Workshops and Trainings for NIH IRP Faculty, PIs, Staff Scientists and Staff clinicians

OITE and the Office of Intramural Research (OIR) have created workshops and other training activities to support NIH intramural investigators (PI) and staff as they manage and lead research groups.

This page is only for NIH Intramural Researchers

Introduction to mentoring trainees in the NIH IRP: intended for all supervisors (PIs, SS, SCs) in the IRP and will cover general information on mentoring trainees (postbac, graduate and postdoc). We will provide an overview of resources available for supervisors and discuss best practices for dealing with issues in your research group.

Raising a Resilient Scientist Series: Five units, covering communication, resilience, inclusivity, conflict and feedback, and trainee wellbeing, will help you to support your biomedical trainees. Each unit will explore ways to manage common challenges in research groups by means of a webinar and facilitated small groups designed to build a community improving training at the NIH. You are encouraged to attend the entire series, but each unit may be attended as a stand-alone.

Tools for Managing Trainees Series: This series’ six webinars will help you increase your skills in interviewing, setting expectations, understanding the needs of postbacs, meeting the needs of graduate students/postdocs, writing letters of recommendation, and preparing your trainees to leave.

Research Career Management for Faculty: These sessions will help you navigate YOUR career here at the NIH.

Coaching and case-study drop-in groups: OITE Wellness Advisors will facilitate stand-alone drop-in groups as part of the Raising a Resilient Scientist series. We recommend that you attend the workshops first, but even if you can’t, you are invited to come to the stress group. Additionally, executive coaches are available for faculty, staff scientists and staff clinicians. Please contact Sharon Milgram to discuss personal coaching. 

• NIH PIs: discuss the stresses and challenges of being a principal investigator, mentoring trainees, and running a research group. Participants will have an opportunity to focus on their own wellness and resilience needs, discuss their experiences and concerns, hear from other PIs, and share strategies for addressing stress. 
• NIH staff scientists/clinicians: discuss the stresses of being a staff scientist/clinician, including having to juggle such diverse responsibilities as doing one’s own work, mentoring trainees, supporting the work of the research group, and meeting the expectations of the PI. Participants will have an opportunity to focus on their own wellness and resilience needs, discuss their experiences and concerns, hear from other staff scientists/clinicians, and share strategies for addressing stress.

Dates/Times/Descriptions Below

Workshop Descriptions

Introduction to mentoring trainees in the irp

October 12, 2022 12:00-2:15 PM ET
Registration link: https://nih.zoomgov.com/meeting/register/vJItfuioqzIjH4TVQCN_Eodtc0nR7Bntsy0
This webinar is for all supervisors (PIs, SS, SCs) in the IRP and will cover general information on mentoring trainees (postbac, graduate and postdoc). We will provide an overview of resources available for supervisors and discuss best practices for dealing with issues in your research group.

Raising Resilient Scientists

1. Communication Skills to Build Trainee Resilience
   November 9, 2022 12:00-2:15 PM ET
   Registration Link: https://nih.zoomgov.com/meeting/register/vJIsdeyhrjwsG3qSl89jFlF9zUdzoYlz4Vw
   This session will introduce you to the principles of trainee wellness and how to create a safe and supportive environment that fosters trainee resilience, growth and productivity. It will teach skills for effective communication with trainees including active listening. The session will explore how communication and work style differences influence the way we collaborate, make decisions, handle differences, and manage conflict. This material will help you decide when and how to have conversations while building and leading a successful research group.
   
   
2. Promoting Trainee Resilience
   December 14, 2022 12:00-2:15 PM ET
   Registration Link: https://nih.zoomgov.com/meeting/register/vJIsc-uvpzovGbw2kGLBSbihRcERfN2raTc
   Resilience helps those in high-knowledge environments succeed. This session will address barriers to trainee resilience, including cognitive distortions and imposter fears. It will emphasize ways and provide practical applications to encourage resilience in trainees in areas as such as fostering a growth mindset, promoting realistic self-talk, and modeling self-care and wellness as a priority in your research environment. (Related reading: https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-018-05326-3).  
   
   
3. Building a Welcoming and Inclusive Research Group
   January 18, 2023 12:00-2:15 PM ET
   Registration Link: https://nih.zoomgov.com/meeting/register/vJItcOurqjojGtH9Y_zDJPVHhg2Nm6zWNb0
   Building an inclusive research group means creating a space where individuals of all identities feel welcome and accepted. Inclusivity and diversity have been reported to help build community and promote depth of scientific knowledge, creativity, and collaboration. This session will address the effect of bias, both explicit and implicit, on our research groups. It will provide strategies to ensure that all trainees are set up for success at work, including welcoming diversity and addressing issues such as stereotype threat, micro-aggressions and attributional ambiguity. 
   
   
4. Difficult Conversations, Conflict, and Feedback
   February 8, 2023 12:00-2:15 PM ET
   Registration Link: https://nih.zoomgov.com/meeting/register/vJIsc-CgrTsiHfcOa91MnLLQ-_REQmdOQ2I
   This unit will build a framework for having difficult conversations, including providing effective feedback.  It will examine how we decide to engage in difficult conversations and provide strategies and tools for effective communication under challenging circumstances. Specific issues, such as differences in style or culture, appropriate boundaries, and managing challenging interactions will be reviewed.
   
   
5. The Mental Health and Well-being of Your Trainees
   March 8, 2023 12:00-2:15 PM ET
   Registration Link: https://nih.zoomgov.com/meeting/register/vJIscuCpqT4pEzjHEmDI2E604ncYzhOrhm4
   Our trainees operate under considerable stress, with anxiety and depression in biomedical trainees occurring at higher rates than in the general population. This can have a significant impact on research and research groups. Leaders and mentors often are the first to notice the struggles of their trainees. The webinar will focus on structuring your environment to promote a well lab, recognizing stressors, supporting trainees during difficult times, appropriate boundaries, and when and how to connect them to resources when appropriate. It will also touch on some ways you can find support for yourself as you support your trainees. 

Tools for Managing Trainees

1. Interviewing and Selecting Trainees
   DATE CHANGE___NOW May 12, 2023 1:30-3:00 PM ET
   Registration Link: https://nih.zoomgov.com/meeting/register/vJItcuuqpjIpGex7vu3t75agGu7D9DIleb0
   This workshop focuses on the nuts-and-bolts of how to advertise a position, rank applications, interview, assess the scientific and interpersonal skills of the candidates, and select new trainees.  We will also discuss preventing bias in hiring decisions.
   
   
2. Training/Mentoring Postbacs
   April 12, 2023 1:30-2:30 PM ET
   Registration Link: https://nih.zoomgov.com/meeting/register/vJItc-irrTIiGm0KQaseJxh4-klxY71z5Bw
   We discuss the postbac application and selection process, training expectations, the limitations arising from both the nature of the appointment and the developmental stage of the trainee, and steps you can take to ensure a successful experience for both the trainee and the rest of your research group.
   
   
3. Effective Career Conversations with Trainees
   April 25, 2023 1:30-2:30 PM ET
   Registration Link: https://nih.zoomgov.com/meeting/register/vJItdOmtrDkuGmW0pLSygACd3R0qCJmA1OQ
   Learn how to have effective career conversations with your trainees and what career resources are available. We will highlight how OITE has career conversations with your trainees, including preparing for medical school, graduate school, faculty appointments, industry jobs, government careers and more. 

4. Training/Mentoring Grad Students and Postdocs
   May 4, 2023 1:30-3:00 PM ET
   Registration Link: https://nih.zoomgov.com/meeting/register/vJIscOGtqDssG02cq9S_1rJLv9L0Dc8GUgU
   Help your postdocs and grad students meet their goals by understanding their needs in science, career, communication, leadership, teaching/mentoring, wellness, and ethics through the three phases of their time at the NIH. We will highlight the intricate workings of the NIH Graduate Partnerships Program.

5. Three Tools for Managing Expectations
   May 16, 2023 1:30-2:30 PM ET
   Registration Link: https://nih.zoomgov.com/meeting/register/vJItce6uqT0jHeKjNplR1-ALJv1F03hMgmo
   Working successfully with a trainee depends on each side understanding and accepting the expectations of the other. This workshop will focus on three tools that can assist you in setting and communicating expectations: the “Welcome to my research group” letter, the Individual Development Plan (IDP), and annual reviews.

6. Preparing Your Trainees to Leave
   May 25, 2023 1:30-2:30 PM ET
   Registration Link: https://nih.zoomgov.com/meeting/register/vJItc--rrD4oH5mrHNwAsbjyJmM9n_Q-rKA
   All good training must come to an end. We will discuss the conversations you and your trainees will to have about authorship, taking projects with them, and career aspirations. We will also cover writing letters of recommendation and supporting your trainees during the interview, negotiation, and transition phases of their move to a new position.

Research Career Management for Faculty

1. Research Integrity
   June 8, 2023 12:00-1:30 PM ET
   Registration Link:https://nih.zoomgov.com/j/1612107439?pwd=c2xKSkFOdEwrc3ljTWpXN2ZBbnhtdz09
   This seminar covers the major forms of research misconduct (fabrication, falsification, and plagiarism), which are illustrated with examples from real-life cases. Best practices are shared for preventing research misconduct and maintaining the highest standards of research integrity, including establishing good communications with staff and setting realistic expectations regarding productivity and publications. The topics of political interference and foreign influence are discussed given their potential impact on research integrity.
   
   
2. Tenure Criteria and BSC Reviews
   June 22, 2023 1:30-3:00 PM ET
   Registration Link: https://nih.zoomgov.com/j/1609001515?pwd=OS9RUEFiY3BGdnEvb2M1bVRTT2tLdz09

   This seminar offers practical advice to early career PIs on how to develop a successful research career leading to tenure. The importance of getting known, or networking, within and outside the institution is emphasized. Guidance is provided for a successful review by the Board of Scientific Counselors, the mechanism by which the quality of the NIH intramural research program is evaluated. How to fulfill the criteria for tenure is a major topic, with insights provided by a panel of past and current members of the Central Tenure Committee.

3. Faculty Mentoring
   July 6, 2023 12:00-1:30 PM ET
   Registration link: https://nih.zoomgov.com/j/1617221324?pwd=aTBxV25kZUVQcmZkVXpvOHhaTnNMUT09
   While the seminars and workshops up to this point have focused on the PI as mentor, this seminar is about the PI as mentee, specifically about pre-tenure faculty on the receiving end of mentoring from more senior colleagues. The seminar will cover the importance of mentoring for faculty success, what faculty mentoring involves, and the attributes of effective mentors and mentees, as well as an ideal form of faculty mentoring that involves a network of multiple mentors in formal and informal relationships. 

For questions regarding this series, please contact the OITE at OITE@mail.nih.gov. Please include "PI Series" in the subject line.