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Center for Career Engagement: Career and Professional Development Series for PhDs and Postdocs

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Center for Career Engagement: Career and Professional Development Series for PhDs and Postdocs

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Support WashU PhD and postdoctoral career development while gaining hands-on experience in communications, event planning, graphic design, and project management.

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PhD & Postdoctoral Scholars – Center for Career Engagement 

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PhD & Postdoctoral Scholars – Center for Career Engagement 

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The Center for Career Engagement is an integrated hub, collaborating across WashU, providing:

Career coaching and planning

Career assessment and skills training

Join industry-aligned Career Communities to grow your career competencies.

Access to a global community of leaders, recruiters, influencer networks, and WashU alumni

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Center for Career Engagement | Washington University in St. Louis

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PhD & Postdoctoral Scholars – Center for Career Engagement | Washington University in St. Louis

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This career community supports all PhD students and postdoctoral scholars, regardless of their academic programs, career interests, or years of study. WashU faculty, staff, and alumni who are passionate about supporting our scholars are also invited to join this career community.

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PhD and Postdoc Transition Program - Gilliam

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PhD and Postdoc Transition Program - Gilliam

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Starting with the 2026 competition — launching September 1 — the Gilliam Fellows Program will be open to second- and third-year PhD students in the biological and biomedical sciences at any eligible HHMI institution across the US. Additionally, international PhD students and students in health-sciences dual degree PhD programs such as the MD-PhD will now be eligible to apply.

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Preparing science leaders through paired awards to graduate students and their thesis advisors who, together, are committed to advancing equity and inclusion in science. Fellowship provides up to three years of funding, professional development, and community.

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WashU CNX (pronounced “WashU connects”) is Washington University’s official online community for networking and mentorship.

Our alumni love to meet and network with each other across the globe, and this centralized digital platform makes it easy to find WashU connections. Whether you’re looking for career resources and advice or you’re interested in serving as a mentor for students interested in your field, you can do that and more when you register with WashU CNX.

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Helping you succeed during and after college through connections and community.

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The Graduate Center (lower level of the Women’s Building) will host writers on Friday mornings, 9 am-noon, throughout the academic year. Space is limited. Coffee and tea are provided to fuel your writing!

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SDS 5005 Essentials of Probability Models and Statistical Inference

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SDS 5005 Essentials of Probability Models and Statistical Inference

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This is a new course that SDS decides to offer as a one-semester course for the graduate students interested in statistics and data science.

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Emerging Investigators - call for volunteers!

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Emerging Investigators - call for volunteers!

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At Emerging Investigators, we believe in a world where every student has a voice in science. We help middle and high school students from around the world find and amplify their voice through scientific research, publishing, and communication - and we would love for you to join us!

Since 2012 The Journal of Emerging Investigators has published over 1,300 experimental scientific research articles written by middle and high school students and peer reviewed by our volunteer scientists. In 2025, we also launched eiRxiv, a science preprint for students. And because our submissions are growing exponentially, we need more volunteers to continue providing these amazing experiences to our young authors!

When you volunteer with JEI and eiRxiv, you inspire and mentor the next generation of scientists as they develop their writing skills and share their research. At the same time, you can hone your reviewing and writing skills and gain behind-the-scenes experience with the editorial process used by professional scientific journals.

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Associate Dean Steve Mennerick selected the following articles.

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Career Agility Is Not Optional for Ph.D.s (opinion)

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Career Agility Is Not Optional for Ph.D.s (opinion)

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Inside Higher Ed | Higher Education News, Events and Jobs

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Career Agility Is Not Optional for Ph.D.s (opinion)

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Career agility is no longer optional for Ph.D.s. Here’s how to build it.

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How to assess your odds of finding a faculty job and figure out when to pivot to another career.

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Why Grad Students Can’t Afford to Ignore AI 

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Why Grad Students Can’t Afford to Ignore AI 

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Inside Higher Ed | Higher Education News, Events and Jobs

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I recently found myself staring at my computer screen, overwhelmed by the sheer pace of AI developments flooding my inbox. Contending with the flow of new tools, updated models and breakthrough announcements felt like trying to drink from a fire hose. As someone who coaches graduate students navigating their academic and professional journeys, I realized I was experiencing the same anxiety many of my students express: How do we keep up with something that's evolving faster than we can learn?

But here's what I've come to understand through my own experimentation and reflection: The question isn't whether we can keep up, but whether we can afford not to engage. As graduate students, you're training to become the critical thinkers, researchers and leaders our world desperately needs. If you step back from advances in AI, you're not just missing professional opportunities; you're abdicating your responsibility to help shape how these powerful tools impact society.

The Stakes Are Higher Than You Think

The rapid advancement of artificial intelligence isn't just a tech trend but a fundamental shift that will reshape every field, from humanities research to scientific discovery. As graduate students, you have a unique opportunity and responsibility. You're positioned at the intersection of deep subject matter expertise and flexible thinking. You can approach AI tools with both the technical sophistication to use them effectively and the critical perspective to identify their limitations and potential harms.

When I reflect on my own journey with AI tools, I'm reminded of my early days learning to navigate complex organizational systems. Just as I had to develop strategic thinking skills to thrive in bureaucratic environments, we now need to develop AI literacy to thrive in an AI-augmented world. The difference is the timeline: We don't have years to adapt gradually. We have months, maybe weeks, before these tools become so embedded in professional workflows that not knowing how to use them thoughtfully becomes a significant disadvantage.

My Personal AI Tool Kit: Tools Worth Exploring

Rather than feeling paralyzed by the abundance of options, I've taken a systematic approach to exploring AI tools. I chose the tools in my current tool kit not because they're perfect, but because they represent different ways AI can enhance rather than replace human thinking.

Large Language Models: Beyond ChatGPT

Yes, ChatGPT was the breakthrough that captured everyone's attention, but limiting yourself to one LLM is like using only one search engine. I regularly experiment with Claude for its nuanced reasoning capabilities, Gemini for its integration with Google's ecosystem and DeepSeek for being an open-source model. Each has distinct strengths, and understanding these differences helps me choose the right tool for specific tasks.

The key insight I've gained is that these aren't just fancy search engines or writing assistants. They're thinking partners that can help you explore ideas, challenge assumptions and approach problems from multiple angles, if you know how to prompt them effectively.

Executive Function Support: Goblin Tools

One discovery that surprised me was Goblin Tools, an AI-powered suite of tools designed to support executive function. As someone who juggles multiple projects and deadlines and is navigating an invisible disability, I've found the task breakdown and time estimation features invaluable. For graduate students managing research, coursework and teaching responsibilities, tools like this can provide scaffolding for the cognitive load that often overwhelms even the most organized among us.

Research Acceleration: Elicit and Consensus

Perhaps the most transformative tools in my workflow are Elicit and Consensus. These platforms don't just help you find research papers, but also help you understand research landscapes, identify gaps in literature and synthesize findings across multiple studies.

What excites me most about these tools is how they augment rather than replace critical thinking. They can surface connections you might miss and highlight contradictions in the literature, but you still need the domain expertise to evaluate the quality of sources and the analytical skills to synthesize findings meaningfully.

Another tool that has become indispensable in my research workflow is Perplexity. What sets Perplexity apart is its ability to provide real-time, cited responses by searching the internet and academic sources simultaneously. I've found this particularly valuable for staying current with rapidly evolving research areas and for fact-checking information. When I'm exploring a new topic or need to verify recent developments in a field, Perplexity serves as an intelligent research assistant that not only finds relevant information but also helps me understand how different sources relate to each other. The key is using it as a starting point for deeper investigation, not as the final word on any topic.

Visual Communication: Beautiful.ai, Gamma and Napkin

Presentation and visual communication tools represent another frontier where AI is making significant impact. Beautiful.ai and Gamma can transform rough ideas into polished presentations, while Napkin excels at creating diagrams and visual representations of complex concepts.

I've found these tools particularly valuable not just for final presentations, but for thinking through ideas visually during the research process. Sometimes seeing your argument laid out in a diagram reveals logical gaps that weren't apparent in text form.

With so much happening so quickly, staying informed without becoming overwhelmed is crucial. I subscribe to the Pivot 5 newsletter, which provides curated insights into AI developments without the breathless hype that characterizes much AI coverage. Finding reliable, thoughtful sources for AI news is as important as learning to use the tools themselves.

Beyond the Chat Bots: Developing Critical AI Literacy

Here's where I want to challenge you to think more deeply. Most discussions about AI in academia focus on policies about chat bot use in assignments-important, but insufficient. The real opportunity lies in developing what I call critical AI literacy: understanding not just how to use these tools, but when to use them, how to evaluate their outputs and how to maintain your own analytical capabilities.

This means approaching AI tools with the same rigor you'd apply to any research methodology. What are the assumptions built into these systems? What biases might they perpetuate? How do you verify AI-generated insights? These aren't just philosophical questions; they're practical skills that will differentiate thoughtful AI users from passive consumers.

A Strategic Approach to AI Engagement

Drawing from the strategic thinking framework I've advocated for in the past, here's how I suggest you approach AI engagement:

Start with purpose: Before adopting any AI tool, clearly identify what problem you're trying to solve. Are you looking to accelerate research, improve writing, manage complex projects or enhance presentations? Different tools serve different purposes.

Experiment systematically: Don't try to learn everything at once. Choose one or two tools that align with your immediate needs and spend time understanding their capabilities and limitations before moving on to others.

Maintain critical distance: Use these tools as thinking partners, not thinking replacements. Always maintain the ability to evaluate and verify AI outputs against your own expertise and judgment.

Share and learn: Engage with peers about your experiences. What works? What doesn't? What ethical considerations have you encountered? This collective learning is crucial for developing best practices.

The Cost of Standing Still

I want to be clear about what's at stake. This isn't about keeping up with the latest tech trends or optimizing productivity, even though those are benefits. It's about ensuring that the most important conversations about AI's role in society include the voices of critically trained, ethically minded scholars.

If graduate students, future professors, researchers, policymakers and industry leaders retreat from AI engagement, we leave these powerful tools to be shaped entirely by technologists and venture capitalists. The nuanced understanding of human behavior, ethical frameworks and social systems that you're developing in your graduate programs is exactly what's needed to guide AI development responsibly.

The pace of change isn't slowing down. In fact, it's accelerating. But that's precisely why your engagement matters more, not less. The world needs people who can think critically about these tools, who understand both their potential and their perils, and who can help ensure they're developed and deployed in ways that benefit rather than harm society.

Moving Forward With Intention

As you consider how to engage with AI tools, remember that this isn't about becoming a tech expert overnight. It's about maintaining the curiosity and critical thinking that brought you to graduate school in the first place. Start small, experiment thoughtfully and always keep your analytical mind engaged.

The future we're building with AI won't be determined by the tools themselves, but by the people who choose to engage with them thoughtfully and critically. As graduate students, you have the opportunity-and, I'd argue, the responsibility-to be part of that conversation.

The question isn't whether AI will transform your field. It's whether you'll help shape that transformation or let it happen to you. The choice, as always, is yours to make.

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Why Grad Students Can't Afford to Ignore AI (opinion)

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Dinuka Gunaratne offers a framework for thoughtful engagement. I recently found myself staring at my computer screen, overwhelmed by the sheer pace of AI developments flooding my inbox. Contending with the flow of new tools, updated models and breakthrough announcements felt like trying to drink from a fire hose.

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Salary Negotiations: Working Scientist Podcast

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Salary Negotiations: Working Scientist Podcast

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Working Scientist is the Nature Careers podcast. It is produced by Nature Portfolio, publishers of the international science journal Nature. Working Scientist is a regular free audio show featuring advice and information from global industry experts with a strong focus on supporting early career researchers working in academia and other sectors.

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Salary negotiations a guide for scientists

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Students don't learn the way they think they do

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Students don't learn the way they think they do

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Students don’t learn the way they think they do

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This idea is at the center of new research published in CBE – Life Sciences Education from Elise Walck-Shannon, Senior Lecturer and Education Specialist in the Department of Biology. In a large, introductory genetics course, Walck-Shannan and her team first set out to flip the classroom, moving away from lecture-based instruction during class to active problem solving.

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Invent@SC Postdoctoral Scholars Program 

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Invent@SC Postdoctoral Scholars Program 

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Candidates may apply up to six months prior to PhD degree completion.

Scholars accepted into the program will receive:

Starting salary of $80k+ per year for three years with potential for years four to five.

Full employment benefits.

$10k for professional development

Up to $10k for relocation expenses.

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What You Can Be With a PhD series, hosted in collaboration between the Center for Career Engagement and the Office of Postdoctoral Affairs

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What You Can Be With a PhD series, hosted in collaboration between the Center for Career Engagement and the Office of Postdoctoral Affairs

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Kennedy Capital is seeking a Biotechnology Equity Research Fellow to work with members of our investment team. The fellow is responsible for fundamental research on small- and mid-cap companies in the biotechnology industry in order to assist our healthcare analysts and portfolio managers in making investment decisions. This fundamental research will primarily take the form of reports that include an analysis and interpretation of a company’s therapeutic areas, scientific data, and financial statements. During the fellowship, the fellow will have the opportunity to meet with C-suite executives of leading biotechnology firms to supplement investment research.

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Basic research and the value of curiosity

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Basic research and the value of curiosity.

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What to tell your Ph.D. students about their nonacademic options.

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All opportunities that are past the deadline will be moved to our archives page.

To view our archives please click the link below.

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Career Horizons: Non-Academic Career Pathways for PhDs and Postdocs

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Career Horizons: Non-Academic Career Pathways for PhDs and Postdocs

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4:00–5:30 p.m. | Danforth University Center, Room 276, Danforth Campus

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Various Dates

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Envision Possibilities Inside & Outside Academia for PhD's & Postdocs

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Envision Possibilities Inside & Outside Academia for PhD's & Postdocs

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Lasergene Molecular Biology Tools for Everyday Tasks and Comprehensive Sequence Analysis

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Lasergene Molecular Biology Tools for Everyday Tasks and Comprehensive Sequence Analysis

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Reliable sequence analysis software is essential for molecular biologists.  The pioneering Lasergene Molecular Suite support common everyday tasks like cloning, annotation, blasting, alignments, primer design, etc.  The workshop will explore the core applications and walk through some common cloning and alignment workflows.

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Lasergene Molecular Biology Tools for Everyday Tasks and Comprehensive Sequence Analysis

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Do not delete this page. Page content is generated by CiviCRM.

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Lasergene Genomic Tools for Common Next Generation Sequencing Workflows

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Lasergene Genomic Tools for Common Next Generation Sequencing Workflows

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Lasergene Genomic Tools for Common Next Generation Sequencing Workflows

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Do not delete this page. Page content is generated by CiviCRM.

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Lasergene Structural Biology Tools for Understanding Protein Structure and Function

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Lasergene Structural Biology Tools for Understanding Protein Structure and Function

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Workshop Agenda

Protein Modeling (Alphafold 2, Boltz, ESMFold), Protein Docking, and Antibody Modeling.

Protein visualization and annotation

Enhanced biomarker, ligand, and physicochemical method protein extrapolation

Setting up your own local protein modeling suite.

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Lasergene Structural Biology Tools for Understanding Protein Structure and Function

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Do not delete this page. Page content is generated by CiviCRM.

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Sep. 22, 2026, 2 - 4 p.m. OR

Sep. 23, 2026, 11 a.m. - 2 p.m.

Seminar Rooms A/B, EPNEC

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Register for the 2026 Researcher Forum and Expo

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Register for the 2026 Researcher Forum and Expo

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9 a.m. to 4 p.m.

Eric P. Newman Education Center | EPNEC

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WashU Researcher Forum and Expo Registration Form

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Tuesday, October 6, 2026

9 a.m. - 4 p.m.

The Office of the Vice Chancellor for Research (OVCR) is pleased to invite you to the 2026 Researcher Forum and Expo.

Building on the annual Researcher Forum and last year’s Researcher Services and Equipment Expo, this combined event will provide faculty with valuable access to university resources while fostering meaningful connections across the research community. The Forum and Expo is designed to highlight the tools, services, and collaborations that advance research excellence across WashU.

This event will showcase core research facilities across both campuses, featuring their expertise, equipment, and the impactful projects they support. Attendees will have the opportunity to explore information tables hosted by core facilities and participate in breakout sessions featuring presentations that demonstrate how researchers can leverage these resources to drive their work forward.

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OISS - Navigating U.S. Immigration Today 

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OISS - Navigating U.S. Immigration Today 

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International students and scholars are invited to join OISS to obtain current information on immigration policies and updated guidance that may impact immigration status. These virtual sessions offer practical information and an opportunity to ask questions in a supportive environment.

July 24, 9:00 - 10:00 am (CT) - Register to attend

August 5, 9:00 - 10:00 am (CT) - Register to attend

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Bristol Myers Squibb and WashU Research Fellowship

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Bristol Myers Squibb and WashU Research Fellowship

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Location: Jeffrey T. Fort Neuroscience Research Building

Lunch will be provided.

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Homer G. Phillips Public Health Lecture Series

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Homer G. Phillips Public Health Lecture Series

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Assistant or Associate Professor - University of Virginia: UVA Provost's Office: School of Medicine: Molecular Physiology and Biological Physics

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Assistant or Associate Professor - University of Virginia: UVA Provost's Office: School of Medicine: Molecular Physiology and Biological Physics

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The Department of Molecular Physiology and Biological Physics (MPBP) at the University of Virginia School of Medicine invites applications for two tenure-track faculty positions at the Assistant or Associate Professor level.

MPBP is one of the nation's premier physiology and biophysics departments and is consistently ranked among the top departments in NIH funding. We seek exceptional scientists pursuing innovative, mechanistic, and interdisciplinary research that advances fundamental physiology and human disease.