National Postdoctoral Association

August 30, 2009   The National Postdoctoral Association (NPA) is holding the first annual National Postdoctoral Appreciation Day on Thursday, September 24, 2009.

Stacy L. Gelhaus, Ph.D., chair of the NPA Board of Directors, said, "We hope that this day will help to increase awareness of the significant contributions that postdoctoral scholars make to the U.S. scientific research enterprise. It has been exciting to see how this day has already taken hold in this first year."

Gelhaus is a National Research Service Award (NRSA) Postdoctoral Fellow at the University of Pennsylvania Center for Cancer Pharmacology.

A wide variety of events are being held at an institutional level and in some areas as a collaborative effort between groups of institutions located near each other. To date, events have been confirmed in eleven states and range from the official launch of the new Cedars-Sinai Medical Center Postdoc Society in Los Angeles, Calif., to an ice cream social at the National Institutes for Health (NIH) campus in Bethesda, Md. Other events include symposiums, seminars, receptions, breakfasts, barbeques, happy hours, contests, and a "Postdoctoberfest."

For more information, follow this link.

This event is being spearheaded by the NPA Outreach Committee, which has been actively promoting the day using Facebook, Linked In, Twitter and direct contact with Postdoctoral Associations and Offices nationwide. L. David Finger, Jr., Ph.D., and Zoe Fonseca-Kelly, Ph.D., serve as Chair and Vice Chair of the committee, respectively.