INDIVIDUAL DEVELOPMENT PLAN FOR POSTDOCTORAL SCHOLARS 1
TEMPLATE FOR UNIVERSITY CENTRAL SCHOOLS
Individual Development Plans (lOPs) provide a process to identify both professional development needs
and career objectives for postdoctoral scholars (postdocs). Each postdoctoral scholar and his/her
Mentor should complete and submit an IDP at the time of his/her first re-appointment, and an
updated version for every subsequent reappointment.
Goal
The IDP helps postdocs address short-term needs for improving current performance, develop longterm career goals and options, and identify the tools and resources necessary to meet both. IDPs also
serve as a communication tool between individuals and their mentors, and help identify key milestones
to assist in reaching specific objectives. It will change over time, since needs and goals will almost
certainly evolve during your time as a postdoc.
Developing an IDP requires collaboration between the postdoc and the mentor. The aim is to build upon
current strengths and skills by identifying areas for development and providing a way to address these.
The specific objectives of a typical IDP are to:
• Establish effective dates for the duration of a postdoctoral appointment;
• Identify specific skills and strengths the postdoc needs to develop;
• Define approaches to obtain the specific skills and strengths (e.g., courses, technical skills,
teaching, supervision) together with anticipated time frames; and
• Provide an opportunity for annual, regular review.
Timing
The IDP should be conducted annually, at or near time for re-appointment, as part of the reappointment
process. The original signed IDP should be submitted to the appropriate office 2 along with the postdoc's
reappointment request, as part of the routine process for reappointment.
For Postdoctoral Scholars: Please complete parts 1, 2, and 3. Attach additional pages as necessary.
Give the completed form to your mentor prior to meeting with him/her for your IDP review.
For Mentors: Please complete part 4, and discuss the entire IDP with the postdoc. Please provide
detailed comments to help guide the postdoc. Include special strengths or notable achievements as
well as areas needing improvement. Provide guidance as to how the postdoctoral appointee can best
attain his/her career goal.
Once both parties have agreed to the IDP and signed it, each person should retain a copy; the original
should be routed as noted by department or school policy.
1Sources:
Federation of American Societies for Experimental Biology (FASEB);National Postdoctoral Association
(NPA);BRET Office of Postdoctoral Affairs;Duke Office of Postdoctoral Services;NIH and NSF websites.
2 Each school will determine which office should be the office of record for the IDP (either department chair or
dean's office).
UNIVERSITY CENTRAL POSTDOCTORAL
SCHOLAR ANNUAL REVIEW RESEARCH AND
CAREER PROGRESS
Name:
Initial Appointment Date:
Mentor/PI:
Date of this Review:
Department:
Postdoc Signature:
PI Signature:
Department Chair Signature:
For the Postdoc:
Part 1. Progress Review: Research and Professional Training in the Past Year.
Feel free to use additional space as needed. For those items that don’t apply, just note N/A.
•
Brief overview of your research project and major accomplishments in the past year:
•
Publications:
•
Patents:
•
Honors/Awards (include fellowships with entire funding periods, grants written/applied
for/received, professional society presentation awards or travel awards, etc.):
•
National or other professional meetings attended (indicate meeting title, oral or poster
presentation):
•
Seminar Presentations (title, department):
•
New areas of research or technical expertise acquired in past year:
•
Teaching activity:
o Oversight of graduate, undergraduate or summer student (name, academic level, project
title)
o
Course lectures (department, course name) or lab sections (section title,
supervised/unsupervised):
•
Clinical activity:
•
Committee or other service activity (indicate if you held an office):
•
Other professional activities not identified above:
•
Other activities (community, volunteer, etc.) with professional relevance:
IDP Annual Review Template
Page 2
Part 2. Plans for the Coming Year.
•
Research project goals:
•
Activities to address ongoing education in the responsible conduct of research (RCR):
•
Anticipated publications (indicate projected titles):
•
Anticipated meeting or workshop attendance:
•
Fellowship or other funding applications planned (indicate name of award):
•
Other professional training (course work, teaching activity):
Part 3. Career Goals.
•
Current career goals:
•
What further research activity or other training do you feel you need before you start a job search?
•
When do you anticipate beginning a job search?
•
Please indicate if there are other issues that affect your job search:
For the Mentor/PI:
Part 4. Feedback and Review.
•
Do you find the goals and timetable outlined above to be appropriate and feasible?
•
Please provide your assessment of the postdoc's progress during the past year.
•
Describe the format and frequency of meetings with the postdoctoral appointee during the period
covered by this report. If you have not held any meetings with the postdoctoral appointee, please
explain why not.