Theme Description Examples
State of the Science
Individual postdocs give a brief talk and lead a discussion about the current state of their field, with the goal that it stimulates intelligent, thoughtful conversations outside our specialty.
“Carbon in inland waters” “Quantifying and measuring controls on the terrestrial carbon sink” “Urban plant communities”
Skill share
We identify areas in which we are interested in building skills and someone (within or outside the group) who can lead us in building those skills
Science communication with non-scientists How to implement meaningful justice, diversity, equity, and inclusion (JEDI) initiatives
Career navigation
We explore potential careers, their skill requirements, and what work-life balance would look like through formal and informal conversations and activities
Built a shared list of potential options based on members of our networks and passing on resources from our individual searches Identified our values and strengths Developed alternative 5 year plans (based on a template from (Burnett & Evans 2016)
Social bonding
We set aside a few minutes at the start of each weekly meeting and occasional whole lunches or ad hoc evening hours (virtual or in-person) to socialize
Sharing pictures and stories from our childhoods Craft nights Recounting a personal achievement from the week Game nights
Metacognition
Every few months, we revisit our goals, assess how well we are meeting them, and make a plan to adaptively manage our program accordingly.
Writing this paper Periodically revisiting schedule and balance of weekly activities