The GPPS Career Pathways and Options workshops offer graduate students and postdoctoral fellows support and resources for exploring the versatile career options open to graduates, discovering and communicating their skills and expertise, and planning for the future. We offer training and support tailored to a variety of career paths: the professoriate, academic administration and staff, business, entrepreneurship, non-profits, and government.

Aurora

Aurora is an eLearning Platform with on-demand, self-paced learning modules that allow PhDs and Postdocs to explore career options and discover ways to apply the skills acquired through their education. You can access the modules in any order and if you decide to complete 7 core modules, you earn a certificate of completion.

Access AURORA
(Choose "York University" from the list of institutions and log in using your passport york username and password.)

Aurora’s curated content consists of videos, and it provides information for students across disciplines in the Arts & Sciences. It was designed and built by PhDs - the Beyond the Professoriate team, as well as all of the contributors who deliver workshops and participate in career panels and interviews, are experts in their field who also successfully completed a PhD in the areas of Arts, Social Sciences, STEM, Business, and Education. If you’re curious about the skills you’ve acquired throughout your studies, potential non-academic careers, or strategies for applying and securing non-academic employment, Aurora is an invaluable resource.

Aurora benefits graduate students by:

• supporting career exploration.
• providing accessible, well-curated resources for busy graduate students.
• promoting engaged learning through reflective activities that encourage students to apply what they’ve learned.
• complementing existing on-campus graduate student career supports.
• offering recorded seminars, reflective prompts, and assessments that guide the student experience and foster user engagement.

You can bring your knowledge and PhD to many career fields. But don't just take our word for it—AURORA has interviews with over 170 PhDs. Listen to their stories and see for yourself.

The GPPS Transferable Professional Skills workshops offer intensive or exploratory workshops on skills which are applicable within the academic world and its job market, but which are also highly desirable within the non-academic and alternative academic job markets. These workshops focus on skills which may be used to enhance your research but which may simultaneously enrich your work in other contexts and be emphasized with great results on a résumé as well as on a CV.

Session Descriptions

Leveraging your STEM PhD outside of academia (for York PhD students and Postdocs)

Are you interested in a career outside of the academy? Do you want to learn more about how to navigate the world of post-academic careers as a PhD? During this session, connect with professionals in science, technology, engineering and math professions (STEM) and learn more about hiring practices, employer expectations and how to leverage higher education while exploring available career opportunities.

During this panel, professionals will share examples of the range of opportunities available within their fields, the particularities of applying as a PhD and talk about how to translate the skills developed in academia to non-academic careers. The panel will be followed by an open forum where you will have the opportunity to ask the panelists your own questions.

Participating Panelists:

• Mathew Dionyssiou, PhD Biology, Life Sciences, 2014
  Founding Program Director, PhDs4Hire
• David Cappadocia, PhD Kinesiology and Health Science, 2018
  Senior Consultant, IQVIA
• Laura Reyes, PhD Chemistry
  Career Development Leader, Chemical Institute of Canada
• Ikjyot Singh Kohli, MSc and Ph.D., Mathematics and Physics, 2014
  Senior Data Scientist, Cineplex
• Shervan Vafa, PhD, Economics, 2015
  Manager, Personal Banking Analytics, TD

Host: The Career Centre & Faculty of Graduate Studies
Date:  Thursday, March 7, 2019
Time: 2:00 - 4:00pm
Location: 519 KT
Please register for this workshop.

Leveraging your PhD outside of academia (for York PhD students and Postdocs in the Social Sciences & Humanities)

 Are you interested in a career outside of the academy? Do you want to learn more about how to navigate the world of post-academic careers as a PhD? During this session, connect with professionals in areas such as government, think tanks, and non-academic research and learn more about hiring practices, employer expectations and how to leverage higher education while exploring available career opportunities.

During this panel, professionals will share examples of the range of opportunities available within their fields, the particularities of applying as a PhD and talk about how to translate the skills developed in academia to non-academic careers. The panel will be followed by an open forum where you will have the opportunity to ask the panelists your own questions.

Participating Panelists:

• Mai Nguyen, PhD Political Science, 2014
  Senior Consultant, Maple Leaf Strategies
• Raphael Costa, PhD History, 2015
  Associate, Economic and Cultural Development, City of Vaughan
• Craig Roxborough, PhD Philosophy, 2016
  Manager of Policy, College of Physicians and Surgeons of Ontario
• Cathy Barr, PhD Political Science, 2000
  Vice-President, Mission Effectiveness, Imagine Canada
• Julia Lalande, PhD History, 2001
  Manager (A), High Hazards Unit, Prevention Office, Ministry of Labour

Host: The Career Centre & Faculty of Graduate Studies
Date:  Wednesday, March 6, 2019
Time: 2:00 - 4:00pm
Location: Scott Library, 2nd Floor Collaboratory
Please register for this workshop.

The GPPS Writing Success Workshops help you advance through the writing-based milestones of a graduate degree and the steps that come after, whether those steps lead to an academic book contract or a career outside of academia. Learn tricks and access supports as you work through dissertation roadblocks, and learn tips for research organization that will help you in completing your dissertation and other projects.

Session Descriptions

Eight-Step Editing: For Graduate Students & Postdocs

Eight-Step Editing provides participants with a practical and versatile “toolkit” to help improve the texts they write and/or edit. The techniques can be applied to a wide range of informational documents, including reports, memos, summaries, proposals, observations, analyses, instructions, web content, and more. Using a step-by-step process, the program identifies the most common factors in writing that become obstacles for readers. It not only helps you recognize the problems, it shows you quick and simple techniques for fixing them.

Eight-Step Editing combines theory with practice. Participants gain an understanding of the principles underlying each of the eight steps, and then apply those principles in exercises. Some of the exercises will be generic, on the assumption that if participants can apply their learning to other people’s writing, they can also apply it to their own.

Elizabeth d'Anjou (presenter) has over 20 years of experience as a freelance editor with a diverse clientèle, including textbook publishers, government ministries and nonprofit agencies. Her particular strengths include careful copy editing, translating jargon into accessible prose, and adjusting language level, including plain-language editing and consulting. A third-generation editor, she teaches copy editing for Ryerson University’s Publishing Programme and developed its new online grammar course. She is in demand as a presenter of communications workshops for corporate, government and nonprofit clients as well as for the Editors’ Association of Canada.

Host: Faculty of Graduate Studies
Date: Thursday, October 18, 2018
Time: 12:30 - 4:30pm
Location: 519 KT
Please register for this workshop.

Writing Group Cafés

Working on a PhD thesis in the Faculty of LA&PS? Join a community of fellow graduate writers. The Writing Centre’s graduate writing specialist will help you focus, goal set, project manage, stick to a timeline, collaborate with committee members and connect with peers.
writing-centre.writ.laps.yorku.ca/graduate-student-writers/

The GPPS Knowledge Transfer Strategies workshops help graduate students and postdoctoral fellows develop the skills and knowledge they need to perform effective research and analysis and to ensure that their research secures funding and has an impact, whether that’s through teaching, community engagement, scholarly or popular publication, or online. We offer resources and workshops on performing and managing research, applying for scholarships and fellowships, completing your major graduate degree requirements with the most success and the minimum level of stress, and translating your research to students, academic audiences, and the wider world.

Session Descriptions

3MT Preparation Workshops

Do you want to learn how to share your cutting-edge research? 3MT (Three Minute Thesis) is an international research communication event where graduate students present their ideas in a cross-disciplinary forum—and develop skills that will help in their careers.

At 3MT, each student has three minutes to present their research and its impact to a panel of non-specialist judges and peers. The exercise develops academic, presentation, and research communication skills. It also supports students' ability to explain their research in language that can be understood by an intelligent but non-specialist audience.

Each university hosts an internal competition and the winner will be invited to the Ontario Three Minutes Thesis Competition.

Creating a winning 3MT: "How to pitch a proposal" with Richard Phillips: Date, Location & Time TBC

Practise Your Conference Presentation Skills

Presentations at conferences can be exciting, and also anxiety provoking experiences, especially if you’ve never given a conference paper before. Don’t wait until you’re faced with giving a paper to an audience of the top scholars in your field! Come work out the jitters, and hone your presentation skills, by giving a sample ten-minute paper to a group of experienced (and friendly!) retired York faculty members. They’ll provide you with detailed feedback on how to perfect those essential conference presentation skills like volume, pace, body language, eye contact, and effective use of visual aids.

Host: Faculty of Graduate Studies & York University Retirees Association
Date:  April 3, 2019
Time: 1:30-3:30pm
Location: 305 York Lanes
Please register for this workshop.

Understanding and Negotiating Intellectual Property (IP)

What is intellectual property? Why is it important? What issues do you need to consider in protecting your intellectual property? How can you commercialize your intellectual property? As a graduate student or postdoc, do you have intellectual property rights? How are these rights determined within the university or when working in partnership with an outside organization or business? How do you negotiate intellectual property rights with supervisors? If you are looking for answers to any or all of these questions, this workshop can help.
Host: Faculty of Graduate Studies & Innovation York

If your program/class/student group is interested in a session on this topic, please contact the Postdoctoral Services Coordinator at kimmcint@yorku.ca to discuss further.

Knowledge Mobilization Planning

Granting councils are asking more and more for research teams to present their KMb strategy. In this hands-on session, learn strategic elements, new and emerging planning tools and the critical components of KMb strategy development. With an objective of maximizing the impact of your research, the KMb Unit will share their work and understanding around ‘impact’ to help you plan, resource and implement a KMb strategy that is clear, comprehensive and effective.
Host: Faculty of Graduate Studies & the Knowledge Moblization Unit

If your program/class/student group is interested in a session on this topic, please contact the Postdoctoral Services Coordinator at kimmcint@yorku.ca to discuss further.

Social Media in Research

This session will help people who want to start using social media tools without falling victim to ‘shiny object syndrome’. This hands-on session will focus on building an appropriate plan with steps to support its successful implementation. This session can be tailored to a class, small group, project team or department who have specific social media interests.
Host: Faculty of Graduate Studies & the Knowledge Moblization Unit

If your program/class/student group is interested in a session on this topic, please contact the Postdoctoral Services Coordinator at kimmcint@yorku.ca to discuss further.

The GPPS Program overall aims to connect you with people, organizations and resources that will help you develop your professional plans and goals and strategically meet those goals. These workshops will help get you connected, as will this list of links, groups and resources on campus and beyond.

Complementary Mitacs Workshops

Mitacs training bridges the gap between university learning and career success through professional skills development. Mitacs workshops are open to graduate students and postdocs and cover one or more of the following competencies:

• Leadership & Management
• Communication & Relationship Building
• Personal & Professional Management
• Entrepreneurialism

Mitacs training registration information