Volunteer

Thank you for your interest in volunteering with the BPDA!  Please enter your contact information below.  We will follow up with you shortly.

Please complete the form below

 
 

Volunteering with the BPDA provides an excellent opportunity to give back to your community, build skills and network!

The BPDA is composed of several committees:

  • The Advocacy Committee, which focuses on addressing the needs of postdocs in the workplace and beyond

  • The Career Development Committee, which addresses postdoctoral scholar’s professional development needs through networking events, workshops and courses

  • The Social Committee, which focuses on providing opportunities to have fun outside the lab including ice skating, trivia nights and our annual Halloween Bash

  • The Public Affairs Committee, which handles communication and marketing with internal and external partners of the BPDA

Join the BPDA Advocacy Committee and improve the Boston postdoc experience!

Are you eager to improve postdocs life and work experience, and develop professional skills outside the lab?

We are looking for motivated postdocs who aren’t afraid to fight for their colleagues to help us with the following:

  • Writing and communicating resources on 'How to choose your postdoc lab'

  • Writing and communicating a 'Postdoc Salary Recommendation'

  • Analyzing survey data from postdocs across Boston

  • Advocating for adequate postdoc salaries and benefits.

You will:

  • Develop and hone your soft skills

  • Collaborate with postdocs from all major institutes in Boston/Cambridge

Expect a time commitment of 1-2 hours a month.

It's the mission of the BPDA Advocacy Committee to facilitate collaboration amongst Postdoctoral Associations (PDAs) and Postdoctoral Affairs Offices. We aim to create and support constructive dialogues towards an improved postdoctoral experience in Boston. Our main goal is to enrich the advocacy efforts of individual PDAs through sharing resources and collaboration, often on the topics of salary, benefits parity, healthcare, or housing.  Contact: advocacy@bostonpostdoc.org

Join the BPDA Career Development Committee and develop your professional skills for careers within academia and beyond!

Would you like to be a force in Boston to shape professional development options for postdocs?  Do you have an idea for a course, workshop, panel or other career development-oriented event but need some help getting started?  Would you like to improve your soft skills or build your network?  Join us!

We are looking for volunteers for the following upcoming events and roles:

  • Development (sponsorship) and logistics coordinators

  • Event leads for our bi-monthly networking nights and career panels

  • Engineers and physical scientists are particularly welcome!

You will:

  • Expand your network by interacting with industry professionals from across Boston

  • Learn to work in and manage cross-functional teams

  • Develop and hone your soft skills

  • Build your professional and technical skills through customized training opportunities

Expect a time commitment of 2-4 hours a month.

It's the mission of the BPDA Career Development Committee to provide training opportunities that provide relevant, transferable skills to members of the postdoctoral community through courses, networking opportunities, panels, workshops and more. Contact: careers@bostonpostdoc.org

Join the BPDA Social Committee if you want to foster the postdoctoral community and have fun while doing it!

The BPDA Social Committee aims to bring together the Boston postdoc community by facilitating opportunities where postdocs can meet informally.  This helps postdocs increase their network both personally and professionally and facilitates networking and scientific collaborations between different research institutions.  But the most important aspect is to provide a wide range of events for all postdocs to come together and HAVE FUN!

We are looking for volunteers for the following events and roles:

  • Social committee co-chair (responsibilities include scheduling and running organizational meetings, updating the bostonpostdocs.org website with event photos and announcements, publicizing events to postdocs)

  • Event leads for our regular postdoc meetups and other events

Why join us?

  • You want to socialize with (very cool) people

  • You missed your calling as an event planner

  • You want to help foster the postdoc community and have fun doing it!

  • You like to wear a costume...

  • Meetings are causal and and take place a restaurants/bar over food and drinks!

Expect a time commitment of 1-2 hours a month.

Contact: social@bostonpostdoc.org

Join the BPDA Public Affairs Committee to develop experience in communications and marketing.

The BPDA Public Affairs Committee provides information about essential issues affecting postdocs across the Boston research hub via monthly newsletters, social media and interaction with collaborators and external partners. Externally, we aim to educate key opinion leaders as to the role postdoctoral fellows play in the regional and international research community.

We are looking for volunteers for the following events and roles:

  • Public Affairs Committee co-chair (responsibilities include managing our social media and  bostonpostdocs.org website, publicizing events to postdocs via our newsletter)

  • Social media lead (share content, events and photos on our social media channels)

You will:

  • Expand your network by interacting with industry professionals from across Boston

  • Learn to work in and manage cross-functional teams

  • Develop and hone your soft skills

  • Build your communication and marketing skills and develop experience in alliance management

Expect a time commitment of 1-4 hours a month.

Contact: BPDApubaffairs@gmail.com