Are you a postdoc in India wondering how to develop a career plan?

Have you reflected on your ability to develop the skills and experiences needed to achieve your long-term career goals? 

Designing your Career Blueprint: Crafting your Individual Development Plan is an interactive workshop is designed to help postdoctoral fellows in life sciences, biomedical research and related programmes to take proactive control of their career development by crafting a personalised Individual Development Plan (IDP).

The workshop followed by small group coaching will guide participants through a reflective process that empowers them to create an actionable, living document that they can revisit and update throughout their careers. Coaching frameworks will be used to guide the conversation.

Key goals of the workshop:

• Create your IDP: Develop a clear and actionable Individual Development Plan that reflects your unique career aspirations, current skills, and future goals.

• Holistic development: Focus on a spectrum of career trajectories, considering all aspects of your professional development — from skills and experience to personal values and life balance.

• Self-reflection: Reflect on your career goals, identify existing barriers, and design a plan of action to overcome obstacles and seize opportunities.

What you will gain:

• A personalized IDP that serves as a living document to help you set and track career objectives.

• Insight into the skills and experiences you need to develop to advance your career — whether in academia, industry, or other sectors.

• A deeper understanding of your motivation and commitment to career growth through coaching frameworks that will help you take ownership of your development.

• The ability to identify barriers and create actionable solutions to overcome them, fostering a mindset of proactive career planning.

Approach: This workshop will not provide specific career advice. Instead, it will focus on coaching techniques that inspire participants to engage deeply with their own career goals.

Intended audience: Postdoctoral fellows in life sciences, biomedical research or related programmes working in India.

Workshop modules:

1. Virtual workshop: 7 February 2025, 10 am‑1 pm IST, on Zoom (link will be sent to confirmed participants)

2. Small group coaching: 21 Feb and 27 Feb, 1 hour slot on either of these dates between 10 am‑1 pm IST (slots will be assigned for confirmed participants). Attending the workshop is a pre-requisite to attend the small group coaching session.

Mode: Zoom (meeting link will be sent to confirmed participants)

Pre requisites: Pre-reading will be sent to confirmed participants. All participants are requested to block off their time and avoid other commitments during the sessions to gain maximal benefit.

Who should attend: This workshop is for postdoctoral fellows who are eager to take charge of their career trajectory, reflect on their development needs, and design a personalised career action plan. Whether you’re still figuring out your next steps or looking to refine your long-term career vision, this session will provide you with the strategies and support you need to move forward confidently.

Registration form (deadline 15 January 2025): https://​forms​.office​.com/​r​/​a​G​N​R​k​T9eJA

After you apply, you will receive an email indicating if you have been shortlisted for the workshop (between 15 – 20 January 2025). The workshop can host up to 30 postdoctoral fellows.

Shortlisted participants will be sent bank details to make the payment for the workshop. The workshop fee is INR 5000 (this is non-refundable).

Last date for payment for workshop: 25 January 2025

IndiaBioscience will provide participants a receipt of payment which can be used for reimbursement purposes (from a grant / institution) at the participants end.

The fee includes:

3‑Hour Online Workshop: Participants will engage in a combination of guided reflection, group discussions, and coaching exercises to develop their individualised career development plan.The virtual workshop can host up to 30 postdoctoral fellows.

Follow-Up Small Group Coaching: 2 weeks after the workshop, participants will have the opportunity to join a small group coaching session (1 hour) to review progress, address any challenges, and refine their IDPs. The small group coaching will host up to 5 postdoctoral fellows per session.

Please note: E‑certificates will be provided at the end of the workshop and small group coaching (by 18 March 2025 via email).

All participants will be requested to provide feedback (via an online form) on the online workshop and small group coaching at the end of the sessions. 

Applications open on: 10 December 2024

Date of closure of applications: 15 January 2025

Shortlisted emails sent to participants: 15 — 20 January 2025

Last date for payment for workshop: 25 January 2025

Zoom link sent to confirmed participants: by 3 February 2025

For queries / clarifications, please email us at hello@​indiabioscience.​org or sarada.​bulchand@​duke-​nus.​edu.​sg.

Sarada Bulchand leads the Duke-NUS Centre for Career Readiness. She is the Deputy Co-Lead of the Centre for Clinician Educator Development at the Duke-NUS SingHealth Academic Medical Centre, and is Co-Director of the Duke-NUS Premed Course.

Sarada Bulchand is a WSG certified career coach. She is trained in fundamental principles of Cognitive Behaviour Therapy and Immunity to Change. She is a certified TKI Conflict Management facilitator. Her expertise in learning & development is emotional intelligence for emerging leaders. Her expertise in education is flipped classroom and fundamentals of teaching and learning.

She received her PhD from NUS in Molecular Biology and was a recipient of the Singapore Millennium Foundation Fellowship. 

She uses her research experience together with frameworks in career development and adult learning to develop individuals and build communities.

All IndiaBioscience Meetings, Workshops, and Conferences are subject to a Conference Code of Conduct.

IndiaBioscience is dedicated to providing an inclusive and harassment-free experience for everyone, regardless of gender, gender identity and expression, sexual orientation, disability, physical appearance, body size, race, caste, or religion. We do not tolerate harassment of event participants in any form. All communication should be appropriate for a professional audience including people of many different backgrounds. We expect participants to follow these rules at all event venues (virtual or physical) and event-related social events.

Speakers and Presenters: Sexual language and imagery are not appropriate for the event venue, including talks and posters. Sexist, racist or exclusionary jokes are not acceptable.

Participants: Harassment includes offensive verbal comments related to gender, sexual orientation, disability, physical appearance, body size, race, caste, religion, sexual images in public spaces, deliberate intimidation, stalking, following, harassing photography or recording, sustained disruption of talks or other events, inappropriate physical contact, and unwelcome sexual attention.

Sponsors: Sponsors are also subject to the anti-harassment policy.

Virtual events: Attendees, Speakers, Trainers and Event Organisers are required to keep all e communications — emails, online presentations, webinar chat/Q&A sessions etc — professional and respectful. As with the physical events, at online seminars/​workshops/​courses and associated correspondence, sexual language/​imagery and harassment are not appropriate and will not be tolerated.

Action: Attendees asked to stop any harassing behaviour are expected to comply immediately. If an attendee engages in behaviour that violates this code of conduct, the conference organisers may take any action they deem appropriate, including warning the offender, expelling him or her from the premises with no refund or expelling them from the virtual event (i.e. webinar, workshop, course etc).

Conference staff members are there to help participants contact appropriate authorities, provide escorts, or otherwise assist those experiencing harassment to feel safe for the duration of the conference. We value your attendance.

Contact: If you are harassed, have noticed that someone else is being harassed, or have any other concerns, please contact: ryim@​indiabioscience.​org

License: This Conference Code of Conduct was modified from the Code of Conduct for JSFOO 2014 and Code of Conduct for YIM 2015, available under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported License, and the Geek Feminism Wiki, created by the Ada Initiative and volunteers, available under a Creative Commons Zero license.

The Conference Code of Conduct for IndiaBioscience events is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported License.