Becoming a Resilient Scientist Workshop and Facilitated Discussion Series

We are pleased to announce a pilot resilience training program for graduate students hosted by the UW-Madison School of Medicine and Public Health (SMPH) in collaboration with the NIH Office of Intramural Training and Education (OITE) and sponsored by the NIH/NIGMS Division of Training, Workforce Development, and Diversity.

This program, consisting of six modules, is designed to help students develop the resilience needed to navigate school, the career exploration process, research environments, and the stress of life, all of which can seem overwhelming and lead to self-doubt just when confidence is most-needed. Particularly given the challenges of the winter of 2020-21, as the pandemic extends students’ social isolation and research challenges, we welcome this opportunity to engage our students in training to build resilience.

Each of the six modules in this series consists of a webinar (open to all interested students) and a facilitated small-group discussion (open to students who register for the discussions).  Students can choose to attend the webinar live (and, therefore, participate in the live Q&A), but recordings will also be available for asynchronous viewing later.  The small group discussions will be facilitated by pairs of UW graduate coordinators and will be limited to 18 participants. Webinar attendance is a pre-requisite for participation in the small group discussion.

The topics to be covered (and the related webinar dates) are as follows:

  • Module I:  An introduction to wellness and resilience  (Tuesday, January 26)
  • Module 2:  Exploring our Self-Talk: Cognitive Distortions and Imposter Fears (Tuesday, February 15)
  • Module 3:  Emotions and Emotional Intelligence in the Workplace(Monday, March 8)
  • Module 4:  Self-Advocacy and Assertiveness for Scientists (Tuesday, March 30)
  • Module 5:  Developing Feedback Resilience (Tuesday, April 20)
  • Module 6:  Managing Up to Maximize Mentoring Relationships (Monday, May 10)

Please see the attached series announcement for more detailed information.  Students should indicate interest in participating via this form:  https://forms.gle/626DhKctmYrQpEoA6