Graduate Student Professional Development
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.
MIT provides professional development resources to help you deepen your skills and knowledge in seven areas: career advancement, communication, interpersonal skills, leadership and mentoring, personal development, social responsibility, and teaching. Honing these competencies will give you the confidence to thrive and contribute as a researcher, educator, industry leader, and citizen.
Individual Development Plans (IDPs)
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 Circles connect students with alumni who provide culturally relevant perspectives on academic and industry careers. The next program will run in April 2024. Interested graduate students, email Elsie Otero at eotero@mit.edu.
The Path of Professorship
This 2-day workshop for MIT graduate and post-doctoral women provides information about academic scientific careers and the application process.
Professional development certificates for PhDs and postdocs
MIT offers 2 new professional development certificates to help graduate students and postdocs fast track and focus their growth in two essential areas: mentoring and grant writing.
Faculty Job Search Series (FJSS)
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.
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.
Click to view the resource library
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, …
Come by the info session on Tuesday, February 6th from 3:30 – 5:00 pm on Zoom!
What is the MIT Research Slam and why should you compete in it? Come find out and get excited! See Slam presentations from previous …
Life comes with its fair set of challenges. The goal of building resilience is to equip yourself to weather life’s challenges as they arise. Much of that work involves redefining what success and failure mean and finding ways to use …
Make your New Year’s resolution: write regularly with Writing Together Online during IAP 2024
Date: Mon, Jan 8th through Thu, Feb 1st
Time: 8-9:30am or 9:30-11am
Location: by Zoom (pre-register to receive the link to connect)
Register: https://forms.gle/2kDDymivpSHPP5QS9
Make your New …
Styling Your Academic Writing (5-session series)
Date: Jan 10th, 11th, 12th, 18th and 19th
Time: 12-1pm
Location: by Zoom (pre-register to receive the link to connect)
Register: https://forms.gle/zftHcRToe4FwGXnM6
This series will offer diverse and creative methods for styling writing. We will …