STEM 2010 Postdoc Conference and Career Fair July 22, 2010
The Rockville Economic Development, Inc. this year again organized a conference and career fair for postdocs located in greater Washington, DC area in science, technology, economics and mathematics (STEM).
The conference program was comprised of a variety of informative session for postdocs on topics like resume writing, immigration laws, networking, and possible career paths. The other main component apart from the conference sessions was a career fair. This career fair took place simultaneously with the information sessions. Of the 41 career fair exhibitors, 25 were companies and organizations with concrete job offerings. The German Research Foundation (DFG), German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD), and the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation (AvH) joined together for a second year in a row as Research in Germany at STEM. Research in Germany was once again the only international exhibitor present.
The career fair was a wonderful opportunity to promote Germany as a research destination. It also allowed for networking with valuable American partner organizations like AAAS, FDA and several NIH institutes. Apart from these organizations, there were many companies present who specialized in biotechnology.
Of the 635 registered conference participants, 455 were postdocs, one fifth of these postdocs had interest in the Research in Germany booth. Twenty percent were Germans interested in learning about opportunities to return to Germany to continue their research career. Mostly postdocs from Asia or Europe visited the RiG booth. The main programs suited for these postdocs, were the DFG’s Emmy Noether Program and Temporary Positions for Principal Investigators, and AvH’s Humboldt Research Fellowship. Other programs also of interest happened to be DFG’s Mercator Visiting Professorship, DAAD’s RISE Program and Re-integration of German Scientists from Abroad Program. The RiG booth competed with long lines at neighboring booths, yet was strongly visited with a steady flow of excited postdocs up until the very end of the career fair.
