On Friday 24th July, postdocs from the Department braved the foul rainy weather to spend a day at The Postdoc Centre learning about the benefits and resources available to them at the University of Cambridge. The day kicked off with an entertaining and educational “pub quiz”, with teams competing to correctly answer questions about the history of the Department, to identify academic staff by audio clips, and to demonstrate their knowledge of famous psychologists.
The centrepiece of this year’s away day was a resources and benefits “fair”. Representatives from the Office of Postdoctoral Affairs (OPdA), Human Resources, the Graduate School of Life Sciences (GSLS) Researcher Development Programme, and Careers Service spoke about the availability of benefits and resources for postdocs to make the most of their time at the University. Members of the Postdocs of Cambridge (PdOC) Society and GRAduate Students and Postdocs (GRASP) were also on hand to talk to postdocs about their organisations and the advantages of getting involved.
The day concluded with a fascinating discussion about the importance of work/life balance and how to achieve it. Professors Nicky Clayton and Claire Hughes and Drs Jeff Dalley and John Apergis-Schoute shared their personal experiences with the event participants in a lively conversation covering parenthood, making time for non-lab hobbies or passions, and advice for succeeding in academia.