Title:
Post-doctoral
Professional Development Program (PD2P)
Facility:
Sandia National
Laboratories
Point of
contact:
Dominique Foley Wilson, Consultant,
Laboratory Critical Skills Development Programs,
505-844-1315;
dfoley@sandia.gov
Brief
description of Best Practice:
Without adding administrative burden,
create a post-doctoral organization to advance Sandia’s
research enterprise by fostering a robust post-doc community
and enhancing the quality of the post-doc experience for all
participants.
Its goals are two-fold:
-
to
facilitate post-docs transitioning into careers as
outstanding independent researchers by providing
resources for professional development
-
to
formalize a visible program to organize and network
post-docs and highlight their work
Activities include
a monthly technical series delivered by a post-doc or recent
staff member; a career development workshop series; annual
poster session; annual all hands meeting; social networking;
career fairs; survival guide for new hires.
The PD2P website serves as an
important communication/outreach tool, with added
functionality for internal users.
The program fosters interaction
with technical staff and personal growth via its
groundbreaking Individual Development Plan (as limited term
employees, post-docs are not subject to the same performance
evaluations and feedback as regular employees).
PD2P’s framework is
comprised of three central committees:
ST&E Program Management, an
Advisory Committee, a Post-doc committee.
The latter has representatives
from both sites (NM & CA) and meets bi-monthly via
teleconference.
Post-doc
appointments are generally 1-3 years in length; hence,
succession planning and transition are important
characteristics to sustainability.
PD2P is a member of the
National Post-doc Association and has leveraged this
membership to partner with post-doc programs at other
national laboratories.
The program
embodies two elements making it worthy of a best practice:
it is administered and run by
the post-docs for the post-docs with input from its Advisory
and ST&E committee; it generates matching funding from the
line to augment its annual budget.
Senior level management of all
organizations hosting post-docs are solicited by a PD2P
member and provided with feedback from the post-docs in
their respective organization.
The additional funding
generated is used to enhance the program based on post-doc
feedback.
PD2P’s budget has trebled over
the three years of its existence.
Why the Best
Practice was used:
Approximately 10% of Sandia’s
post-docs transition into Sandia employees.
Their work is primarily
research and their lives fairly isolated.
This model is used to:
-
provide professional development for
a post-doc to become the best candidate for the next
opportunity
-
offer
networking opportunities with technical staff,
management, and other post-docs
-
showcase
post-doc research
-
showcase
post-docs as viable lab staff
-
enable
leadership and program management qualities in the
post-doc population
What are the benefits of the Best Practice:
-
post-docs
taking charge of
the career track
-
technical and
professional recognition
-
personal
networking
-
no additional
administrative burden incurred
-
leveraged
funding = maximized ROI for participants and
contributors
-
extended
“interviewing” opportunity for both parties
-
familiarity
with lab culture and processes
-
targets diverse
population
-
two sites, one
lab/program
What
problems/issues were associated with the Best Practice:
1)
Ensuring equal responsibility
amongst committee members; 2)
Adequate administrative help
for facilitating activities across two sites;
3)
Access for Foreign Nationals;
4)
Incompatible videoconferencing
equipment between the two sites.
How the success
of the Best Practice was measured:
1)
number of post-docs
participating; 2)
number of hits on website; 3)
number of post-docs entering
full-time employment subsequent to their Sandia experience;
4)
number of centers hosting
post-docs supporting the program
Description of
process experience using Best Practice:
see “why” above
Sandia is a multiprogram laboratory operated by Sandia
Corporation,
a Lockheed Martin Company, for the United States Department
of Energy's National Nuclear Security Administration under
Contract
DE-AC04-94AL85000.
