All posts by alexander smith

Call for Nominations: 2017/2018 PDA Executive Officers

We are excited to announce the call for nominations for candidates to be part of the UBC Postdoctoral Association’s 2017/2018 Executive Team.

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This is a great opportunity to:

  1. Gain leadership experience
  2. Represent the postdoc community
  3. Organize professional development, research and networking events

The PDA Executive Team consists of 6 Volunteer Officers (i.e. President and 5 VPs) whose position will be voted on at our Annual General Meeting on Thursday, March 9th in the Life Sciences Institute (LSI) room 1510 (5 pm). For a detailed list of our open Officer Positions and a description of their role below.

We encourage all postdocs to attend the AGM on March 9th.
Light snacks and refreshments will be served!

Eligibility: All candidates must be UBC Postdoctoral Fellows.

Service on the Executive Committee: Candidates should be able to attend the majority of the Executive Committee meetings held bimonthly either on or off-campus, as well as the PDA events. Executive Committee member terms are 1-year, beginning 1 April 2016 and concluding 31 March 2017.

Self-Nomination: Download the UBC PDA nomination form here. Please fill out this form and return it to ubc.postdoc@gmail.com along with a recent photo and a short Letter of Interest (100-200 words) detailing your interest in serving on the PDA Executive and any relevant experience.

Nomination deadline: Thursday March 2nd, 2017.

Commitment: On average, the President attends 2 meetings a month (5-10 hours a month), while the VP attends 1-2 meetings a month (2-7 hours a month)

All Executive Officer positions are open for election, interested PDA members may also join the PDA executive as non-elected Committee Members at this (or any other) time. Click the position to read a brief description of the role:

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UBC PDA Annual General Meeting 2017 (March 9th)

Your vote counts! Join us as we elect the new PDA Executive Committee for the upcoming year, and vote on any amendments to the PDA Constitution on Thursday 9 March at 5:00 pm at the Life Sciences Institute (LSI), Room 1510. No RSVP required.

The event will commence with reports from the past PDA Executive Committee members followed by short introductions of the new nominees, after which you can place your vote. We will then vote on any proposed amendments to the PDA constitution, and will conclude the event with a light reception furnished with complimentary snacks and refreshments to welcome the new committee members.

Please contact us if you have any questions. You can add this event to your Google Calendar by clicking on the button below. Alternatively, you can subscribe to the entire calendar, with all our events, here!

The President’s report on the 2016 CAPS AGM and CAPA Conference

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Thanks to the UBC PDFO, I recently had the opportunity to attend the Canadian Association of Postdoctoral Scholars (CAPS) annual general meeting in Toronto on October 31st, and the Canadian Association of Postdoctoral Administrators (CAPA) Conference from November 1st – 2nd, to represent the UBC PDA.

The CAPS AGM (October 31st)
CAPS MeetingCAPS is the national association for postdoctoral scholars in Canada, and works to clarify the role of postdocs in Canada, advocate for equitable treatment of postdocs, and represent the interests of postdocs at Federal and Provincial levels. It does this by acting as a liaison between postdocs, institutions, funding agencies, professional organizations, and provincial and national governments. It is also active in advocating for postdocs and providing resources for professional development.

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CAPS-ACSP Executive Positions Available

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CAPS (the Canadian Association of Postdoctoral Scholars) is looking to fill some vacancies in their executive council, specifically the Vice-Chair Communications and the Vice-Chair Operations positions. Descriptions of these positions can be found in this document [PDF]. Any postdoc that is a) associated with a Canadian institution (regardless of citizenship), or b) a Canadian citizen (regardless of location) is eligible to apply.

If you wish to apply for either of these positions, or you would like additional information, please send an email to operations@caps-acsp.ca indicating:

  • Your name
  • Your email address
  • The institution where you work as a postdoc
  • The position you wish to run for
  • A short (< 250 words) candidate statement.

Thank you for your interest in the future of CAPS-ACSP!

PDA Research Day 2016

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We are excited to announce that we are holding our annual Research Day on Thursday November 24, 2016! This half-day mini conference is our flagship event every year. This is a great opportunity to showcase your research and network with individuals from diverse departments at UBC and industry.

Presentations (2:15 – 4PM LSC3 Theatre)
Posters and reception after the oral presentations (LSC Atrium)

If you are a UBC affiliated postdoc or research associate and would like to make a 10 minute oral presentation or a poster presentation, please submit your abstract here (oral presentation deadline: 1st November, poster presentation deadline: 18th November).

Attendance is free and open to all interested parties. Please RSVP here, by 23 November. Space is limited (last year we had a wait list), so please sign up early to avoid disappointment! Cash prizes to be won and drinks and refreshments will be served.

Medical / Grant Writer Position available at the BC Centre for Excellence in HIV/AIDS

BCHIV_Logo_Final-Horizontal-Web_0Do you enjoy writing? Have an eye for detail?

The BC Centre for Excellence in HIV/AIDS is looking to hire a Medical Writer / Grant Writer as part of their Addiction and Urban Health Research Initiative.

See the full job posting here [pdf].

If you are interested in this position, please contact the HR Coordinator at the BC Centre for Excellence in HIV/AIDS, at hr@cfenet.ubc.ca.

Additional job postings can be found on the Centre’s website: http://www.cfenet.ubc.ca/join-us/careers.

CAPS / ACSP Executive Election and Referendum

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CAPS (the Canadian Association of Postdoctoral Scholars) is currently holding elections for the 2016-17 executive council.  The following candidates have been nominated:

Chair:
Dr. Mohamad Nadim Adi
Dr. Joseph S. Sparling

Vice-Chair External:
Dr. Nafisa Jadavji

Vice-Chair Communications:
Dr. Mónica Sesma-Vázquez

Vice-Chair Finance:
Dr. Pengwei Wang

Candidate statements can be found here [PDF].

Any postdoc that is a) associated with a Canadian institution (regardless of citizenship), or b) a Canadian citizen (regardless of location) can vote.  There will be an electronic vote for the position of Chair, to be held in conjunction with a referendum on changes to the CAPS-ACSP constitution (information on the proposed constitutional changes can be found here [PDF]). As there are no other candidates Dr. Jadavji, Dr. Sesma-Vázquez and Dr. Wang will be acclaimed to their respective positions.

You can vote at the Google form here:

https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1PDu9Plbel4yOSDkzrtENRWbqpsBE6q0znstxjbHLHp0/viewform?c=0&w=1&usp=mail_form_link

Voting will end at 5PM Pacific time, on May 31, 2016.

Additionally, the positions of Vice-Chair Operations and Vice-Chair International will be reopened for nominations. Nominations for these two positions are now due by June 7, 2016. Descriptions of these positions can be found in this document [PDF].

If you wish to run for either of these positions, please respond by email to operations@caps-acsp.ca indicating:

  • Your name
  • Your email address
  • The institution where you work as a postdoc
  • The position you wish to run for
  • A short (< 250 words) candidate statement that will be distributed to voters.

Thank you for your interest in the future of CAPS-ACSP!

POSTDOC SOCIAL: Pub Quiz Tuesdays @ Mahony & Sons UBC

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Do you think you know it all? Is your head crammed with useless information that is waiting to be freed? Then this evening is for you! Join us for Pub Quiz nights every Tuesday at 7:30 pm at Mahony and Sons, UBC. It’s taco Tuesday and there are drink specials available. Please contact us if you have any questions.

You can add this event to your Google Calendar by clicking on the button below. Alternatively, you can subscribe to the entire calendar, with all our events, here!