The Postdoctoral Research Symposium — the first such event of its kind at Stony Brook University — was held at the Charles B. Wang Center on September 20 in honor of National Postdoc Appreciation Week. The Office of Postdoctoral Affairs (OPA) and Stony Brook’s postdoctoral scholars, who chose the theme, “Communicating Science to the Public,” organized the event.
“[The Postdocs] wanted this to be more of a networking opportunity,” said Lynn Allopenna, assistant dean in the Office of Postdoctoral Affairs. Among the 12 presentations featured were “Proteins? Yes, Please! (but Folded)” by Alberto Perez, a postdoctoral associate at the Laufer Center for Physical and Quantitative Biology, and “The Effects of Radiation on Human Skin” by Juliana Tafrova, an oral biology and pathology postdoctoral associate.
In addition to the 12 presenters, attendees included postdocs, graduate students and representatives from businesses, and featured keynote speaker Elizabeth Iorns, PhD, the 2011 Kauffman Foundation Emerging Entrepreneur Award Winner. Iorns is co-founder and chief executive officer of Science Exchange, an online marketplace for science experiments. The mission of Science Exchange is to improve the efficiency of scientific research by making it easy for researchers to access resources and experimental expertise at any research institution.
The Office of Postdoctoral Affairs was established in 2010 in response to the needs of the growing number of postdoctoral scholars who work at Stony Brook University. The mission of the OPA aligns with the National Postdoctoral Association’s mission: to advance the U.S. research enterprise by maximizing the effectiveness of the research community and enhancing the quality of the postdoctoral experience for all participants. A postdoctoral scholar is an individual holding a doctoral degree who is engaged in a temporary period of mentored research and/or scholarly training for the purpose of acquiring the professional skills needed to pursue a career path. For more information on the OPA, visit www.stonybrook.edu/postdocs.
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