1 Postdoctoral fellows at primarily undergraduate institutions: The mentor’s perspective Julio de Paula Department of Chemistry Haverford College
Dec 18, 2015
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Postdoctoral fellows at primarily undergraduate institutions: The
mentor’s perspective
Julio de PaulaDepartment of Chemistry
Haverford College
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Outline
The view of the faculty mentor The view of the postdoctoral fellow Postdoctoral fellows at Haverford College Haverford’s Nanoscience Program Emerging models
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The view of the faculty mentor
Challenges: staying current and
competitive, doing
interdisciplinary science,
maintaining complex instrumentation,
lack of continuity, daily interaction with
non-peers, time.
Rewards: infusion of new
knowledge, moving into
emerging areas, additional technical
expertise, enhanced continuity, daily interaction with
a peer, more time for
research.
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The view of the postdoctoral fellow
Benefits: exposure to
scholarly life at a PUI,
teaching experience, interaction with
undergraduates.
Disadvantages: less vibrant research
environment, fewer publications, impact on job
placement.
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Postdoctoral fellows at Haverford
Teaching postdoctoral fellows in Astronomy, Biology, Chemistry, and Physics.
Placement: Union College Calvin College Marshall University
Involvement in interdisciplinary science: Study of supramolecular light-harvesting
complexes (with Swarthmore and Goucher Colleges)
Haverford’s Nanoscience Program
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Haverford’s Nanoscience Program
Interdisciplinary team: Karin Åkerfeldt and Julio de Paula (Chemistry) Robert Fairman and Karl Johnson (Biology) Suzanne Amador-Kane and Walter Smith (Physics) Robert Manning (Mathematics) Postdoctoral fellows: Alexander Schwab and Bala Tanjore
Funding: David and Lucile Packard Foundation Focus areas:
molecular photonics artificial photosynthesis protein-based biomaterials biosensors
Web site: http://www.haverford.edu/biology/Nanoscience_Program/nanoscience.htm
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Haverford’s Nanoscience Program
Alexander Schwab
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Haverford’s Nanoscience Program
-1.0 -0.5 0.0 0.5 1.0
0.00E+000
2.00E-012
4.00E-012
6.00E-012
8.00E-012
1.00E-011
1.20E-011
Current
Volts
Potential / V
Curr
ent
/ pA
-1.0 -0.5 0.0 0.5 1.0
0.0
2.0
4.0
8.0
10.0
12.0
6.0
Alexander Schwab and Deirdre Smith
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Emerging models
Impact on productivity of faculty at PUIs Impact on teaching at colleges and
universities The DeGrado/de Paula Proposal:
Capitalize on growing interest in careers at PUIs
Tap into talent and resources at prestigious research institutions
Offer teaching opportunities at PUIs Enhance research and curricular
partnerships between Ph.D.-granting and primarily undergraduate institutions