March 20, 2023

Registration link: bit.ly/UW-DYP

Designing Your Postdoc

Your postdoc training is more than just research! Apply design thinking to the wicked problem of a comprehensive postdoctoral training plan and make a bold plan that amplifies your interests and values as you transition to your career of choice. The work we do together will support new perspectives, identify mentoring needs, and ensure that your individual development plan is thoughtful and balanced. This workshop is designed for current postdocs, but late-stage grad students are also welcome!

Note: there is approximately an hour of required prework for this session. You will receive details for the prework upon registration.

Speaker Bios

Sofie R. Kleppner, Ph.D.

Sofie Kleppner is Associate Vice Provost and Associate Dean for Postdoctoral Affairs at Stanford University where she directs postdoctoral policy development and implementation, professional development programming, and administration. She sits on the advisory boards of several postdoctoral training grants, as well as the Faculty Staff Help Center and the Center for Teaching and Learning. She serves on the Stanford School of Medicine Dean’s Cabinet on Diversity and was Chair of the AAMC GREAT group Postdoctoral Steering Committee on which she served from 2016 – 2021.

Dr. Kleppner received her Ph.D. in Neuroscience from the University of Pennsylvania and completed her postdoctoral training at UCLA after which she worked in preclinical development for small biotechnology companies developing cell-based therapeutics and drug delivery systems. She interned with the Stanford Office of Medical Development before joining the Stanford Cardiovascular Institute as Program Officer then Associate Director. She has a special interest in conflict resolution and has trained in both restorative justice with David Karp and mediation with the Center for Understanding in Conflict.

Although the postdoc office motto is All Postdocs All the Time, non-postdoc-related time is spent with her family of 3 people, 2 cats, and 2 dogs. She writes personal essay and has recently taken up the tenor saxophone.

Robin Colomb Sugiura, MA

Robin Sugiura is the Director of Postdoctoral Training in the Office of Postdoctoral Affairs at Stanford University, where she sets the vision for and oversees the team that drives strategy and implementation for professional development curriculum and diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging initiatives serving the 2500 postdoctoral scholars at Stanford.

Prior to her Ph.D. work at Stanford, she spent nearly a decade in Japan running a communications consulting business, developing a communication strategy, and delivering tailored curriculum for Japanese firms expanding their businesses internationally.

Ms. Sugiura earned a BA in East Asian Languages and Cultures from UC Berkeley, an MA in Japanese Literature from Waseda University in Tokyo (as the first American admitted to the graduate division of National Literature), and an MA (leaving ABD) in Japanese Literature from Stanford.