Post-doctoral fellows were in the spotlight last week as Queen’s University marked Post-Doc Appreciation Week for the first time.

Among the events throughout the week, the Office of Post-Doctoral Training in the School of Graduate Studies invited post-doctoral fellows and their faculty advisors to a Post-Doc Appreciation Reception at the University Club on Thursday to celebrate the important contributions of post-doctoral fellows to the research community.

The week kicked off with an orientation session in which post-docs learned about the many Queen’s services and programs available to them.

At the reception, post-docs were welcomed by Brenda Brouwer, Vice Provost and Dean of the School of Graduate Studies, as well as John Smol (Biology), who both emphasized the importance of post-docs to Queen’s research landscape, as well as the significance of creating training opportunities for post-docs at Queen’s.

The Office of Post-Doctoral Training, which was created in February this year, is responsible for creating these opportunities.

“With this week’s events, we want to celebrate the important contributions that post-docs make to Queen’s,” says Rebecca Hügler, Coordinator, Office of Post-Doctoral Training. “Post-docs often dedicate a lot of time to research and training in their specific discipline, and with this event we wanted to give them the opportunity to find a community of peers and mentors beyond the field they are working in.” 

For the 60-70 post-docs and faculty who attended, the reception was an opportunity to connect with peers and Queen’s faculty members and to find a network for both social and academic opportunities.