1

Postdoctoral fellows at primarily undergraduate institutions: The

mentor’s perspective

Julio de PaulaDepartment of Chemistry

Haverford College

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Outline

The view of the faculty mentor The view of the postdoctoral fellow Postdoctoral fellows at Haverford College Haverford’s Nanoscience Program Emerging models

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The view of the faculty mentor

Challenges: staying current and

competitive, doing

interdisciplinary science,

maintaining complex instrumentation,

lack of continuity, daily interaction with

non-peers, time.

Rewards: infusion of new

knowledge, moving into

emerging areas, additional technical

expertise, enhanced continuity, daily interaction with

a peer, more time for

research.

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The view of the postdoctoral fellow

Benefits: exposure to

scholarly life at a PUI,

teaching experience, interaction with

undergraduates.

Disadvantages: less vibrant research

environment, fewer publications, impact on job

placement.

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Postdoctoral fellows at Haverford

Teaching postdoctoral fellows in Astronomy, Biology, Chemistry, and Physics.

Placement: Union College Calvin College Marshall University

Involvement in interdisciplinary science: Study of supramolecular light-harvesting

complexes (with Swarthmore and Goucher Colleges)

Haverford’s Nanoscience Program

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Haverford’s Nanoscience Program

Interdisciplinary team: Karin Åkerfeldt and Julio de Paula (Chemistry) Robert Fairman and Karl Johnson (Biology) Suzanne Amador-Kane and Walter Smith (Physics) Robert Manning (Mathematics) Postdoctoral fellows: Alexander Schwab and Bala Tanjore

Funding: David and Lucile Packard Foundation Focus areas:

molecular photonics artificial photosynthesis protein-based biomaterials biosensors

Web site: http://www.haverford.edu/biology/Nanoscience_Program/nanoscience.htm

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Haverford’s Nanoscience Program

Alexander Schwab

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Haverford’s Nanoscience Program

-1.0 -0.5 0.0 0.5 1.0

0.00E+000

2.00E-012

4.00E-012

6.00E-012

8.00E-012

1.00E-011

1.20E-011

Current

Volts

Potential / V

Curr

ent

/ pA

-1.0 -0.5 0.0 0.5 1.0

0.0

2.0

4.0

8.0

10.0

12.0

6.0

Alexander Schwab and Deirdre Smith

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Emerging models

Impact on productivity of faculty at PUIs Impact on teaching at colleges and

universities The DeGrado/de Paula Proposal:

Capitalize on growing interest in careers at PUIs

Tap into talent and resources at prestigious research institutions

Offer teaching opportunities at PUIs Enhance research and curricular

partnerships between Ph.D.-granting and primarily undergraduate institutions