Schedule

Session Descriptions and Participants

• Academic Careers (Session #5)
  Many physicists go on to careers in academia. This panel will discuss what academic careers are like and how to get there. Participants will give their perspectives from roles as postdocs or professors focused on teaching or research, and from a variety of different academic institutions: community colleges, small colleges, and research-intensive universities.  
  Panelists: Alison Huff, Benaz Colabewala, Carrie Menke, Anna Nierenberg, Homeyra Sadaghiani, Bhavya Mishra
   
• Applying to Grad School (Sessions #3,4)
  This panel, involving current graduate students and faculty members with experience in the admissions process, will discuss the mechanics of applying to graduate school and offer advice for thinking about where, how, and whether to apply.
  Panelists: Sayantani Ghosh, Linda Hirst, Micah Oeur, Maria Perez Mendoza
   
• APS Professional Skills Workshop (Sessions #2, 4) This workshop, part of a program organized by the American Physical Society, will focus on professional skills that women need to effectively perform research and thrive in physics, including how to:
  • Negotiate a graduate, postdoc, or professional position in academia, industry, or at a national lab
  • Interact positively on teams and with a mentor or advisor
  • Think tactically
  • Enhance personal presence
  • Develop alliances
  • Achieve professional goals
  Led by: Homeyra Sadaghiani
   
• Getting the Most out of Mentoring (Session #2)
  Mentor-mentee relationships are a critical feature of graduate school, as well as undergraduate education and different careers. As a mentee, how can you make these relationships be most productive and advantageous?
  Panelists: Midhat Farooq, Katherine Kaylegian-Starkey

• How to Write a CV or Resume (Session #1)
  How should you present your education, experience, and qualifications when applying for jobs and for graduate school? This panel will provide examples and advice, and answer your questions about creating a curriculum vitae (CV) or resume.
  Panelists: Anna Nierenberg, Betsy Tanenbaum
   
• Imposter Syndrome Workshop (Sessions #4,5)
  Imposter syndrome is a common psychological pattern where individuals doubt their accomplishments. These individuals often battle a persistent fear of being exposed as a "fraud" in their area of expertise. Albert Einstein, Maya Angelou and Michelle Obama are among some of the more notable individuals who have talked about suffering from this internal struggle. We will discuss imposter syndrome generally and strategies for overcoming it.
  Led by: Carrie Kouadio
   
• Intro to Physics Research Areas (Sessions #3,4)
  Faculty members and postdocs will discuss the different areas of physics research you can get involved in, including the exciting open questions being investigated. Areas include high-energy physics; condensed matter physics; atomic, molecular, and optical physics including quantum information science; astrophysics; soft matter physics; and nuclear physics.
  Panelists: Alexandra Miller, Beth Nowadnick, Lin Tian, Carol Hood, Bhavya Mishra, Tomi Akindele, Maylis Dozieres-Aybar

• Interdisciplinary Connections (Session #2)
  So you're a physics major.... but you want to do undergraduate research outside physics or even continue with graduate studies or a career in another discipline. What are your options? Panelists in this session will discuss routes from physics to other fields and what ties they maintain with physics.
  Panelists: Shilpa Khatri, Sarah Kurtz, Valerie Leppert

• Life in Grad School (Sessions #1,5)
  So, you've been accepted to graduate school. What happens next? From choosing an advisor and getting involved in research, to first-year coursework, to teaching responsibilities, to balancing the different demands on your time--these and more topics will be discussed by our panel of current and recent graduate students and a faculty member. Ask whatever you want to know about life in grad school!
  Panelists: Sarah Loebman, Jessica Tucker, Alauna Wheeler, Arabi Seshappan (session #5 only)
   
• Mental Health and Work-Life Balance (Session #2)
  Graduate school and many careers can be hard and pose many different demands on your time. Panelists will discuss experiences and advice about how to keep going when things are tough and how to balance work, studies, family, and other things in your life.
  Panelists: Sarah Loebman, Arabi Seshappan, Alauna Wheeler, Betsy Tanenbaum

• Minorities in Physics (Sessions #1,2)
  Panelists will discuss challenges, opportunities, and advice based on their experiences from different racial, ethnic, immigrant, gender, and sexual identities.
  Panelists: Aurora Pribram-Jones, Micah Oeur, Maria Perez Mendoza, Jenny Quinn, Tomi Akindele, Alexandra Miller

• Networking and LinkedIn (Session #3)
  It is estimated that over 75% of jobs are found through networking. In this interactive workshop, students will learn about building and using their professional network to discover career opportunities. Participants will have plenty of time to ask questions and can even get the chance to practice networking skills during the session!
  Led by: Midhat Farooq
   
• Non-Academic Careers (Sessions #3,4)
  A degree in physics is a starting point for a wide variety of careers, including national lab research, data science, and industry research and development. Speakers will discuss what they do and the range of opportunities out there for physics graduates. 
  Panelists: Kristi Beck, Jessica Kirkpatrick, Betsy Tanenbaum, Maddie Boe, Auna Moser

• Talking to Professors (Session #1)
  There is no way around talking to professors, but it might be uncomfortable at first. Faculty panelists will discuss how and when is best to start conversation with them, what they look for in conversations depending on their nature and how to follow up. Students will also be on the panel to share their experiences and tips.
  Panelists: Carrie Menke, Arabi Seshappan, Shilpa Khatri, Maren Mossman, Elizabeth Mills

• Teaching Careers (Session #5)
  Teachers with backgrounds in physics and other sciences are highly in demand for high schools. Three teachers and a faculty member involved in preparing students for teaching careers will discuss what these careers are like and how you can pursue them.
  Panelists: Kara Leigh Helmrick, Praisy Poluan, Bouakham Sriri-Perez, Brian Utter
   
• Transferring to a Four-Year College (Session #3)
  Learn more about the process of moving from a community college to a 4-year program and how it can position you for future success. Panelists will include a community college faculty member as well as a faculty member, graduate student, and recent BS graduate who started off in community college.
  Panelists: Brittany Harding, Alison Huff, Aurora Pribram-Jones, Elsa Vazquez
   
• Undergrad Research Opportunities (Sessions #1,5)
  You can get involved in research as an undergraduate no matter what type of college or university you attend! This session will give an overview of the types of research opportunities available to undergraduates--from on-campus research at your home university to funded summer research programs at other institutions--as well as some practical tips how to apply and get involved, from faculty members and student perspectives.
  Panelists: Sayantani Ghosh, Carol Hood, Elsa Vazquez, Sameen Yunus

Poster Sessions

A student poster session will be held Saturday afternoon. Poster presentations will be in the Conference Center Ballroom. The assigned locations will be distributed in the welcome packet you receive at check-in. Please plan to set up your poster on Saturday morning upon arrival to campus, 8:30am-9:00am.

Student presenters will stand by their posters to answer any questions for 30 minutes but will also have time to get coffee and look at the other posters. If you've done research, please consider presenting your progress or results. Preparing a poster can help you organize your thoughts about your project, and it's a great chance to talk to other physicists about what you've been doing. Your conversations may even give you some good ideas on how to proceed.

When you register you'll be asked whether you plan to present a poster. If so, you should submit a title, author list with their institutions, and an abstract (summary of the research) of no more than 250 words.

Please read our guidelines for making your poster here.

Credit for much of the description text goes to UC Davis' CUWiP.