Professional Development Days
Professional Development (PD) Days are offered as part of a suite of programming supporting career management and professional development for graduate students and postdoctoral scholars. The sessions will help you recognize your talents, pursue your interests, learn professional skills and make interdisciplinary connections that will help you excel in your chosen field.
Professional Development Days will be taking place Nov 9-13, 2026. Stay tuned for announcements about what workshops will be offered.
Fall Term 2026
Overcoming imposter syndrome (1 hour PD credit)
Next session: Nov. 9, 2026 | 1:30 - 2:30 p.m. MDT | Online
Do you often feel like you're not worthy of your accomplishments? You're not alone. Many people from all levels of academia experience imposter syndrome. This workshop will give you strategies to help you explore why you feel like an imposter or a fraud, and the underlying factors that contribute to these beliefs. Learn how to challenge these beliefs and feel more comfortable with roles, achievements, accolades, and outcomes in your academic pursuits.
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Setting & maintaining healthy boundaries (1 hour PD credit)
Next session: Nov. 9, 2026 | 3 - 4 p.m. MDT | Online
As graduate students and postdoctoral scholars, you have many pressures on your shoulders, including research, studies, work, and family. We all have our limits, but we don't always recognize or communicate them effectively. In this workshop, you will learn about the purpose of boundaries, and why recognizing them is vital. You will also learn how to use clear and assertive communication while setting and enforcing your personal limits. Greater awareness of your personal, academic and professional boundaries may help you as you navigate your current academic program, as well as employment environments beyond your fellowships and graduation.
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Sharing research online: A conversation about The Conversation (1 hour PD credit)
Next session: Nov. 10, 2026 | 2:30 - 4 p.m. MDT | Online
The Conversation is a news site with a difference: it gives Canadian researchers a chance to share their research directly with public audiences both accurately and engagingly. Scholars who publish on the platform also get practice honing and rewriting their ideas for non-specialist readers. In this panel session, we'll welcome past contributors to The Conversation to help you think about sharing your own work there. They'll address the benefits you can gain, the steps you can take, and the strategies you can apply.
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Embracing failure: Turning setbacks into creativity and growth (1 hour PD credit)
Next session: Nov. 12, 2026 | 1 - 2 p.m. MDT | Online
Failure, rejection and unexpected setbacks are unavoidable parts of research, yet they are rarely discussed as openly as our successes. But what if we could use these experiences not only to develop resilience, but also to become more creative, curious, and strategic researchers? This interactive workshop explores how failure, curiosity, and calculated risk-taking contribute to learning, innovation and professional growth. Through personal stories, guided reflection and interactive activities, participants will challenge conventional assumptions about research success, examine lessons from setbacks and explore practical strategies for managing uncertainty, pursuing unconventional ideas, building opportunities and knowing when to persist or change direction. Rather than simply encouraging researchers to embrace failure, the session focuses on how to learn from unsuccessful outcomes, take smarter risks and deliberately improve opportunities for success. Participants will leave with a fresh perspective on failure and one practical action they can take to approach their research or career with greater curiosity, confidence and strategic thinking.
Presenter: N. Kirk Hillier. PhD. (Professor, Biology, Acadia University) is a scientist, mentor and research leader whose work spans chemical ecology, vector biology, and interdisciplinary research leadership. Known for fostering creative, high-risk research cultures, Hillier has supervised and collaborated with students and researchers across academic and applied settings. Rebel Researcher draws on decades of experience navigating — and challenging — the structures of modern science.
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Writing a targeted resume (1 hour PD credit)
Next session: Nov. 12, 2026 | 2:30 - 4 p.m. MDT | Online
Learn the basics of analyzing a job description and how to best target the four components of a resume to demonstrate your suitability for the position.
Presenter: Angela Johny, Career Advisor, Graduate Students, University of Alberta Career Centre
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My first year as an assistant professor (1 hour PD credit)
Next session: Nov. 13, 2026 | 12 - 1 p.m. MDT | Online
Many graduate students' and postdoctoral scholars' goal is to work in academia. What's it like when you finally get there? In this workshop you will hear the experiences of a panel of assistant professors about what their first year was like. How did they navigate the world of grant funding? What's it like supervising graduate students and postdoctoral scholars? What unexpected responsibilities and roles arose? What challenges did they encounter in terms of work/life balance? This session will give you a window into what your future could look like.
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