Professional Skill Development
Offices, departments, institutions, and programs across OHSU hold workshops, seminars, and events that can help postdoctoral scholars build skills such as career planning, grant writing, mentoring, and more. Find out what's available to you at OHSU.
Postdoctoral Resources
The mission of OHSU’s Office of Postdoctoral Affairs (OPA) is to support the development of all OHSU postdoctoral scholars from arrival to departure. In doing so, the office strengthens the research training for all postdoctoral scholars, ensures a consistent and superior postdoctoral experience, and prepares postdoctoral scholars for any professional endeavor they wish to pursue.
The OPA provides the following services and more:
The mission of the OHSU Postdoctoral Society is to enhance the academic, professional, and social experience for all postdoctoral scholars at OHSU. The Postdoctoral Society fosters a postdoctoral community through scientific collaboration, networking opportunities, and career and professional development seminars. The four fundamental aims are:
- Facilitate communication and collaboration among postdoctoral scholars and between postdoctoral scholars and faculty
- Promote the education and exposure of postdoctoral scholars to the multitude of Ph.D. career prospects
- Support the professional development of OHSU postdoctoral scholars
- Foster the development of a social environment conducive toward an optimal research training experience
All OHSU postdoctoral scholars are welcome to join the Postdoctoral Society as general members. All general members have voting privileges. All Postdoctoral Society general members are eligible to become a member of the Council.
The Council consists of:
- President
- Vice President
- Treasurer
- Secretary
- Social Officer
- Career Development Officer
- RIPSS Officer
- Communications Officer
The Postdoctoral Society can be contacted at postdocsociety@ohsu.edu
The Office of Postdoctoral Affairs and the Postdoctoral Society collaborate to subsidize postdoc attendance at scientific conferences through triannual travel awards. These awards increase the visibility of and engagement within the OHSU postdoctoral community, OHSU-wide community, and the larger national and international scientific community.
The Postdoctoral Society organizes social events the first Thursday of each month. These events provide a chance to interact, network, and exchange ideas with one another. They also offer important opportunities to collaborate across departments and to build a network of contacts outside of the lab. You can find more information about monthly social events in the monthly Postdoc Newsletter or reach out to the Postdoc Society at postdocsociety@ohsu.edu.
Find many helpful presentations and resources for postdoctoral scholars on Sakai. You can always reach out to the Office of Postdoctoral Affairs with ideas for additional training topics!
Research Resources
OHSU’s Funding Portal maintains databases of diverse funding opportunities from the federal government, private foundations, and corporate and industry organizations. This is a great starting place to explore a variety of funding opportunities that may be available to you as a Postdoctoral Scholar. It is updated every Thursday.
The Office of Proposal and Award Management (OPAM) supports the OHSU research community by providing pre-award and post-award administration of sponsored proposals and awards. OPAM provides the required institutional approval authority for all non-industry proposals and awards. This office can help you interpret federal regulations and award terms and conditions, understand compliance issues, and review proposals for completeness, accuracy, and conformance with sponsor guidelines.
The Oregon Clinical and Translational Research Institute (OCTRI) helps investigators, regional partners, and members of study teams remove barriers, apply best practices, and translate biomedical advances into preventions and treatments. OCTRI offers research support services such as study design consultation, data analysis, identification of study populations, qualitative research and program evaluation, regulatory consultations, and data management.
Research Administration Training and Education (RATE) works to bring relevant classes, workshops, and learning resources to the OHSU research community. In addition, the Research Administration Information Network (RAIN) provides opportunities to participate in monthly forums that deliver news about notable activity from research units across OHSU.
The OHSU Research Integrity Office (ORIO) is charged with protecting and assuring compliance under the laws that govern the rights and welfare of human and animal subjects, and the oversight of basic and applied scientific research at OHSU.
OHSU’s commitments for handling allegations or other indications of possible research misconduct are outlined by OHSU policy 04-15-005.
The OHSU Institutional Review Board (IRB) reviews research that involves human subjects. In addition to any institution or department required trainings that postdoctoral scholars must complete, federal regulations require the study staff of human research protocols to complete certain research training.
The Clinical Research Services Office (CRSO) helps to support efficient, compliant, and transparent clinical research. This office houses the Clinical Research Billing Office, Clinical Trials Contracting, Clinical Trials Management System, and ClinicalTrials.gov Reporting Compliance. If you engage in clinical research as a Postdoctoral Scholar, this can be a great resource.
Cores, or Scientific Service Centers, are Advanced Technology Centers dedicated to meeting scientists’ research needs. They help investigators reach their scientific goals through access to state-of-the-art technology and consultation with top-level scientific expertise. Cores serves both OHSU researchers and outside academic and commercial institutions.
OHSU offers a wide variety of research hubs available to postdoctoral scholars. These research hubs are scientific communities formed around broad scientific topics to enhance research success.
OHSU also offers many councils and committees available to postdoctoral scholars. Participation in councils and committees provides an opportunity to inform decisions at OHSU and gain important professional experience. For more information please contact the Office of Postdoctoral Affairs at opa@ohsu.edu.
Professional Resources
The Career and Workplace Enhancement Center (CWE) provides employees with professional development resources to succeed and advance by focusing on career development, interpersonal effectiveness, and performance results. The CWE offers many workshops, trainings, and online resources on a wide variety of professional development topics.
The Career and Workplace Enhancement Center can be contacted at: cwecenter@ohsu.edu (503) 418 - 0273
OHSU maintains an institutional membership with the National Center for Faculty Development and Diversity. This institutional membership allows you to create a free personal membership to take advantage of a multitude of resources.
The National Center for Faculty Development and Diversity provides a Core Curriculum that teaches key skills necessary to thrive in academic environments, a variety of expert webinars, 14 day writing challenges, and a Monday Motivator.
A blanket license for LinkedIn Learning is available to all OHSU employees and offers a wide range of training and professional development topics. These trainings are fully online, free, and can be completed at your leisure. Topics of particular interest to Postdoctoral Scholars include career development, interviewing skills, and resume recommendations.
Additional Resources
The O2 is OHSU’s intranet that includes many resources for employees. If you have a question about something at OHSU, you can often find the answer by accessing the O2. Your OHSU username and password allow you to log-in to this intranet.
OHSU Now is the university’s communication platform that unifies all communication in a central location. You can customize the news you receive through OHSU Now and access it in multiple ways. You can download the mobile app, navigate the website, and receive emails. This is the best and most convenient way to stay up to date on important OHSU news including events, funding opportunities, and professional development opportunities.
The OHSU Library, the largest health sciences library in Oregon, serves the faculty, staff, and students at OHSU, as well as health professionals and residents of the State of Oregon. Access to content is via online catalog and indexes or via print indexes on site. Materials needed outside of the library’s collection can usually be obtained through an interlibrary loan. In addition to volumes and journals, the library website provides access to numerous databases and web resources, outlines available library programs and services, and has a schedule of classes offered.
On site the library provides study areas, group study rooms, computers, and printers.
Located in the OHSU Library, Computing Services fulfills a variety of needs for postdoctoral scholars including remote access, printing and copying, wireless networks, computer workstations, and scanning services.
Commonly requested software packages with technical support links are also available through the OHSU library.
The Aerial Tram and Portland Streetcar are free to postdoctoral scholars who display an active OHSU employee identification badge. Annual Tri-Met and C-TRAN passes are also available to postdoctoral scholars at a significant discount over retail passes. For more information, visit the Transportation and Parking’s Transit Program page on O2.
OHSU campuses are pay to park during day time hours for anyone not arriving for a personal appointment. For more information (including alternatives to driving), see the Transportation and Parking page on O2.
Bike Incentive Program
OHSU postdoctoral scholars can earn cash reimbursement for biking. To qualify, you must have network access and bike at least 2 miles inbound trip to any OHSU location.
Using public transportation, including the Tram, does not affect eligibility as long as at least 2 miles are biked. For more information, visit the MyCommute Bike page on O2.
Public Safety works to provide a safe and secure environment for students, faculty, staff, and campus visitors. They enhance safety through the visibility of preventive patrols, positive conflict resolution, and crime prevention programs. Criminal activity is investigated by OHSU Police Officers available to respond to crime scenes 24-hours a day, 7 days a week. In case of an emergency, Public Safety can be reached at 503-494-4444.
Public Safety provides motorist assistance (503-494-7744) and a lost and found (503-494-7744). They also offer information about emergency preparedness and inclement weather.
Please sign up for OHSU Alerts. This allows OHSU to notify you in the event of an emergency by sending a broadcast via text message. Messages include the location of the event and any action or direction to take. OHSU highly recommends signing up for alerts right away.
OHSU has a robust Environmental Health and Safety Program (EHS) that takes workplace safety seriously. EHS offers information and support related to environmental protection, healthcare safety, research safety, and workplace safety.
Join OHSU language teachers for English conversation practice and culture topics. New themes each session. All OHSU employees, students, and faculty welcome.
When: Weekly every Wednesday from 8:30 to 10 p.m.