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The Graduate School

Professional Development

Career Development Resources

The Office of Postdoctoral Affairs endeavors to prepare postdoctoral scholars for a range of professional endeavors, from faculty appointments to industry careers, entrepreneurship, government and nonprofit work.

Auditing a Course: The Office of Postdoctoral Affairs is excited to announce that postdocs can now audit one 3-hour course per semester at no charge.

Postdoc Audit Request Form

Postdoctoral Research Symposium

The UNC-system institutions which have postdocs (UNC-Chapel Hill, NC State University, NC A&T University, East Carolina University, and UNC Wilmington) are collaborating to provide the first UNC-system wide Postdoc Research Symposium.

This event will be held at the NC Biotechnology Center, 15 TW Alexander Drive, Durham, NC on Friday, June 14, 2024 from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Please register via this link. To submit an abstract for a poster or a flash talk, do so using this link. One needs to register before submitting an abstract.

If you are interested in riding a bus to and from NC Biotech that day, please contact Dr. Rhonda Sutton by Friday May 31st.

Please note that you do not have to submit an abstract for a poster and/or a flash talk to attend. Your PIs/faculty are also welcome and encouraged to attend, especially if you are presenting a poster or providing a flash talk. There is a registration fee of $25. Lunch will be provided and headshots will be provided on a first come, first served basis.

Professional Development

The Office of Postdoctoral Affairs (OPA) strives to enhance, support and promote the postdoctoral experience at NC State University. In doing so, OPA hopes postdocs will realize their potential during their tenure at this university and utilize their postdoctoral appointment as a way to foster their independence as scientists, scholars and researchers. Following are ways in which OPA encourages postdocs to more fully develop their professional development skills, goals and self-awareness during their postdoctoral assignment.

National Postdoctoral Association (NPA)

The mission of the National Postdoctoral Association is to advance the U.S. research enterprise by maximizing the effectiveness of the research community and enhancing the quality of the postdoctoral experience. To achieve this mission, the NPA works to: 

  • Develop and advocate for implementation of policies that promote positive and constructive change in the postdoctoral experience. 
  • Promote collection, analysis, and dissemination of data on postdoctoral scholars.
  • Develop a self-sustaining, democratic organization to enhance all stakeholders in the postdoctoral community. 

NC State has been a sustaining member of the National Postdoctoral Association (NPA) since August 2008.

Anyone (postdocs, graduate students, faculty, or staff) with an ncsu.edu email address can join the NPA as an affiliate member at no cost.

Follow this link to create an account or see instructions here.

Once a member, check out the NPA’s Postdoc Resource Library for a variety of resources to help you get the most out of your postdoc. Also, view presentations from past NPA annual meetings as well as past webinars on a range of topics!

Faculty Professional Development

Interested in pursuing a career as a faculty member? NC State University offers a variety of resources to help enhance your skills and give you a competitive edge when pursuing a faculty position. We encourage our postdocs to take advantage of the following opportunities:

Teaching Certificate: Non-credit teaching certificate offered through the Graduate School. Postdocs are welcome to either pursue the Teaching Certificate, which they can note on their CV, or take the workshops that are of interest to them. There are also opportunities to gain experience mentoring undergraduates through the Graduate School’s Teaching Programs.

Preparing the Professoriate: Postdocs can participate in the Preparing the Professoriate Program offered through the Graduate School. This nationally recognized program is designed to provide an immersive mentoring, teaching and future faculty preparation experience.

Office for Faculty Excellence: The Office for Faculty Excellence offers an array of workshops and resources which postdocs can take advantage of. They work to promote the success of faculty at all of their career stages, even those who are not yet in full-time faculty positions.

Resources for Negotiating the Faculty Offer: This list, which was compiled by Dr. Alan Marsh, Director of UNC-Chapel Hill’s Office of Postdoctoral Affairs, provides resources that can help postdocs learn useful ways to negotiate a faculty offer.