Postdoc Research Day was bigger and better than ever! For the first time, there was a whole day of research presentations, professional development, and networking opportunities. Over 100 postdocs, students, faculty, and industry representatives came together to celebrate the amazing research being carried out by postdoctoral researchers across UBC’s Faculties and Institutions.

Also a first, this year’s event was held in larger facilities in the Pharmaceutical Sciences building, thanks to the generous support of the Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences. There were twelve 15 minute talks and plenty of posters presented by postdocs and research associates, as well as a keynote lecture from Dr. Lori Brotto, and a careers panel featuring former postdocs now working in various positions in industry and academia.

Check out the program and abstract book for the day.

Kieran, PDA President, opened the day with an introduction to the Postdoctoral Association before Susan Porter, Dean of the Faculty of Graduate & Postdoctoral Studies, spoke about the value of postdoctoral researchers at UBC. There were then two sessions of 15-minute research presentations from postdocs in areas ranging from anthropology to computer science. The morning finished with a  5-minute advocacy update about the PDA’s campaign to build awareness of #SupportTheReport – and what you can do to help out Canadian Science!

During lunch, the first poster session took place in the atrium, before Dr. Lori Brotto gave her keynote lecture. She outlined her impressive research program, and her path from postdoc to Director of UBC’s Sexual Health Laboratory. This was followed by four more research presentations from postdocs and the second poster session over coffee.

The careers panel concluded the day, featuring former postdocs who have taken various career paths in Vancouver. They shared their extremely valuable insights into translating the skills gained during postdoctoral work to jobs in and out of academia. The conversation continued late into the evening over pizza and sushi at the networking social held after the event.

All of the talks and poster presentations were judged by a team of faculty, postdocs, and industry representatives throughout the day. All of the presenters did a great job and both competitions were extremely close – you can see the list of winners below.

The UBC PDA Executive Team would like to congratulate all of the winners, thank all the participants for making this an excellent event, and thank all of the judges and the audience for supporting us. We hope everyone enjoyed themselves, and look forward to seeing you at future UBC PDA events!

Find more photos of the event here.

The winners:

Talks:

1^st Place ($150) – Paul Pickell (Forestry)
2^nd Place ($100) – Catherine Jutzeler (Kinesiology)
3^rd Place ($50) – Sophie Stukas (Pathology & Laboratory Medicine)
People’s Choice ($50) – Jordan Burke (Forestry)

Posters:

1^st Place ($75) – Rahul Sachdeva (ICORD)
2^nd Place ($50) – Mohammad Fazel Bakhsheshi (Mechanical Engineering)
3^rd Place ($25) – Ryan Melnyk (Microbiology & Immunology)

We are extremely grateful to our sponsors who made this event possible.
Association Sponsor:

Event Sponsors:

UBC Postdoc Research Day 2017 is a few days away! The program has now been finalised – check out all our great sessions below. We look forward to seeing you on the day!

REGISTERATION IS NOW CLOSED – Free event!
View the program as a PDF.

DATE: Monday 4th December
VENUE: London Drugs Lecture Theatre (1201) & Atrium, Pharmaceutical Sciences Building, Vancouver Campus, UBC

This event is possible due to the generosity of our sponsors.
Association Sponsor:

Event Sponsors:

Postdoc Research Day 2017 is coming up on Monday, 4th December.

This year, the day will end with a Panel Discussion on Postdoc Careers. We have invited 5 panelists who have all recently transitioned from being postdocs into a diverse array of careers.

The discussion will be a chance for you to hear about how they made this transition, how their postdoc experience has influenced their subsequent jobs, and tips for postdocs planning careers going forward.

Our five panelists will be:
Dr. Nirupa Goel, Research and Project Manager, BC Centre for Substance Use (previously a postdoc at UBC)
Dr. Leslie Grad, Manager, Research Programs (Design & Development) at Michael Smith Foundation for Health Research (previously a postdoc at UBC)
Dr. Chayne Piscitelli, Scientist, Protein Engineering at Zymeworks Inc. (previously a postdoc at the Paul Scherrer Institute & ETH Zürich)
Dr. Elizabeth Rideout, Assistant Professor at UBC (previously a postdoc at the University of Calgary)
Dr. Mark Romanish, Senior Business Development Officer at STEMCELL Technologies (previously a postdoc at the BC Cancer Research Centre)

We look forward to seeing you at Postdoc Research Day to join in the discussion and see the research presentations from postdocs across UBC! Check out the web page for all the details and online registration.