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Raising a Resilient Scientist (RRS) series

A five-part virtual series including lectures and discussion groups for faculty, staff scientists, and administrators who mentor students and postdoctoral fellows in the biomedical, behavioral, and social sciences.

About the series

The goal of the 'Raising a Resilient Scientist' series is to promote the mental health and well-being of the academic research community by supporting faculty and administrators to develop self-management, relationship-management, and mentoring skills. A variety of topics will be covered with a specific focus on communication and shared problem-solving to help trainees deal with the inevitable setbacks experienced in high knowledge environments.

There are five units in the series; each unit will consist of a 60-minute online lecture followed by a 15-minute Q&A.

Note: These webinars are offered to our extramural community. Intramural participants, will receive an email invitation to register for this series or can contact OITE.

This series is accompanying our Becoming a Resilient Scientist (BRS) Series for trainees. To learn more about the effectiveness of BRS please read our publication: Becoming a Resilient Scientist series: an intervention program.

Series components

  1. Communication Skills to Build Trainee Resilience

    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.

    Sep. 30, 2025; 12:00 - 1:15 pm ET

  2. Promoting Trainee Resilience

    This session will address barriers to trainee resilience, including cognitive distortions and imposter fears. It will provide practical applications to encourage resilience in areas such as fostering a growth mindset, promoting realistic self-talk, and modeling self-care and wellness as a priority in the research environment.

    (Related reading: https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-018-05326-3).

    Oct. 7, 2025; 12:00 - 1:15 pm ET

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  3. Building a Welcoming and Collegial Research Group

    In this session, we will discuss how psychological safety, building trust, and using effective communication promotes belonging and collegiality within research groups. The goal is to provide strategies to ensure that all trainees are set up for success at work.

    Oct. 14, 2025; 12:00 - 1:15 pm ET

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  4. Difficult Conversations, Conflict, and Feedback

    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.

    Oct. 21, 2025; 12:00 - 1:15 pm ET

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  5. The Mental Health and Well-being of Your Trainees

    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.

    Oct. 28, 2025; 12:00 - 1:15 pm ET

    Register

What past participants say

Previous participants found participation valuable, and the tools presented practical and actionable.

“Informative workshop that I think all faculty should be required to attend. Making this a requirement for mentoring teams for fellowship and training grants would be a great approach! They need to be invested in mentoring and training, as much as training fellows.”

“Thank you! I've done a lot of mentoring workshops/training but feel like this one is already taking things to another level.”

“This course needs to be offered again and again, such an important resource in any academic curriculum.”

Contact

Reach out to us at [email protected] with questions.

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