The Office of Postdoctoral Affairs recently held the inaugural Postdoctoral Appreciation Week Symposium to showcase postdoctoral research and offer postdocs access to resources, networking opportunities and more.
National Postdoctoral Appreciation Week is recognized annually on the third week in September, and the Office of Postdoctoral Affairs took this opportunity to create a symposium for UT Austin postdocs during this special week.
The symposium was held at The University of Texas at Austin JJ Pickle Research Campus on Wednesday, September 18 and included several speakers, workshops, an interactive poster session, awards and a reception to conclude the day.
The keynote speaker, Sherri Greenberg, is a professor of practice and fellow of the Max Sherman Chair in State and Local Government at the LBJ School of Public Affairs, and a professor of practice at the Steve Hicks School of Social Work. She is a well-accomplished interdisciplinary investigator in areas that include technology policy, state and local government, and public finance and past Chairperson of Good Systems, The University of Texas Grand Challenge regarding ethical AI.
Along with the keynote speaker, postdocs heard from members of the Graduate School, including Dr. Sarah Ades, Dean of the Graduate School and Senior Vice Provost for Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies, Dr. Lydia Contreras, Associate Dean for Postdoctoral Affairs and Dr. Del Watson, Director of Postdoctoral Affairs.
Postdocs had the opportunity to attend workshops on making the most of the mentor/mentee relationship, thinking creatively about a scholar's career, publishing, and navigating the postdoc journey from a panel of former UT postdocs.
Poster Session Awards
Postdocs were given the opportunity to participate in an interactive poster session to showcase their research. Three winners were chosen and received cash prizes of $200 for third place, $300 for second place and $500 for first place.
Louise Ince
First place winner
Sex differences in microglia function in aged rats underlie vulnerability to cognitive decline
College of Pharmacy
Alexis Campanile
Second place winner
Aged male rats display cognitive deficits following two-days of binge-like alcohol exposure
College of Pharmacy
Perianne Johnson
Third place winner
Seafloor erosion on ocean worlds
Jackson School of Geosciences
The Office of Postdoctoral Affairs would like to thank the planning committee of UT Austin postdocs, faculty and staff who helped organize this symposium.
The planning committee members include:
- Alejandra Garcia Isaza, College of Education
- Muhammad Waqas Ishaq, College of Natural Sciences
- Mohini Kamra, Cockrell School of Engineering
- Mahesh Nandyala, Oden Institute for Computational Engineering and Sciences
- Lois Okereke, Oden Institute for Computational Engineering and Sciences
- Nayeli Reyes-Nava, College of Natural Sciences
- Raj Sankaranarayanan, Office of the Provost
- Aadil Waseem, Cockrell School of Engineering
- Yuting Wu, College of Natural Sciences
- Zhenglin Yang, College of Natural Sciences
- Shuman Yu, Cockrell School of Engineering
- Brianna Smallman, Graduate School
- Daniela Burrows, Office of Postdoctoral Affairs
- Del Watson, Office of Postdoctoral Affairs
- Lydia Contreras, Office of Postdoctoral Affairs
To stay up to date with the Office of Postdoctoral Affairs and learn about upcoming events, visit their brand new website and join the Postdoc Listserv.