This blog was authored by Dahea You, PharmD, PhD, and Joseph Kochmanski, PhD, 2021 PDA Poster Tours Planning Group.
The SOT Postdoctoral Assembly (PDA) is pleased to announce that Guide sign-up has been extended to February 15 for the annual Poster Tours for Trainees event at the SOT Annual Meeting. The PDA is currently requesting Full and Associate SOT members to sign up as Guides to lead a poster tour this year.
In previous years, the Poster Tours for Trainees event has received an overwhelmingly positive response, providing graduate students and postdocs with an opportunity to shadow an expert toxicologist and take part in critical evaluation of cutting-edge toxicology methods and research findings. This event also provides an outstanding mentoring and networking opportunity for Guides, postdoctoral scientists, and graduate students. The PDA would like to continue to offer this great opportunity as part of the 2021 Virtual SOT Annual Meeting.
To coordinate the selection of times and topics, guides can go to the Annual Meeting website for an overview of the schedule of Poster Sessions. In the Online Planner, select the “Poster” filter under “Session & Activity Type” for the list of sessions. As a part of the sign-up, Guides will select the times and topics they wish to cover with a group of trainees. Graduate students and postdoctoral scientists will then sign up for a one-hour guided poster tour with an expert toxicologist in an area of interest.
Each Guide will be paired with up to three trainees, based on the preferences indicated at sign-up. Details of how to conduct the virtual poster tours are being finalized and will be emailed to Guides and participants closer to the event. Generally, the PDA is asking Guides to:
- Discuss on the chosen poster(s) with the tour group
- Introduce the participants to expert colleagues as you network with them along the way
- Offer career and networking advice to participants
We encourage you to participate in this event as sharing expertise, networking, and sharing advice on research and careers are all critical for trainee development. Please volunteer one hour of your time to show trainees the posters you would like to “visit” during the 2021 SOT Virtual Annual Meeting. Guides may sign up now through February 15, 2021.