IACS Professional Development Program (PDP)
All IACS students are expected to participate in the IACS Professional Development Program (PDP). Enrollment is required in order to be eligible for any IACS scholarship and/or awards. At the time of joining IACS (joining the research group of an Institute Core or Affiliate faculty member), each student will be required to register for PDP. Once registered, the student is also eligible to apply for IACS merit awards that offer financial benefit. Each IACS student will have the duration of their graduate tenure to complete the program. Attendance will be taken at each event to track progress.
If you have any questions, please contact:
Dr. Jennifer McCauley, Educational Programs Manager
IACS PDP Curriculum:
Based on student feedback, we strongly encourage first-year students to complete the Technical Skills portion as early as possible in their graduate studies as the topics will provide the foundation for successful computing.
Fall Semester - Technical Skills
Each student agrees to participate in a minimum of six (6) Technical Skill offerings from the following menu of sessions:
Linux Command Line (Asynchronous)
SeaWulf (Asynchronous)
Visualization (Lunch Seminar) - Prof. Heather Lynch
Collaborative Document Writing with LaTeX (Lunch Seminar) - Prof. Matt Reuter
Modern HPC (Asynchronous) - Prof. Robert J. Harrison
Reproducibility (Asynchronous) - Christian Che-Castaldo, PhD
Verification, Validation and Uncertainty Quantification (VV/UQ) (Asynchronous) - Prof. Alan Calder
Proposal and Paper Writing (Lunch Seminar) - Prof. Jackie Lee Weissman
Intro to Using AI (Lunch Seminar) - Prof. Robert J. Harrison
Spring Semester - Career Readiness
Each student agrees to participate in a minimum of six (6) Career Readiness offerings over the course of their graduate tenure from the following menu of sessions:
Self-Assessment/IDP(Asynchronous)
Resume/CV Writing (Asynchronous)
Developing a 1-Minute Elevator Pitch (Lunch Seminar)
Interviewing/Salary Negotiation (Lunch Seminar)
Imposter Phenomenon (Lunch Seminar)
How to Give a Great Talk (Lunch Seminar)
Mindfulness/Stress Management (Asynchronous)
Time Management (Asynchronous)
How to Maximize Your Attendance at a Professional Conference (Lunch Seminar)
FAQs:
How many sessions must I attend? (Students must attend a minimum of 6 sessions per content area (6 from career readiness; 6 from Technical).
I’ve already met the requirements; can I still attend more sessions? (If you’ve completed your required number of PDP sessions, and are interested in attending another session, please feel free to do so).
What is the goal of IACS PDP?
- IACS PDP was developed in Fall 2019 to provide students with necessary skills for career readiness and technical skills for successful introduction to computation in research.
- The shared IACS PDP experience is intended to build a sense of communal identity for IACS students.
Why have you changed the IACS PDP Program?
Student feedback inspired IACS to revamp the program structure and its offerings. IACS aimed to provide more flexibility to students - adding asynchronous sessions as well as individual timelines for taking specific sessions. Rather than taking all components within 2 sequential semesters, students may complete the program at their own pace, and in a timeframe that best suits their needs. Technical options are available early in the academic year to help newer students quickly get up to speed on resources and techniques.Students requested the PDP structure allow them to delay joining the Career Readiness component(s?) until they are closer to starting job searches.
I haven’t completed all of the required IACS PDP sessions yet. Can I still apply for an award such as the Junior Researcher Award? (Yes! As long as you are currently enrolled, and are actively attending sessions when possible, you are eligible to apply).
Fall 2024 Lunch Seminars
Upcoming
Intro to Using AI - Robert J. Harrison - Monday, October 21 @ 12pm (Seminar Room)
Collaborative Document Writing - Matt Reuter - Wednesday, November 20 @ 12pm (Seminar Room)
Proposal Writing - Jackie Weissman - Thursday, November 14 @ 12pm (Seminar Room)
Past
Visualization - Heather Lynch - Monday, September 16 @ 12pm (Seminar Room)
