Postdoctoral Research Forum

We are pleased to invite you to this year’s Postdoctoral Research Forum, an annual event led by the School of Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies to foster scientific interaction and interdepartmental collaboration, and to provide greater exposure and recognition for research by Western’s postdoctoral scholars.

The event will be in person in the Great Hall, Somerville House.
 
AGENDA

9:00 a.m. - 10:30 a.m. – Postdoc 120-Second Research Sprint

10:30 a.m. - 12:30 p.m. – Workshop on managing research data/primary research materials, research metrics, scholarly publishing, author rights and copyright

12:30 p.m. - 1:30 p.m. – Networking Lunch

1:30 p.m. - 2:45 p.m. – Panel discussion on navigating research environment, mentorship skills, and setting realistic goals for a successful postdoc

3:00 p.m. - 4:00 p.m. –  Interactive workshop on research collaboration and impact

4:00 p.m. – Awards Ceremony

REGISTER NOW for this FREE event!

Postdoc 120-Second Research Sprint
Showcase your research in 120 seconds for a chance to win a cash prize. This exercise will help you develop your communication skills as you explain your research using lay language to an interdisciplinary audience. Be compelling! Tell a story! A panel of judges will assess your presentation.
 
Cash prizes for the Postdoc 120-Second Research Sprint will be distributed at the Award Ceremony at 4:00 p.m.

• Gold: $1,000
• Silver: $500
• Bronze: $250
• Purple (People’s choice): $200

The Rules

• One slide representing your research – slide can have no more than three words.
• Use of relevant props is allowed, but optional.
• Presentation must be no more than 120 seconds long and will be assessed on how engaging, compelling, and free of jargon it as, in addition to how well you make the audience understand your work.
• Judges’ decisions are final.

Workshop on managing research data/primary research materials, research metrics, scholarly publishing, author rights and copyright
This session will provide helpful information and strategies for your scholarly research. Topics will include:

• Research metrics: What are the indicators of high-quality research? How do you know if a journal is a good one? What are the best metrics to illustrate the value of your research? 
• Open access publishing options: How can you avoid paying open access fees to journals? What other options exist for making research outputs openly available? 
• Copyright and why it matters for your author rights when you publish scholarly work 
• Researcher identifiers and profiles such as ORCID

Panel discussion on navigating research environment, mentorship skills, and setting realistic goals for a successful postdoc
Moderated by Prof. Nica Borradaile and Dr. Manoj Medapati, featuring:

• Dr. Amanda Grzyb, Professor of Information and Media Studies
• Dr. Daniel Ansari, Professor Psychology
• Dr. Gail Teachman, Professor, Occupational Therapy
• Dr. Thomas Drysdale, Associate Dean of Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies Schulich

Award Ceremony

• Supervisor of the Year
• Postdoc of the Year
• Postdoc 120-second Research Sprint