2024 OITE/OIR Professional Development Curriculum for NIH Faculty

* RRS: Raising Resilient Scientists

1. An Introduction to Mentoring in the IRP

January 11, 2024, 10:00-3:00pm
Building 10 FAES Classroom 1-2 (NIH Bethesda Campus)
Registration Link: Registration Closed
Explore NIH guidelines for the appointment and mentorship of non-FTE trainees (IRTAs, CRTAs, and Visiting Fellows) and will provide information on trans-NIH resources to support NIH PIs in developing collegial research groups. We will also review OITE services and discuss resources to support trainee mental health and well-being. This program will include a combination of lectures, small group discussions, and case studies.

2. Interviewing and Selecting Trainees

January 23, 2024, 12:00-1:15pm
Registration Link: Registration Closed
This workshop focuses on the nuts-and-bolts of how to advertise a position, rank applications, interview, assess the scientific and interpersonal skills of the candidates, and select new trainees. We will also discuss preventing bias in hiring decisions.

3. Communication Skills to Build Trainee Resilience

February 1, 2024, 12:00-2:15pm
Registration Link: Registration Closed
This session will introduce you to the principles of trainee wellness and how to create a safe and supportive environment that fosters trainee resilience, growth and productivity. It will teach skills for effective communication with trainees including active listening. The session will explore how communication and work style differences influence the way we collaborate, make decisions, handle differences, and manage conflict. This material will help you decide when and how to have conversations while building and leading a successful research group.

4. Integrating New Trainees & Managing Expectations

February 21, 2024, 12:00-1:15pm
Registration Link: Registration Closed
Working successfully with a trainee depends on each side understanding and accepting the expectations of the other. This workshop will focus on three tools that can assist you in setting and communicating expectations: the “Welcome to my research group” letter, the Individual Development Plan (IDP), and annual reviews.

5. Promoting Trainee Resilience

March 7, 2024, 12:00-2:15pm
Registration Link: Registration Closed
Resilience helps those in high-knowledge environments succeed. This session will address barriers to trainee resilience, including cognitive distortions and imposter fears. It will emphasize ways and provide practical applications to encourage resilience in trainees in areas as such as fostering a growth mindset, promoting realistic self-talk, and modeling self-care and wellness as a priority in your research environment. (Related reading).

New: Mentoring Neurodivergent Trainees – A Training and Discussion for Faculty and Staff

March 25, 2024, 3:00-4:00pm
Registration Link: Registration Closed
Participate in skill building and discussion to increase your understanding and competence in mentoring neurodivergent trainees. Neurodiversity encompasses the range of neurological differences among individuals, highlighting the diversity of cognitive functioning and conditions like autism and ADHD. Over the course of the last few years, OITE has run many groups for neurodiverse trainees, and engaged in conversations with mentors. One outcome is clear -- the need for specific mentor training for working with neurodivergent trainees is vital. While some traditional mentoring skills apply, many can be unhelpful or harmful when working with this community. This group will begin to address this gap by teaching best practices in mentoring neurodivergent fellows. There will be time for conversation and discussion.

6. Building a Welcoming and Inclusive Research Group

April 11, 2024, 12:00-2:15pm
Registration Link: Registration Closed
Building an inclusive research group means creating a space where individuals of all identities feel welcome and accepted. Inclusivity and diversity have been reported to help build community and promote depth of scientific knowledge, creativity, and collaboration. This session will address the effect of bias, both explicit and implicit, on our research groups. It will provide strategies to ensure that all trainees are set up for success at work, including welcoming diversity and addressing issues such as stereotype threat, micro-aggressions and attributional ambiguity.

7. Training/Mentoring Grad Students and Postdocs

April 23, 2024, 12:00-1:15pm
Registration Link: Registration Closed
Help your postdocs and grad students meet their goals by understanding their needs in science, career, communication, leadership, teaching/mentoring, wellness, and ethics through the three phases of their time at the NIH. We will highlight the intricate workings of the NIH Graduate Partnerships Program.

8. Difficult Conversations, Conflict, and Feedback

May 9, 2024, 12:00-2:15pm
Registration Link: Registration Closed
This unit will build a framework for having difficult conversations, including providing effective feedback. It will examine how we decide to engage in difficult conversations and provide strategies and tools for effective communication under challenging circumstances. Specific issues, such as differences in style or culture, appropriate boundaries, and managing challenging interactions will be reviewed.

9. Training/Mentoring Postbacs

May 23, 2024, 12:00-1:30pm
Registration Link: Registration Closed
We discuss the postbac application and selection process, training expectations, the limitations arising from both the nature of the appointment and the developmental stage of the trainee, and steps you can take to ensure a successful experience for both the trainee and the rest of your research group.

10. The Mental Health and Well-being of Your Trainees

June 13, 2024, 12:00-2:15pm
Registration Link: https://nih.zoomgov.com/meeting/register/vJItd-CsrzotHsumJBq_gk_Cr-ODYCefGYk
Our trainees operate under considerable stress, with anxiety and depression in biomedical trainees occurring at higher rates than in the general population. This can have a significant impact on research and research groups. Leaders and mentors often are the first to notice the struggles of their trainees. The webinar will focus on structuring your environment to promote a well lab, recognizing stressors, supporting trainees during difficult times, appropriate boundaries, and when and how to connect them to resources when appropriate. It will also touch on some ways you can find support for yourself as you support your trainees.

11. Preparing Your Trainees to Leave

June 18, 2024, 12:00-1:00pm
Registration Link: https://nih.zoomgov.com/meeting/register/vJIsduirpz8uErDjMBdMGt6NWqq69yqDMzk
All good training must come to an end. We will discuss the conversations you and your trainees will have about authorship, taking projects with them, and career aspirations. We will also cover writing letters of recommendation and supporting your trainees during the interview, negotiation, and transition phases of their move to a new position.

12. Mentoring International Trainees

July 10, 2024, 12:00-1:00pm
Registration Link: https://nih.zoomgov.com/meeting/register/vJIsf-itqT0pHr4VEMXz-f5u5dgQwbFI0gs
Visiting Fellows need support at the beginning of their time at NIH to help them understand US culture and integrate into the NIH and your research environment. As they progress through their time, their needs change including understanding how to find a job, either in the US or back home.

13. Research Integrity

June 6, 2024, 12:00-1:30pm
Registration Link: https://nih.zoomgov.com/meeting/register/vJItdeytrzgjEkqtMyQ_k-srqxVNR2Sf_Hs
This seminar covers the major forms of research misconduct (fabrication, falsification, and plagiarism), which are illustrated with examples from real-life cases. Best practices are shared for preventing research misconduct and maintaining the highest standards of research integrity, including establishing good communications with staff and setting realistic expectations regarding productivity and publications. The topics of political interference and foreign influence are discussed given their potential impact on research integrity.

14. Tenure Criteria and BSC Reviews

June 20, 2024, 12:00-1:30pm
Registration Link: https://nih.zoomgov.com/meeting/register/vJIsduqsrjMjGRg3x9NvrEX2A3NPNXADp1A
This seminar offers practical advice to early career PIs on how to develop a successful research career leading to tenure. The importance of getting known, or networking, within and outside the institution is emphasized. Guidance is provided for a successful review by the Board of Scientific Counselors, the mechanism by which the quality of the NIH intramural research program is evaluated. How to fulfill the criteria for tenure is a major topic, with insights provided by a panel of past and current members of the Central Tenure Committee.

15. Faculty Mentoring

July 11, 2024, 12:00-1:30pm
Registration Link: https://nih.zoomgov.com/meeting/register/vJItduqorT8uGcScY4FzWcti9qzIfbRpvrI
While the seminars and workshops up to this point have focused on the PI as mentor, this seminar is about the PI as mentee, specifically about pre-tenure faculty on the receiving end of mentoring from more senior colleagues. The seminar will cover the importance of mentoring for faculty success, what faculty mentoring involves, and the attributes of effective mentors and mentees, as well as an ideal form of faculty mentoring that involves a network of multiple mentors in formal and informal relationships.