PdOC 2016/17 Committee Skills and Experience

The following postdocs were elected to serve on the 2016-17 PdOC committee. A brief summary of the skills/experience offered by each committee member is given below.

 A full role description is available for each position. 

• PdOC President 
  Adina Feldman adina.feldman AT mrc-epid.cam.ac.uk
  "I have been the PdOC Vice President since June 2015, and I was the University Representation and Policy Officer before that. In my two years in the PdOC committee I have worked on issues concerning integration of postdocs in University governance and collegiate Cambridge and I have represented postdocs internally at the university and nationally in the UK Research Staff Association. I have also worked on internal organisational matters such as revising the PdOC constitution and leading a working group on communications. These are exciting times for postdocs at the University with a lot of policy issues being worked out and revised, and PdOC has a large role to play in shaping what our future will look like. I am passionate about improving working conditions and wellbeing for early career researchers in all possible ways, and I hope to be able to do so while leading the great work of the PdOC Society in the coming year. In addition, I have extensive experience with university representation from my time as a doctoral student when I was, among other things, a member of the committee of the Doctoral Student's Association and the chair of my departmental Doctoral Student's Committee. As an undergrad I was the full time Vice President of the Medical Students' Union in Stockholm which included representing >6,000 students in the university council."

• Vice President
  Paul Coxon prc39 AT cam.ac.uk
  "I have served on the PdOC committee since 2013 as Membership Officer, and I serve on the events-subcommittee. I also help curate the PdOC Twitter presence, during my time it has tripled in the number of followers. During the last year I have worked such as revising the PdOC constitution and helped increase the reach and visibility of PdOC throughout the wider university community. I hope my experience and knowledge of postdoctoral affairs in the university to support the role of the president as the visible face of PdOC."

• Treasurer
  Lorinda Turner lt400 AT medschl.cam.ac.uk 
  "During my undergraduate degree I was acted as Treasurer for the Monash Science Society, a society of approximately 9000 undergraduate students that organised both academic and social events. In this role I was responsible for the society's accounts and submitting tax returns each year. Following this I moved into the position of President where I oversaw the general running of the society, the orientation camps for incoming students, and organisation of the annual ball. Throughout my honours and PhD years I supplemented my meagre student wage by working as a book keeper, where I looked after the accounts and prepared tax returns for several businesses. I acted as treasurer for PdOC in 2015/2016 and would like to continue with the society and in this position."

• Membership Officer
  Alessandro Rossi ar446 AT cam.ac.uk
  "I have recently returned to Cambridge to take up a Marie Curie Research Fellowship, after 4 years spent overseas doing postdoctoral research. During my PhD at Churchill College, I thoroughly enjoyed college life and I was involved in the postgraduate student committee as social secretary and equipment officer. Cambridge life is so much more enjoyable for an academic if one can experience the range of social activities, as well as the network of human and intellectual connections which may come through a College affiliation. I have been recently successful in getting a Fellowship at St. Edmund's College, and, therefore, I am familiar with application procedures and the range of positions available to postdocs. I hope to get the opportunity to use my experience to the advantage of the whole Cambridge Postdoc community."

• Social and Networking Events Officer (X2 roles)
  Stephen Kell srk31 AT cam.ac.uk
  "I have been one of PdOC's Events and Networking officers for the past year. During that time I have coordinated a great many successful events, which I believe have continued to expand the Society's range in both variety and ambition.  If elected I would look forward to continuing this trajectory.  One specific ambition of the coming year is to offer a platform by which informal events can be more readily originated and arranged by the Society's general membership, in a grass-roots fashion, rather that only within the formal  events subcommittee process.  Such a move would naturally also take special care to maintain the expectations of event quality and planning currently associated with the PdOC banner."
  
  Sarah Steimer ss2349 AT cam.ac.uk
  "During my time as a PhD student at ETH Zurich, I have been a board member of the Academic Association of Scientific Staff at the ETH Zurich (AVETH).  I was mainly involved in organising social events, holding a similar post to the one I am now running for.  Additionally, I was responsible for coordinating the revision of our "Survival Guide" for scientific staff.  During my master's studies at Uppsala University, I was a committee member of the chemistry student society, where I was in charge of international affairs and acted as a student representative on several university commissions."

• Communications Officer (x2 roles)
  Paul Bennett wpb22 AT cam.ac.uk
  "I have been on the PdOC committee as the Communications Officer for the past two years and would like to continue for the forthcoming year. During these past two years, I have sent out the newsletter every second week (alternating with Severine Mollard), have attended PdOC committee meetings each month and have jointly chaired PdOC Communications & Marketing sub-committee meetings. I am a member of the PdOC events sub-committee and therefore have direct contact with upcoming and planned events for inclusion in the newsletter and other social media." 
  
  Laura Fachal lf370 AT cam.ac.uk 
  "During my PhD I developed good communication skills through the dissemination of the results that arose from the research projects I was involved in, not only in international scientific meetings, but also in the non-academic context, including interacting with patients, or through press releases to the general public. My communication skills could be utilised for writing and distributing the weekly newsletter to the PdOC membership and mailing list. I am also used to participating in international working groups - I am currently a member of two big international consortia, the Breast Cancer Association Consortium (BCAC) and the Radiogenomics Consortium (RGC). Both consortia are interdisciplinary involving geneticists, clinicians, mathematicians, and physicists. Since one of the duties of the Communications Officer is to liaise with Events Officers, the PdOC Secretary, and the Marketing Officer, my previous team-working experience could be useful for the role. I am familiar with the social media where the PdOC has a presence, but also with other social media like Linkedin, where the PdOC society could expand their online presence. Finally, I would like to highlight my enthusiasm, willingness to learn and develop new skills, as well as my commitment to the role in case I am elected."

• College Affiliations Officer
  Alexia Cardona ac812 AT cam.ac.uk
  "I finished my PhD at the University of Cambridge last year and am now a Research Associate. The Colleges at the University of Cambridge offer an interdisciplinary environment where students, researchers and academics from different fields come together. I believe that the possibility for Postdocs to be part of the Colleges should be an option to all. I would like to be given an opportunity to advocate for the integration of postdocs in Colleges at the University of Cambridge. I look forward to hearing your thoughts and discuss with you further."
  

• Marketing Officer
  No nomination received
  
  

• Researcher Development Initiatives Officer
  Marta Costa mmc46 AT cam.ac.uk
  "I joined the PdOC society last year as the University Representation and Policy Officer. Over the last year I had a chance to help to organise some of the Researcher Development events organised by PdOC and I really enjoyed it. I was able to use my previous experience during my PhD in organising various events, including symposiums and seminar series. So I am now standing for the role of Researcher Development Initiatives Officer, and I am looking forward to still be involved in the Committee."

• University Representation and policy officer  (X2 roles)
  Ghina M. Halabigmh AT ast.cam.ac.uk
  "I believe I have a very good standing to serve as a University representation and policy officer. I am a member of the AstroPostdoc committee, which represents the Institute of Astronomy and the Kavli Institute for Cosmology postdocs. Besides addressing their various concerns (USS pensions scheme, shared parental leave, career progress and professional training, research jamborees...), we solicit and represent their views and feedback on a range of matters (Plumian professorship chair for ex.). Being actively involved in this committee which voices postdocs concerns and provides opportunities for development and networking, I get the chance to directly influence the framework set up for postdocs. It also familiarizes me with how the University operates and therefore be in a better position to implement positive change. I'm also on the institute Athena SWAN Self-Assessment Team. This role enables me to actively contribute to an action plan that promotes gender equality and representation in science as well as career progression and success for all members of the institute. Our application for an Athena SWAN status will ultimately reflect on policies that make the department a more inclusive place to work and study and to address gender equality in a broad sense. Both these roles promote the representation of my department and its postdoc cohort in the best way, which I believe is a valuable background for assuming a role as a University Representation and Policy officer."
  
  Elizabeth Savage leu21 AT cam.ac.uk
  "I gained familiarity with the administrative structures of the university as a PhD student at King's, when I represented graduate students in my department for two years as an elected member of both the Faculty Board and Student-ˇStaff Liaison Committee. Then, in a one-ˇyear pre-ˇdoc/postdoc (2012/13), I keenly felt the need for an organisation like PdOC while serving as a member of the Governing Body of Darwin College and a member of Senate House. After participating in postdoc life at other universities for two years, I have returned to Cambridge for a three-year British Academy funded postdoc. With my knowledge of Cambridge's complex structure, of postdoc life at Cambridge before PdOC, and of postdoc life at other institutions, I would bring a humanities perspective to PdOC and support its efforts to improve the integration of postdocs into college and departmental life during their short- mid- or long- term affiliation. By engaging with and contributing to the university's future planning as large numbers of postdocs continue to join, I would focus on enabling a more transparent structure of non-stipendiary postdoc college affiliations, a more equitable provision of childcare for postdocs regardless of college membership, and clearer role for postdocs within departmental structures."
  

• Welfare Officer
  Susanne Lager sml60 AT medschl.cam.ac.uk
  "My aim as welfare officer would be to complete the collection of data regarding postdoc welfare, and ensure the continuation of events for postdocs with families.  I would also like to establish wellbeing events for postdocs and the postdoc centre."

• Committee Member (without portfolio, multiple positions) 
  Alice Hutchings ah793 AT cl.cam.ac.uk
  "I have been a committee member of the PdOC Society since 2014, starting as a Social and Networking Events Officer. As a committee member without portfolio, I have had more flexibility to work on particular issues relating to postdocs for the Society, and to assist other portfolio holders where required. If elected, I will continue to assist the committee with events and communications, and other policy matters relevant to postdocs within the university."

Arne Jungwirth aj477 AT cam.ac.uk
"I have served on the PdOC committee as a member without portfolio throughout the last year. I have helped with the organisation of a few events and have set up an interdisciplinary research club. I would be happy to continue to be involved in PdOC and postdoc matters in general."

Franck Courbon frc26 AT cam.ac.uk
"This is time to me to give back what I received from the PdOC society. Strong of my current employment, social/sport activities and college affiliation, I will be keen to discuss, help, organize, propose anything around college life, sports, evenings out, day trips and about the work of each of us..."