This past week I was fortunate enough to participate in the Building Future Faculty program at North Carolina State University. I applied for the program in the fall and am grateful to have been one of 34 post-docs and PhD students selected from what I understand was a highly competitive pool. According to the program site, the program “encourages applications from graduate students and post-doctoral scholars from groups that are underrepresented in their disciplines. The program aims to increase representation of diverse U.S. graduate students and post-doctoral scholars joining the professoriate.”
At the BFF program, I participated in workshops on:
+ building a research program beyond your PhD
+ avoiding common mistakes assistant professors make
+ incorporating active learning in the classroom
+ de-jargoning your writing for different audiences
+ creating appropriate poster pitches and elevator pitches
+ writing successful funding proposals
I also appreciated some really excellent discussions on negotiating department politics, becoming an engineering faculty member, post-doctoral positions, and creating your brand.
One of the best parts of BFF was being in a room full of wonderfully diverse academics and having serious conversations and discussions on diversity in academia and the professoriate.
I also got a chance to give a seminar in the Biological & Agricultural Engineering department, as well as take a tour of their facilities and meet with several faculty members. I received some great feedback on my research and CV, and enjoyed meeting with everyone and touring the department.
Overall, I learned a lot from the BFF program and really enjoyed meeting all the participants, faculty in BAE, and the wonderful staff from the Office of Institutional Equity and Diversity who put so much effort into making this program valuable and successful. A huge thank you to those folks and everyone at NC State!
Brace Lab 