Our mission as the OU Office of Postdoctoral Affairs (OPA) is to create and support a university-wide community and culture that enriches the postdoc experience at OU.
Established in Fall 2020 (PDF announcement), the OPA helps to support postdoc onboarding and professional development and provides community and support for postdoctoral researchers and their mentors. The OPA is housed within the Graduate College to take advantage of the synergies possible by leveraging the professional development, community, and support resources provided for graduate students, and it involves close lines of communication with the Provost’s Office and Office of the Vice President for Research and Partnerships. In late June 2024, the University announced (PDF announcement) the new Postdoctoral and Training and Development Policy, effective July 1, 2024. Additional policy-related guidance and onboarding information is available in the Associations and Guidance section below.
We are available to consult with faculty and postdocs on challenging situations and provide support to postdocs who are experiencing obstacles to their success. Please contact us if you need a consultation.
The OPA guidance for postdoc mentors and appointing units document povides guidance for expectations in mentoring, evaluation of postdoc researchers, use of postdoc researcher titles, and other topics.
More information on OPA guidance document may be found here.
OU is a sustaining member of the National Postdoc Association which qualifies graduate students and postdocs for free affiliate memberships.
To sign up for your free affiliate membership, please visit their registration site and select one of these options
Continue registration using your OU email address
It is the mission of the OU Postdoc Association (PDA) to address issues of the OU Norman postdoctoral community. By bringing postdocs together and providing useful resources, OU PDA hopes to create a welcoming environment that helps postdocs further their careers.
For more information contact Meghan Kempher.
NCFDD is an independent professional development, training, and mentoring community of faculty, postdocs, & graduate students from over 450 colleges and universities.
ACTIVATE YOUR MEMBERSHIP
This spring semester series helps graduate students with all aspects of transitioning to the non-academic job market. Examples are talking about where to look for jobs, translating and updating your CV and resume, putting together a cover letter, and more. GSL brings in a variety of speakers from different industries for roundtables with students who are curious about transitioning into publishing, entrepreneurship, government work and more.
This three-part workshop series is offered every semester. It goes over how to use the GrantForward database and putting together a strong grant application with peer reviews offered for those actively applying to grants.
This fall semester series goes over the academic job market process from application to campus interview. This month-long panel series has a mix of recently hired faculty and those that have served on hiring committees. Students can ask questions about putting together strong materials, how to stand out in interviews, and other burning questions.
This free, self-paced certificate program offers four micro-credentials that develop instructional competencies for future careers, both for academia and for industry. The microcredentials involve expert input from a variety of workshops along with peer coaching, resume support, and opportunities for facilitating learning and receiving feedback on instruction.
Each year, the OU Graduate College sponsors Graduate & Postdoc Research and Scholarly Activity Day, an event offering graduate students and postdocs from all disciplines the opportunity to exhibit their research through poster presentations. This competition provides OU graduate students and postdocs with a professional development opportunity to present research and engage with peers and mentors.
This year, the event will take place in the Buskuhl Gallery in Gibbs College of Architecture, Gould Hall, from 1 to 4 p.m. on Friday, March 1.
Prizes Awarded*
| First Place | Second Place | All Presenters |
|---|---|---|
| $1,500 | $1,000 | 1 Free T-Shirt |
Tayana Ghosh
Master of Science in Architecture
*Graduate students can choose to take their prize money as a scholarship to their bursar account or as research/scholarly activity support funds transferred to their academic unit. Postdocs will receive their prize money as research/scholarly activity support funds transferred to their administrative unit.
