Course PhD to Post Doc: Networking, Grantseeking & Interdisciplinarity for a research career after the PhD (both part-time & full-time research)

The course A1003/03 PhD to Post Doc: Networking, Grantseeking & Interdisciplinarity for a research career after the PhD (both part-time & full-time research) is being offered by the Graduate School of Health, Aarhus University, 2025

Criteria for participation: 
University degree in medicine, dentistry, nursing, or Master’s degree in other fields and/or postgraduate research fellows (PhD students and research-year medical students).

Requirements for participation:
Health Ph.d. student, recommended to be least 6 months into the PhD

Aim: 
To focus on knowledge that is critical for success in an academic research career. With a point of departure in the PhD students’ present and future career goals, this course explores key building blocks of successful academic research careers. These building blocks include networking, interdisciplinarity and groundwork for grant-based funding opportunities.  These building blocks are used to create a career canvas that connects PhD work to the preparation needed for successful Post Doc experiences. The purpose of the career canvas is to Iay groundwork for recognizing opportunities and acting on them. This course is applicable for Health PhD students who want to become either part-time researchers and clinicians or full-time researchers.

Learning outcomes: 
At the end of the course, the participants will be able to reconsider their PhD completion plan, recognizing opportunities that lay groundwork for a successful part-time or full-time research career.  They will also have developed a strategic plan for changing their networks, engaging in interdisciplinarity, and laying groundwork for grant seeking as their career progresses.

Workload:
The full workload of the course is expected to be 55 hours

Content: 
Day 1 covers academic networking, with a focus on how the stay abroad can enhance your international research network. Activities focus on connecting your stay abroad to networking opportunities and local networks that offer international and local connections.

Day 2 covers recognizing and building opportunities for a future in academia as a part-time or full-time researcher. Activities focus on considering the role of your CV in grant applications, building a future facing CV and and preparing an interview guide for the interview that you schedule during the two weeks between sessions.

Day 3 covers laying groundwork during the PhD for grant opportunities and other themes from the interviews. Activities focus on sharing interview findings and discussing patterns among the different interview results, as well as engaging with a panel of grant winners to develop a deeper understanding of funding as it relates to preparation and opportunities.

Day 4 includes a panel who have successfully navigated from PhD to PostDoc to Assistant Professor, and focuses on the activity of bringing the results from the previous days together into a future CV supported by a Career Canvas the encompasses your PhD project and your plans for transitioning to a PostDoc.  Each day includes panel discussions with successful researchers from across AU Health. 

Pre-assignments are available in Brightspace approximately 2 weeks before the course begins, and the interim assignment requires that the PhD student schedule an interview with someone who has the job they want in 5 years during the interim period. 

Assignment Descriptions:
This course has pre- and post- assignments. The pre-assignments 1 & 2 will be most successful if you begin them shortly after you apply for the course.

Pre-assignments include:
1) A description of the department or lab for your stay abroad experience, and bringing weblinks to their information for Day 1; together with a brief stay abroad description describing where you are in the stay abroad process (i.e. pre or post stay abroad), what you have done and what you expect to do in the future for your stay abroad or post-stay abroad networking; 2) Scheduling an interview with the person who has the job you would like in five years for an hour between June 2 and June 19th ; and 3) 1 page CV + 1⁄2 page introduction to yourself, your PhD, your future career goals, and your motivations.

Post-assignments 
include: 1) a forward-looking CV, with future career activities highlighted in Blue; 2) a career canvas (based on bringing together your work throughout the course); and 3) a 2-3 page reflection on which aspects of the course will affect your approach to building your academic career, and why.

Instructors: Constance E. Kampf

Venue: Aarhus University, Aarhus

Participation in the course is without cost for:

• PhD students, Health Research Year students from Aarhus University
• PhD students enrolled at partner universities of the Nordoc collaboration
• PhD students from other institutions in the open market agreement for PhD courses

Course dates:

• 27 May 2025 09:00 - 17:00
• 28 May 2025 09:00 - 17:00
• 18 June 2025 09:00 - 17:00
• 19 June 2025 09:00 - 17:00