Build Your Community
Here are some great ways to start...
UCSF’s Postdoc Leadership Fellows build, lead, and facilitate resource-sharing and community-building among new postdocs, with a particular emphasis on the cultivation of a diverse, equitable, and inclusive postdoctoral community at UCSF. As part of their role, Postdoc Leadership Fellows undergo training in inclusive leadership, project management, and communication.
The PSA at UCSF is at the very heart of the UCSF postdoc community. The group organizes social and professional networking opportunities and fosters meaningful dialogue around postdoc issues throughout the year. Be sure to consult the list of postdoc interest groups (PDIGs) the PSA has created with postdoc needs and concerns in mind.
Do you want to be part of creating a community where every individual feels valued and supported? Please contact us and get involved, or check out these active groups.
- The Postdoctoral Scholars Association oversees an array of postdoc interest groups, so please check to see if there is one for you! Don't see one? Start your own!
- Office of Diversity and Outreach focuses and amplifies diversity efforts throughout UCSF. Your first stop might be to check out their searchable Diversity Hub.
- SACNAS — The UCSF chapter of the national Society for the Advancement of Chicanos and Native Americans in Science.
- Scientists for Diversity (S4D) – Fosters a supportive community for the professional development of traditionally underrepresented individuals in scientific research.
Over half of UCSF's postdocs are from outside the United States, so if you find the country's health care system or lack of bidets perplexing, you're not alone. In addition to helping international learners handle the necessary paperwork to study and work in the U.S., the International Students and Scholars Office also organizes city hikes, game nights and other activities.
Check out the Women in Life Sciences (WiLS), which provides a community for networking, career building, and mentoring for women through events and meetings at UCSF. The PSA also hosts a women's postdoc peer-mentoring group that welcomes membership throughout the year.
Hosted in partnership with the IRCADA Program, Postdoc Community Pop-Ups are community lunches, where our diverse postdocs build community, share experience, and network, over lunch. These pop-ups are offered on a quarterly basis, and all current UCSF postdocs are encouraged to attend.
Taking care of dependents while juggling your postdoc? Get an extra hand with resources and programs available on the UCSF MyFamily portal.
The UCSF IRACDA Scholars Program, funded by NIH/NIGMS, presents both a funding opportunity, and a chance to be a part of a cross-disciplinary and mutually supportive group of UCSF postdocs.