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bshanks@118: === Postdoctoral mentoring plan ===
bshanks@118: 
bshanks@118: 
bshanks@114: ==== Personal availability ====
bshanks@114: 
bshanks@115: I have a small lab and meet frequently with all members of my lab. Once or twice a day, I walk around and chat with lab members who are not too busy. These chats last from twenty minutes to over an hour. I check in with each lab member at least once a week, if not more. I have an open door policy and frequently have multi-hour discussions with lab members who walk in.
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bshanks@114: 
bshanks@115: ==== Skills mentoring ====
bshanks@115: Postdocs in my lab work closely with me and receive a large amount of
bshanks@115: one-on-one training and practice in theoretical skills such as how to:
bshanks@114: 
bshanks@115: * be on the lookout for unexplained regularities within experimental data; come up with interesting new theoretical hypotheses; search the literature for existing theoretical hypotheses that might explain a regularity in data; mathematically formalize hypotheses
bshanks@115: * apply advanced mathematical tools from physics, mathematics, and statistics to solve problems; produce formal mathematical proofs; rigorously make predictions based on a theoretical hypothesis
bshanks@115: * make predictions which can be tested by comparison with data already available in the literature; search the literature for this data; know when it is time to apply a theoretical approach, and when it is time to apply a computational approach; use computational methods to analyze data; find or create appropriate controls for analyses of data; make predictions which can be plausibly tested by new experiments; interpret the results of available data and new experiments in a rigorous manner
bshanks@115: * explain the importance and relevance of particular research topics; explain hypotheses and results in a clear fashion
bshanks@114: 
bshanks@115: Postdocs also have the freedom to choose which lines of inquiry to
bshanks@115: pursue, to find and to assist in the application of grants, and to choose which venues to give
bshanks@115: talk at; these choices provide valuable practice in career decision-making.
bshanks@114: 
bshanks@115: The Salk Institute as well as the University of California at San
bshanks@115: Diego (UCSD), which is located across the street, offer a variety of
bshanks@115: seminars and workshops for postdoctoral career development. Salk is
bshanks@115: also a charter member of the National Postdoctoral Association.
bshanks@115: 
bshanks@115: In addition to remote conferences, for which travel support is provided, postdocs have frequent opportunities
bshanks@115: to give talks to other members of my lab, to lab meetings of other
bshanks@115: labs at Salk and UCSD, and to periodic small regional neuroscience conferences
bshanks@115: which are located here.
bshanks@114: 
bshanks@114: ==== Career planning and professional development ====
bshanks@114: 
bshanks@114: One alternative is to have a formalized bureaucratic system where postdocs and mentors produce written plans and evaluations of themselves and each other. This can be counterproductive in a small lab. Instead, I meet frequently with each member of my lab and we discuss career development on an ongoing basis. 
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