PostDoc Events and Updates


Your first step on the professional journey


PostDoctoral Fellowships and Traineeships offer an important aspect of post graduate degree training. Postdoc positions often serve an important step in a career trajectory, such as toward becoming a professor or a research leader in industry or government.

The Graduate School has oversight of UConn policies and practices for postdoctoral associates on the Storrs and regional campuses. As such, services offered within the Graduate School are available to all postdoctoral fellows and trainees. Individuals interested in work at UCHC should connect with their Office of Postdoctoral Affairs.


UConn's PostDoc Seed Awards 2022


The Graduate School is pleased to announce this year's Seed Award winners, who have each been funded with $2000 towards their new research project.

Raquel Fleskes – Anthropology

This pilot research project seeks to develop a new method to extract ancient DNA from clay tobacco pipestems from colonial archaeological sites in Connecticut. Pipestems are common artifacts in colonial period archaeological sites, and preserve the DNA of people who smoked from them. This project will use eight pipestems, with each divided into equal thirds, to test three different DNA extraction methods at UConn’s Ancient DNA Laboratory. The concentration and complexity (number of different DNA sequences) will be assessed to determine the most effective method of DNA extraction. This project provides a new method in DNA extraction from archaeological artifacts.

Jessie Turner – Marine Sciences

What color is the ocean? Using satellites to measure the color of the ocean tells us about the productivity of phytoplankton, the base of the entire ocean food chain. To use data from satellites, we need extensive ground-truth measurements of ocean color at Earth’s surface. However, the sensors used to ground-truth ocean color satellites are expensive and difficult to build. I plan to build a set of do-it-yourself sensors to measure ocean color at low cost. I will also create instructional materials for adaptation into a course for students interested in building sensors for their research.

Deborah Good – Physics

I am an expert in timing millisecond pulsars – modeling the dynamics of rapidly-spinning, small, dense leftovers from supernova explosions – to detect gravitational waves from supermassive black holes. When timing pulsars, we model and remove the effects of the interstellar medium (ISM), especially ionized gas between the pulsar and the observer. Though “trash” in the search for gravitational waves, these gas models can be “treasure” for ISM scientists. I propose to lead a task force to improve our models and bring together pulsar timers, ISM scientists, and experts in mathematical modeling, maximizing our scientific output for ISM science and pulsar timing.

Kristel Schoonderwoerd – Ecology & Evolutionary Biology

A single tree can bear leaves with widely varying shapes and functions. Smaller and thicker leaves that photosynthesize rapidly occur in parts of the crown that receive ample sunlight. On shaded branches, larger, thinner leaves are borne that photosynthesize comparatively slowly. Little is known about when during development these genetically identical leaf types diverge. This project seeks to understand how leaf development of sun and shade leaves aligns with seasonal changes in light availability within deciduous canopies, from leaf loss in the fall through new leaf expansion in spring.

 

 

 

As you may know our institution is a Sustaining Member of the National Postdoctoral Association (NPA), and one of the greatest benefits is you can become an Affiliate Member of the NPA for free! We encourage everyone to take advantage of this opportunity to help you network with other postdocs across the country and gain access to members only resources that can help further your career.

Signing up is simple. Click HERE and follow the registration process. Once you click “Submit” the NPA Membership Manager will review your Affiliate membership within five working days, and you will receive an email when it has been approved.

As an NPA Affiliate Member, you are entitled to these benefits:

  • Subscription to NPA e-alerts, a periodic news announcement, and The POSTDOCket, the NPA’s official monthly newsletter
  • Reduced registration fees to the NPA Annual Conference and eligibility for the NPA travel award program
  • Access to members-only NPA web content, such as career planning resources and policy information
  • Access to NPA member groups to connect & network with fellow NPA members
  • Discounts to some services and products
  • Opportunities to serve and contributeyour expertise on a variety of NPA committees
  • National representation on postdoctoral issues