Development plan

• Goal setting is a helpful strategy for career advancement

• Please write up an individual development plan (IDP) for yourself:

  • It should include a career objective, a baseline skills assessment (you can use imaginephd.com for this) and time-bound goals
  • Resources to help you draft an IDP are available in the repository

• Few clarifications:

  • I haven't come across an IDP for pre-docs (please send me one if you do) so using one for grad students seems natural
  • Given that you are an early stage of your career, I recommend the following structure but please, by all means, modify the IDP to suit your needs:
    • Duration of the training period (two years instead of five)
    • Frequency of review (biannual instead of annual)
    • Number of goals (at least four every review cycle, with at least one that is relevant for (a) improving research productivity, (b) conducting research activities, and (c) professional development)
  • Writing the IDP might involve some trade-offs. Please don't overburden yourself with too many classes -- remember: you just need to be prepared for a PhD and you don't need to complete all the PhD coursework before starting your PhD!