News and Upcoming Events
Postdoc-to-postdoc
Friday, December 3rd, 12:00 PM, Green Card Application Process
Join us for an informal Postdoc-to-Postdoc seminar by BLPA co-chair Gözde Barım, a postdoc at ESDR, on employment-based, self-petition green card applications. Please fill out the pre-talk survey to help our speaker prepare the content and feel free to submit any questions that you might have. Add this event to your calendar and use this zoom link to tune in.
Movie Night
Friday, November 19th, 7:30 PM, BLPA Movie Night
Aaaand we have a winner! I’m happy to announce that for the November edition of the monthly Netflix Party, we will watch and discuss “Taare zameen par” together this Friday! Feel free to sign up in advance to receive the watch party link, which will be sent on Friday at 7pm. 
Thanksgiving Potluck Picnic
Thanksgiving Day, 25th of November, 1:00 pm
Thanksgiving is just around the corner and we would like to invite you, your families and friends to come celebrate with us. We will meet at Live Oak Park in North Berkeley on Thanksgiving Day (11/25 at 1:00 pm) and enjoy favorite dishes and drinks from our respective countries. BLPA will provide plates and cutlery, water and soft drinks, coolers and games. Feel free to bring additional games and music. Please register here.
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 and vaccination, hobbies, food, movies and tv, childcare, sell or buy stuff and even to post photos of your pets! Sign up here and join the conversation.
Past events
Cultural Lunch
Alex Pattison a postdoc from the Molecular Foundry gave a wonderful presentation about the history of Bonfire Night and the UK in general. Alex touched on various topics from cuisine, to...
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Cultural Lunch – Straight outta Chennai to “fine” Singapore!
On Friday, August 27th, we travelled to India and Singapore during our Cultural Lunch brown bag series with BLPA Board Member Rajiv Ramanujam Prabhakar from...
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Canoeing at Russian River
Row row row your canoe, gently down the stream :) On Saturday, August 21st, 20 postdocs enjoyed a nice canoe ride on the Russian River....
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Hiking: Grizzly Peak Boulevard
On Saturday, August 14th, 26 postdocs enjoyed a wonderful hike up to Grizzly Peak Boulevard. They follow the Berkeley Fire Trail, and enjoyed a picnic-style...
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Hiking: Mission Peak Trail
On July 17th, 18 brave postdocs decided to face the Mission Peak trail. Considered a somewhat difficult hike with an elevation gain of almost 2520...
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Hiking: Hidden Stairs of Berkeley
On Saturday, July 10th, 21 postdocs ventured on the hidden paths around Berkeley. Although considered a strenuous hike, with stairs going up and down the...
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BLPA’s 5th Anniversary BBQ
BLPA is 5 years old! We celebrated BLPA’s first lustrum with a family friendly gathering and BBQ at Live Oak Park in Berkeley. Thanks for...
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Meeting with Horst Simon
On Monday June 21st, BLPA Board Members had our annual meeting with Berkeley Lab Deputy Director Horst Simon. We discussed our association's mission, and future...
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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!
Lisa Claus
Co-chair
Gözde Barım
Co-chair
Elle Barnes, Committee Leader
Social & Outdoor
Pramod Bhuvankar, Committee Leader
Outreach
Maximilian Bremer, Committee Leader
Lab-Industry Networking Connection (LINC)
Jonelle Basso
Treasurer
Alice Gatti
Secretary
Louise Frenck
Board Member
Moniruzzaman Shaikh
Board Member
Rajiv Ramanujam Prabhakar
Board Member
Jibran Zuberi
Board Member
David Halat
Board Member
Doru Thom Popovici
Webmaster
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 & Outdoor Committee
BLPA Social & Outdoor 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
BLPA 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.
