Discover resources, connect with mentors, dive deeper into MIT’s 7 professional development competencies, and find out about upcoming events and opportunities.
Graduate professional development is skills-based training complementary to your academic coursework that will augment any career path you decide to follow, within and beyond academe.
Individual Development Plans, or IDPs, are a key professional development tool used within both academia and industry to establish priorities, set goals, and track progress. You can create your own tailored Individual Development Plan to guide you in self-assessment, exploration, goal setting, implementation, recording milestones, and reflection.
By creating and using an IDP, you can optimize your PhD years by planning experiences that will help you build the competencies and skills you need not only to finish your degree but to keep rising throughout your career.
Flagship Programs
Graduate Students of Color Mentoring Circles
The Graduate Students of Color Mentoring Circlesconnect students with alumni who provide culturally relevant perspectives on academic and industry careers. The next program will run in Fall 2023. Interested graduate students, email Elsie Otero at eotero@mit.edu.
The Path of Professorship
This exceptional 3-day event for MIT graduate and post-doctoral women provides information about academic scientific careers and the application process.
MIT Alumni Advisors Hub
Think of the worldwide community of MIT alumni as a vast and renewable resource that you, as an MIT graduate student, are invited to tap and leverage. Using the Alumni Advisors Hub is one of the most powerful ways there is to augment your technical training. There’s no better source of information and wisdom to inform your journey than the scholars and professionals who have been where you are now, and gone on to discover, teach, influence, and lead with excellence in the world beyond the Infinite Corridor.
Resource Library
Ready to dive in? The Graduate Professional Development Resource Library is a curated collection of articles, web resources, podcasts, books, and more.
The Faculty Job Search Series (FJSS)supports graduate students and postdocs who are preparing for the faculty job market. The program brings together expertise from around the Institute, including faculty, CAPD, the Writing and Communication Center, the Teaching and Learning Lab, the OGE, and the Engineering Communication Labs.
Build a strong application informed by experts across the Institute via overviews, faculty panels, deep dives, and hands-on-workshops aligned with the timeline of the faculty job search.
Writing Together Online offers structured writing time to help you stay focused and productive during the busy fall months. We offer writing sessions every workday, Monday through Friday. Join our daily 90-minute writing sessions and become part of a community of …
By Amanda Cornwall
Amanda CornwallGraduate Student Professional Development
Five MIT graduate students have just returned from The Eighth Annual AHRC International Conference, hosted in Oxford UK from September 18th-20th. This year’s conference theme was Entanglements, which explored, acknowledged, and reflected on the interconnected nature of the world around …
By Amanda Cornwall
Amanda CornwallGraduate Student Professional Development
The Graduate Program in Engineering Leadership Program is pleased to announce the Graduate Certificate in Technical Leadership Workshop Series for Fall 2023.
We invite you to register and attend our series, which count toward satisfying requirements toward our certificate. The …
Graduate school can be hard. And during difficult moments, advice from peers who have walked a similar path can make you feel less alone. That’s why the Graduate Professional Development team is putting together a “Survival Guide” of real advice, …
Bart: Look at me, I’m a grad student. I’m 30 years old and I made $600 last year. Marge: Bart, don’t make fun of grad students. They’ve just made a terrible life choice. —The Simpsons
Many entities throughout MIT are invested in graduate student professional development. These essential partners fuel our programs and serve as excellent resources for graduate students.
