KIPAC supports specific career development programs and resources designed to complement programs offered by the university and professional organizations.

• The Secondary Mentoring program connects postdocs, research scientists and term appointees with one or more mentors who provide advice, feedback, and guidance that complements the support from their primary academic advisor. The goal is to offer additional perspectives on career development, skills acquisition, and navigating challenges in the academic, teaching and professional landscape. Please fill out this form at any time if you’re interested in being connected with a mentor. (Requires SUNET/Google login)
• On-demand mentoring helps you connect to a senior KIPAC member for short-term help and advice to review a research proposal, talk etc. This is available as an option on the secondary mentoring form linked above. (Requires SUNET/Google login)
• The KIPAC Alumni Career Paths Speaker Series is a series of short, informal talks delivered by KIPAC alumni during KIPAC Tea to share their career journeys since leaving the institute. The goal is to inspire and inform current graduate students and postdocs about the range of career paths available to them after KIPAC, whether within academia, industry, government, or other sectors. These talks provide a firsthand account of how KIPAC-trained scientists have applied their expertise in diverse roles, and they also give students and postdocs the opportunity to network with alumni and receive guidance on career planning.
• The KIPAC Career Pathways Panel Series is a series of development events organized by people in the KIPAC community that invite professionals from various career sectors to discuss their work and career trajectories and provide advice to KIPAC graduate students and postdocs. Each panel focuses on a specific career path—such as research in different settings (universities, national labs, industry), teaching, data science, or other fields—and allows the KIPAC community to interact with experts from those areas. The panels are designed to help attendees explore career options, ask questions, and gain a deeper understanding of what each path entails.
• A set of self-reflective questions is a powerful way to help graduate students and postdocs periodically check in with their career goals, assess their progress, and make adjustments as needed. We have developed a set of thoughtful questions you can ask yourself at regular intervals to keep track of your development, whether you are focused on academia or exploring other career paths. (Requires SUNET/Google login)

Additionally, the Stanford Postdoc Office and Stanford Career education program host a broad range of useful programs for Grad Students and Postdocs. The programs are holistic; they are designed to help people get the mentoring they need, and to set expectations about what sort of mentoring they should expect. They also run an extensive set of workshops/ seminars/ job fairs.

Here are links to some of these resources:

• Stanford Postdoc Office
  • Professional Development Activities sorted here by category: Careers in Academia, Communication Skills, Teaching & Mentoring Programs, Community, Wellness
  • Calendar of Upcoming Events
  • Calendar of Upcoming Programs
• Stanford Career education program
  • Career coaching
  • Career fairs
  • Belonging, Access, & Career Equity (BACE) Coaching Team
  • Stanford Alumni Mentoring
  • Extensive additional resources
• Stanford Physics resources
  • Information on graduate fellowships from NSF, DOE etc.

Finally, additional career development resources are available from the American Physical Society and American Astronomical Society.