Certification and Career Development for Postdocs

The Zurich-Basel Plant Science Center Career Development Program aims to support postdoctoral fellows in building a strong portfolio of their competencies and in making it visible through a certification.

This program aims to foster the continuous education of postdoctoral fellows.

Melanie Paschke, paschkme@ethz.ch

PSC offers training in advanced transferable skills (at irregular intervals) in these areas:
•    Leadership skills
•    Advanced publication skills
•    Advanced fundraising skills
•    Negotiation skills
•    Career management
•    Innovation management

Continuously evolving the Personal Development Plan is part of the assessment of the program. It includes tools for the self-assessment of skills and competencies, an action plan to establish SMART actions to reach the fellowʹs needs: Specific, Measurable, Action-oriented, Realistic, and Time-oriented.

Skills, competencies and experiences are documented in a portfolio, making development visible.

Interested participants: Contact the coordinator and fill in the following documents (download):

With the certification we envision: PSC offers accredited training components as groundwork for future appointments to postdoctoral fellows. Scholars build up a strong portfolio that articulates their knowledge, experience and acquired competencies. As scholars move from one postdoctoral position to the next, documenting the achievements in a researcher’s development becomes essential.

The certification gives evidence of the continuous education and career development activities of a fellow. It is organized according to the recommendations for life-long learning in the European Qualification Framework and the European Framework for Research Careers.

The certification is issued upon request of participants by the Zurich-Basel Plant Science Center. It is accredited by the University of Zurich, ETH Zurich and University of Basel.

180 hours of participation are required to receive the certification: