Series Description:

Descriptions of science by Nobel laureates often highlight the role of networking. Donna Strickland (Nobel in Physics, 2018) calls science “a team sport,” Morten Meldal (Nobel in Chemistry, 2022) notes that “none of us can know everything” we need to know by doing science alone, and David Baker (Nobel in Chemistry, 2024) argues that scientists have greater impact when they share their work and invite others in. Networking is a learnable professional skill that makes research, collaboration, and career development possible.

This three-part Zoom workshop helps scientists learn, practice, and adapt networking to their own goals. The workshop presents networking as a purposeful and reciprocal process: asking for advice, exchanging information, building relationships, and creating access to people, ideas, opportunities, and support.

Through facilitated discussion, structured exercises, asynchronous work on the provided Microsoft Teams site, and feedback on tangible workshop products, participants will develop practical strategies for identifying useful contacts, initiating conversations, and maintaining professional relationships. In each session, participants will produce materials that they can later use and refine, as they go about networking to support both their research and broader career development. Each participant may also schedule up to two, half-hour, one-on-one sessions with the workshop facilitator, Dr. Brandon Conlon, Academic Professional and Career Development Specialist, OIST Graduate School.