Srivastava Professional Development Workshops

In partnership with the Vivien M. Srivastava Memorial Endowment Fund, UBC Science sponsors workshops hosted by women graduate students and/or women post-doctoral fellows for their peers across UBC Science. UBC Science is committed to nurturing a welcoming environment for all women, and both transgender and cisgender women are encouraged to participate in these initiatives.

Career Planning

Proposed workshop or workshop series should explore career-planning issues faced by women Science graduate students and/or women post-doctoral fellows. It should facilitate discussions of a range of questions regarding professional and personal life goals and decisions in preparation of the next steps for a successful research career. Invited speaker(s) will typically include mentors from within academia, the public sector or the private sector.

A single event – or a series of (2-4) mini-workshops held over the course of one term – for your peers may be tailored to certain fields (e.g., physical, mathematical or life sciences), or appeal more broadly (across STEM). Sample topics include but are not limited to:

• Overcoming structural and individual biases and barriers
• Leadership strategies
• How to align career goals and personal life choices
• Transitioning after the PhD
• Professional networking and building a relationship with potential reference-letter writers

While hosts can invite peers and colleagues of all genders across UBC Science, priority must be given to women Science graduate students’ and post-doctoral fellows’ participation.

Eligibility

Graduate students enrolled in a UBC Science graduate program or supervised by a tenure-stream faculty with a primary appointment within the Faculty of Science (UBCV) and post-doctoral fellows appointed within the Faculty of Science (UBCV) can apply for workshops hosted on UBCV campus or hosted online. Proposal submission by a group of at least two organizers is required including at least one woman graduate student or woman post-doctoral fellow in Science.

Funding

• VMS maximum funding: $1,500 per single-event Career Planning proposal or per workshop in a series proposal for eligible expenses. Co-sponsoring opportunities are welcome.
• Eligible expenses for on-campus or online events:
  • Technical support (if not freely available through UBC),
  • Token of appreciation (non-cash gift below $100 in value per speaker) or an honorarium for academic speakers (typically up to $350). A fee for a professional facilitator may be partially eligible.
• Eligible expenses for on-campus events:
  • Light lunch or snacks/refreshments at the workshop.

Research Mentor

The VMS fund partners with UBC Science units to support the costs associated with the invitation of women scientists to give a research talk hosted by the unit’s seminar series, and a career-mentoring workshop hosted by graduate students and/or post-doctoral fellows for their peers in UBC Science.

Proposed workshop will facilitate career-mentoring and networking discussions, with the invited speaker exploring with her audience how to recognize and overcome potential implicit or explicit career barriers. Sample topics include but are not limited to:

• Addressing structural and individual biases
• How to align career goals and personal life choices
• Transitioning after the PhD
• Professional networking
• Building relationships with potential reference-letter writers
• Imposter syndrome
• Success in science through resilience and tenacity
• Or other, field-specific mentoring topics

A successful application will require collaboration between the unit’s seminar organizers (faculty) and workshop organizers (post-doctoral fellows/graduate students) to identify guest speakers willing to facilitate a workshop (in addition to their research presentation). A successful application will include details of organizing the workshop (duration: min. 1.5 hours, max. 4 hours).

While hosts can invite peers and colleagues of all genders across UBC Science, attendee priority must be given to women graduate students and women post-doctoral fellows.

Eligibility

Graduate students (enrolled in a UBC Science graduate program or supervised by a tenure-stream faculty with a primary appointment within the Faculty of Science, UBCV) and post-doctoral fellows (appointed within the Faculty of Science, UBCV) in collaboration with a Science unit’s seminar host (or seminar committee) can apply for workshops hosted on UBCV campus or online. Proposal submission by a group of at least two organizers is required.

Funding

• VMS maximum funding: $1,500 per Research Mentor proposal for eligible expenses.
• Eligible expenses for on-campus or online events:
  • Technical support (if not available/free through UBC),
  • Token of appreciation (non-cash gift below $100 in value per speaker) or an honorarium for the invited academic speaker (typically up to $350).
• Eligible expenses for an on-campus event:
  • Light lunch or snacks/refreshments at the workshop,
  • Up to half of the speaker’s travel expenses (the department pays the remainder of the travel expenses).
• The fund will co-sponsor one research-mentor workshop per UBC Science doctoral-degree program each academic year.

Skills Development

A proposed full-day workshop designed to offer training to women graduate students and women post-doctoral fellows in an area deemed assets for a successful research career. Examples include but are not limited to: Data and software-programming; best practices in real-time PCR for data collection and analysis; figure assembly and acceptable manipulation of scientific images. The workshop can be tailored to certain fields (e.g., physical, mathematical or life sciences) or more broadly, with relevance to peers across science. Workshop facilitators/trainers may include the applicants, other women post-doctoral fellows and women graduate students in UBC Science, mentors from within and outside academia, and professional trainers.

Not everyone has experienced a diverse and equally encouraging learning environment to gain the technology knowledge and skills needed for pursuing their career goals. With this opportunity, we are building on the success of previous events for women in science, providing for a safe and open learning and networking environment.

Eligibility

Women and women-identifying graduate students enrolled in a UBC Science graduate program or supervised by a tenure-stream faculty with a primary appointment within the Faculty of Science (UBCV), and women and women-identifying post-doctoral fellows appointed within the Faculty of Science (UBCV) can apply--for workshops hosted on UBCV campus, or hosted online. Proposal submission by a group of at least 2 organizers is required, 3 or more facilitators strongly recommended.

Funding

• VMS maximum funding: $2,000 per Skills Development proposal for eligible expenses. Co-sponsoring opportunities are welcome.
• Eligible expenses for on-campus or online events:
  • Technical support (if not available/free through UBC)
  • Token of appreciation (non-cash gift below $100 in value per speaker) or an honorarium for academic trainers (typically up to $350). A fee for a professional trainer may be partially eligible. However, priority will be given to trainers who are women post-doctoral fellows or women graduate students in UBC Science.
• Eligible expenses for an on-campus event:
  • Light lunch and snacks/refreshments at the full-day workshop
• Trainers who are women post-doctoral fellows or women graduate students in UBC Science are eligible to apply for additional funding to attend a train-the-trainer event in preparation of their proposed full-day workshop (see application form for details).

This women in science initiative is sponsored by the Vivien M. Srivastava Memorial Endowment Fund. Dr. Srivastava was the first woman to receive a PhD in Zoology at the University of British Columbia. Programs honouring her legacy provide career planning, mentoring and childcare support for women graduate students and postdoctoral students across UBC Science.