Project

Postdoctoral fellows will have the opportunity to work with a professor doing education-related work or choose to investigate their own topic. The postdoctoral fellow will have the opportunity to select from these projects to form a research collaboration and mentoring relationship to be conducted throughout the year. The goal of this research project is to showcase the work they’ve done and to disseminate findings that will translate into prescriptions for teaching in the classroom and result in changes in policy.

Leadership Certification

In the winter term, program members will complete several components of the leadership certification including:

  • Online media creation (twitter, website design, Instagram)
  • Completion and review of EIQ

Job Talk Preparation

Program members will prepare a general “job talk” and receive guidance from our mixed media expert on how to better prepare for their next important presentation (in academia or industry) NOTE: During Program lunches, program members or external PDF’s from around McMaster are welcome to deliver and receive feedback on a job talk. Hear from your peers and perfect your talk to heighten your chances of getting that next job.

Journal Club

(Winter term = in person facilitation)

Program members will be paired to present an educational research journal article of their choosing. Each week a pair of MMB PDF’s will lead an informative discussion on an educational/cognitive topic.