Berkeley Lab Postdoc Association

The Berkeley Lab Postdoc Association is an organization run by and for about 1000 postdocs and early career scientists working at the Lawrence Berkeley National Lab. We organize many activities to strengthen our ties to the Lab, to each other and to the (Berkeley) Bay Area. Our goal is to facilitate social interactions, scientific exchanges, seminars and general orientation.
 
Berkeley Lab Postdoc Association

Berkeley Lab Postdoc Association

News and Upcoming Events

Hiking: Pacific to Redwood loop hike

  • 📅 Date: Saturday, October 5
  • ⏰ Time: 8.15 AM
  • 📍 Location:  University Hall West Lot, 2123 Addison St, Berkeley, CA 94704
  • Sign up here

Dear postdocs,
BLPA is excited to invite you to a hike at the Wilder Ranch State Park near Santa Cruz on Saturday, October 4, 2024. We will hike a shorter version of the trail “Pacific to Redwood loop” to hike for around 3 hours (around 6 miles). Generally considered a challenging route, this is a popular trail for hiking, mountain biking, and running and offers stunning views of the ocean and the cliffs towering above the Pacific. We also plan to stop by a beach.
 
Details about the hike:
Date: Saturday, October 5, 2024
Meeting Time: 8:15 AM
Departure Time: 8:30 AM
Meeting Point: University Hall West Lot, 2123 Addison St, Berkeley, CA 94704
For details and registration, see here. Please sign up by the end of Oct 1.

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Extreme hike to Maggie’s Peak

  • 📅 Date: Saturday, October 12
  • ⏰ Time: 5:45 AM
  • 📍 Location:  University Hall West Lot, 2123 Addison St, Berkeley, CA 94704
  • Sign up here.

Dear Hikers,
BLPA is excited to invite you to another extreme full-day hike on Saturday, October 12, 2024. During this hike we climb Maggie’s Peak that has an elevation of 8659 feet (2.6 km) above sea level. Although this trail is only around 7 miles (11 km) long, it includes very steep climbs in hard rocky terrain, and thus, this hike is intended for individuals with a high fitness level and experience of hiking in mountains. Therefore, please with respect to others consider your physical condition. It’s not fun for the person who struggles to keep the pace nor for others who have to wait.If you are not sure if your hiking experience or fitness level is appropriate, please contact the organizers (jdvorak2@lbl.gov).

Since the trailhead is more than three hours of driving from Berkeley, we will leave very early in the morning, see details below. The parking at the trailhead is a concern because this trail is very popular. In the case, we cannot get parking for the trailhead to Maggie’s peak, the backup option is Mount Tallac trail. As a reward, both trails offer stunning views of Desolation Wilderness and Lake Tahoe.
 Details about the hike:
Date: Saturday, October 12, 2024
Meeting Time: 5:45 AM
Departure Time: 6:00 AM
Meeting Point: University Hall West Lot, 2123 Addison St, Berkeley, CA 94704

 What to bring:

  1. Bring food for a picnic-style lunch, snacks, and plenty of water (recommended >= 2 liters).
  2. Weather in the mountains can be unpredictable. Be prepare for sun, wind, and rain (layers, sun protection). The terrain is rocky and good hiking boots are recommended.

Each hiker is expected to contribute to their driver $35 to cover the fuel costs and possibly parking fee. Driving from Berkeley to the trail head will take above three hours. Places will be allocated on a first-come, first-served basis and the number of spots is limited to 12 people. Feel free to bring a friend or a family member along to join in the fun. However, please note that this event is primarily aimed at postdocs and their immediate companions. 

We kindly ask that you consider your commitment carefully when signing up, as last-minute cancellations can prevent others on the waiting list from participating. We provide more information once our hike sign-ups are full.
Sign up here.

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National Postdoc Appreciation Week

Postdocs make significant contributions to science, so let us celebrate with National Postdoc Appreciation Week (NPAW) on September 16 – 20. The lab is hosting many great events that week to show their appreciation:

Monday: Breakfast and banner raising ceremony to kick-off NPAW.
Tuesday: Pizza lunch. Who doesn’t love free pizza?
Wednesday: High Tea with Careers Pathways Office (CPO) and BLPA (B91 Patio, 10AM).
Thursday: Berkeley Lab Research SLAM, LBL’s premier presentation competition. Support your lab mates who are competing!

Watch your emails for details. Come along to an event to grab some special free swag.
Need more appreciation? Check out the calendar of external NPAW events posted by the National Postdoc Association here.

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Slack Fun Space

We have launched a new Slack “fun space” for all LBNL and affiliated postdocs.
We have dedicated spaces to chat about housing, healthcare, taxes, COVID-19 & vaccination, hobbies & events, food, movies & tv, childcare, sell or buy stuff and even to post photos of your pets! Sign up here and join the conversation.

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Past events

Carrier Transition Talk: Elle Barnes

BLPA hosts a career transition talk series featuring our postdoc alumni's transition from postdoc positions to prestigious roles in industry, academia, national labs, and beyond....
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Hiking: Montara Mountain, Black Diamond Mines and Mount Sizer

In May, the BLPA hiking group was extraordinarily active. On May 4, which was one of the last rainy days this spring, we climbed Montara...
Read More "Hiking: Montara Mountain, Black Diamond Mines and Mount Sizer"

Fostering Collaboration between National Labs – Panel discussion

On May 20, BLPA, in conjunction with the Argonne Postdoc Society and Livermore Lab Postdoc Association, hosted a panel discussion with representatives of all three...
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Hiking: Murietta Falls

On Saturday, April 27, BLPA hikers embarked on a challenging journey towards the Murietta Falls, the highest waterfall in the Bay Area, located in the...
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Hiking: Pinnacles national park

On April 13, a group of LBL postdocs and affiliates went hiking in the Pinnacles National Park. Even though the weather wasn't the best, the...
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Tech Talk

The BLPA Tech Talk featuring Jeremy Greeter and Lucian Sweitzer from LBL's Intellectual Property Office was successfully held on Friday, April 19th at 1pm via...
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Thanksgiving Pot Luck Lunch

While Thanksgiving is traditionally a time when Americans would gather with family, many postdocs live far from family or come from overseas. On Thanksgiving, November...
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Resources

BLPA Board

BLPA is made up of volunteers – and we are always looking to grow! Are you interested? Do you want to know about the inner workings of BLPA and contribute to the postdoc community, building a larger network? Please contact us (postdoc (at) lbl.gov) or sign up to check out one of our many committees!

 

Bernard Field
Co-chair

Molecular Foundry

Archana Yadav
Co-chair

Earth & Environmental Sciences

Kshitiz Gupta
Coordinator
, Social Committee

The Joint BioEnergy Institute

Soumyadeep Ghosh
CoordinatorOutreach Committee & Treasurer

The Joint BioEnergy Institute

Trisha Kishore Bhagde
Coordinator, Lab-Industry Networking Connection (LINC) Committee

Energy Storage & Distributed Resources

Kas Andrle
Secretary
& Board Member

Material Sciences

Jan Dvorak
Webmaster & Board Member

Chemical Sciences Division


Dennis Noll
Board Member

Physics


Ivo Markovic
Board Member

Earth & Environmental Sciences

BLPA Committees

We are always on the lookout for new events that could be fun and that we can bring to the postdoc community together as well as enthusiastic individuals interested in serving the postdoc community. If you have any ideas for events, please let us know by email to postdoc@lbl.gov or by dropping a line to a board member you know. If you’d like to volunteer with BLPA, please fill out this form.

Social Committee

Social Committee puts together a wide variety of events to enrich the postdocs’ personal lives and support networking among postdocs in a social context. We organize social events and outdoor activities including movie nights, game nights, hikes, pub nights, meet & greet events as well as a labmate program for new postdocs and we are happy to include new ideas. Join us to support social interactions among postdocs at Berkeley Lab.

Outreach Committee

Outreach Committee focuses on self development and diversity & inclusion activities including brown bag seminars (postdoc-to-postdoc, science café, cultural lunch) as well as coffee with postdocs blogs, outreach events and workshops. We also enhance communication between the BLPA Board and nation-wide postdoc community and foster networking and collaborative communication across divisions. Join us in preparing seminars, workshops, blog posts, newsletters while improving your science communication and public speaking skills.

Lab-Industry Networking Connection (LINC) Committee

LINC committee organizes tech talks, company site visits, networking events and career fairs to educate postdocs about careers beyond academia and facilitate effective networking between postdocs and industry partners. Join us if you are interested in expanding your professional network and exploring opportunities beyond academia while improving your communication, networking, leadership, time and project management skills.