INDIVIDUAL DEVELOPMENT PLAN FOR
POSTDOCTORAL SCHOLARS
IDP OVERVIEW AND GUIDELINES
OVERVIEW AND GUIDELINES
Background
Taking the time to plan your career path will help you use your postdoctoral training period more
efficiently and effectively. Having career-planning discussions with your mentor(s) will help you
identify opportunities and align your expectations with those of your mentor(s).
An Individual Development Plan (IDP) is a tool for you to create and implement a career plan.
Your IDP will help you to:
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Identify or refine your short- and long-term career goals;
Identify additional skills that you need to have, and resources for improving them;
Make and implement a plan for meeting your goals;
Have a discussion with your mentor(s) about your career path and performance;
Track your accomplishments and your progress toward your career goals;
Help you create mentoring and/or training plans when you apply for external funding.
Goals
The specific goals of the IDP process are to:
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Set long- and short-term career goals;
Identify your accomplishments and training progress;
Connect you with resources to improve your skills;
Initiate a regular, on-going dialog between you and your mentor(s) about career
development.
Overview of the IDP Process
The IDP should be created within one to two months of a new postdoctoral appointment, and
should be completed annually in conjunction with a performance review. Additionally, briefly
revisiting the IDP mid-year may be useful to re-focus efforts and re-evaluate whether the oneyear goals are still applicable or realistic in the remaining time.
Step
1
Postdocs
Conduct a self-assessment
2
Set short- and long-term goals
3
Identify training opportunities
4
Write your IDP and discuss it with your
mentor
Implement the plan and revise as
needed
5
Mentors
Reflect on postdoc strengths and
areas for improvement
Identify ways you can help postdoc
improve skills
Become familiar with available training
opportunities
Review and help refine the IDP
Establish regular meetings to discuss
career plans and progress
The following guidelines for postdocs and mentors outline these steps further by providing
techniques, questions and exercises to help structure your reflections.
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IDP OVERVIEW AND GUIDELINES
Guidelines for Postdoctoral Fellows
1. Conduct a self-assessment:
a. If this is the first time you’re completing an IDP in your current position, list the
skills and achievements you are bringing with you from your prior position or
graduate training. What skills and achievements do you hope to gain in this
position? What challenges do you anticipate in gaining them?
b. If this is not the first time you’re completing and IDP in your current position, list
your achievements and new skills gained in the last year. Are there any skills or
achievements that you wish you had gained? What barriers prevented you from
gaining them?
c. Take an honest look at your abilities. Enlist the help of your peers and your
mentor to help identify your strengths and areas of weakness. What do you like
doing, and why? What do you dislike doing, and why?
d. Think about what you want out of your career. What type of work do you enjoy
doing? What types of work do you want to learn more about? How do you want
to be valued as an employee? What level of work-life balance is the most
comfortable for you?
2. Set long- and short-term career goals:
a. Long-term goals: Think about what type of position you want to obtain in the next
3 – 5 years. If you don’t know, can you identify a couple of different types of
positions that appeal to you? Part of your goals can be to explore these career
options. Set an appropriate and realistic timeframe for the duration of your
postdoctoral training.
b. Short-term career goals: Set one to two SMART goals (See step #6 below) for
each skill area that you will accomplish in the upcoming year. How can you
challenge yourself to expand your skillset? What skills need the most
improvement? What approaches can you take to improve your skills? How will
you and your mentor know when you’ve achieved your goal? Who else can help
you meet your goals?
3. Identify training opportunities:
a. People: How can your mentor and department help you meet your goals? Are
there other faculty members or senior postdocs that can provide additional
mentorship to you in a specific skill or skill area? Which of your colleagues are
experts in a skill that you need to develop? How can your network help you?
b. CU-Boulder: Are there workshops or courses offered at that you could take?
What seminars does your department offer?
c. Community and Research Community: Are there local associations that offer
career development or networking events in your field? At what conferences do
you plan on presenting during the upcoming year? Do your professional societies
offer workshops that you can attend?
d. Online: Are there any online trainings or courses that you can take? Do your
professional societies publish tutorials or articles that would be useful to you?
4. Write your IDP and discuss it with your mentor:
a. Using your self-reflections from Steps 1 – 3 above, fill in the template included in
this package, or the online template at http://myidp.sciencecareers.org/
i. Identify your strengths and areas for improvement. What tools will you
use improve your skills? How will you overcome barriers or obstacles?
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IDP OVERVIEW AND GUIDELINES
ii. Establish a reasonable timeframe to complete your postdoctoral training,
i.e. long-term goals for this position (generally 3 – 5 years).
iii. Establish reasonable timeframes to complete your short-term goals within
the upcoming year. You can choose to write a month, a semester or a
quarter in which to complete your goals, as is appropriate for your
situation.
iv. Plan out how you will achieve your goals, including what steps you and
your mentor can take to help you achieve your goals.
b. Schedule an approximately one-hour conversation with your mentor about your
IDP and performance evaluation. Give a copy of your draft IDP at least one week
prior to this date.
c. Have an open and honest conversation with your mentor about your career
development, goals, and specific plans to improve your skills.
d. Revise your IDP as appropriate based on this conversation. Provide your mentor
with a revised copy of your IDP within two weeks.
5. Implement the plan and revise as needed:
a. Once your plan is in place, it is time to put it to practice. You can use timemanagement and organizational resources such as an online calendar, Outlook
Tasks or Google Tasks.
b. Keep track of your accomplishments over the course of the year to make
completing next year’s IDP easier. You can do this via updating your CV; keeping
a file of your submitted papers, abstracts and fellowships; and/or tracking
completed tasks with Outlook or Google.
c. Meet with your mentor regularly to discuss your career development. These oneon-one meetings should focus on your accomplishments, opportunities for skill
improvement, and constructive feedback on your progress. The best practice is
to meet weekly; however, the challenges of postdoc and mentor lives can make
this difficult. You may need to be more creative and flexible to meet these
challenges. Some ideas for overcoming these challenges are: scheduling weekto-week rather than a regularly repeating time; meeting via Skype; completing
status reports via email and requesting mentor feedback on the reports; or
meeting less frequently. It is recommended that you meet at least once a month
to discuss your career development. You should lead these meetings and
provide an agenda, focusing on career development.
d. There may be significant barriers that arise, preventing or delaying completion of
parts of your plan. The plan is not intended to be static and can be modified as
circumstances or needs change. It is helpful to schedule a mid-year review with
your mentor to discuss your progress toward your goals, challenges that have
arisen, and modifications that can be made to your plan.
6. SMART Goals:
a. SMART goals help you successfully reach your goals by defining a clear
direction and timeframe for completion.
b. SMART stands for:
i. Specific: The goal should specify what will be accomplished and/or
produced.
ii. Measurable: To be accountable for achieving your goal, there should be
some mechanism to measure whether a goal has been achieved or not.
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IDP OVERVIEW AND GUIDELINES
iii. Achievable: The goal should be within your power to attain. This doesn’t
mean it is without challenges or potential obstacles.
iv. Realistic: Taking all of your goals and daily activities into consideration,
you should be able to complete the goal within your specified timeframe.
v. Time-Bound: To make yourself accountable for completing your goals.
c. Example 1:
i. Not specific, measurable or time-bound: Gain knowledge on melanoma.
ii. Specific, measurable and time-bound: Write a review article discussing
mechanisms of MAPK and AKT pathway activation during melanoma
progression; submit a draft of the review article to my mentor by the end
of July 2016.
iii. The revised goal demonstrates the knowledge that you have gained by
creating a professional product that can be used on your CV. This will
help keep you accountable and motivated to complete the goal.
d. Example 2:
i. Not achievable: Be awarded an NIH F32 Fellowship by July 1, 2016.
ii. Achievable: Submit an application for an NIH F32 Fellowship by the April
8, 2016 deadline. If the fellowship is not awarded, submit an A1
resubmission application at the next available grant cycle (est. August 8,
2016).
iii. You cannot control whether or not you will be awarded a fellowship. The
revised goal frames what you can accomplish and also has a follow-up
plan in the event that the fellowship is not awarded.
e. Example 3:
i. Not realistic or specific: Increase my professional communication skills by
attending four national meetings within the next year.
ii. Realistic and specific: Increase my professional communication skills by
presenting a poster and attending the Professional Skills Development
Workshop at the APS meeting from March 14-18, 2016.
iii. While it is physically possible to attend four meetings within a year (i.e. it
is technically achievable), it probably isn’t realistic that you would be able
to attend those meetings, perform your research and write any resultant
papers, nor is it realistic that you or your mentor would be able to fund
your attendance at all of those meetings.
f. SkillSoft (through myCU) offers additional trainings on SMART goals and action
plans. Search for the following:
i. SMART Goals and Action Plans
ii. Achieving Smart Goals
iii. Well-written Goal Statements
7. Tools and Resources:
a. This IDP template was developed from the NPA core competencies, which can
be found here: http://www.nationalpostdoc.org/?CoreCompetencies
b. Science Careers has created an online IDP development tool which may be used
instead of this form, if you desire: http://myidp.sciencecareers.org/
c. The NPA also provides a list of resources for completing your IDP, including
exploring career paths and developing your skills:
http://www.nationalpostdoc.org/default.asp?page=CareerPlanning
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IDP OVERVIEW AND GUIDELINES
Guidelines for Mentors
1. Reflect on postdoc strengths and areas for improvement:
a. In anticipation of your review meeting, take 10 – 20 minutes to think about your
postdoc’s strengths and achievements in the last year, and areas in which he or
she could still improve.
b. If your postdoc is new to your lab, perhaps reflect on what attracted you to make
an offer to this postdoc, and what gaps you notice on his or her CV.
c. It may be helpful to jot down your ideas.
d. You can use the following questions as a tool to guide your reflections:
i. Discipline-Specific Knowledge – Does the postdoc demonstrate broadbased and cross-disciplinary knowledge? Does the postdoc demonstrate
detailed knowledge of his or her specific research area? How well does
the postdoc define scientific questions and testable hypotheses?
ii. Research Skills – How well does the postdoc design and perform
experiments? Can the postdoc see the big picture, but also enact a shortterm strategic plan? How well does the postdoc analyze and interpret
data? Would the postdoc be able to independently apply for funding or
carry a paper through the publication process? Can the postdoc
determine the best method for determining data significance and describe
variance within context?
iii. Communication – How well does the postdoc write about his or her
research? How are his or her oral presentation skills? Is the postdoc able
to train junior lab members? How does the postdoc take performance
feedback? Is the postdoc professionally connected with colleagues within
CU-Boulder and outside of CU-Boulder?
iv. Professionalism – Does the postdoc communicate in a respectful, timely
and courteous manner with team members and colleagues? Does the
postdoc take a collaborative approach to completing projects? Is the
postdoc involved with professional service activities within his or her
discipline? How does the postdoc seek and take input from mentors and
team members?
v. Leadership and Management – What project management skills does the
postdoc have, and what skills does he/she still need (e.g. establishing
priorities, project planning, time management, budget management,
keeping excellent records)? Can the postdoc lead junior team members
to complete their projects? Does the postdoc serve as a role model within
the work group, institution and discipline?
vi. Responsible Conduct of Research – Has the postdoc completed RCR
training and other necessary trainings (such as animal or human subjects
training)? Can the postdoc identify and manage conflicts of interest and
violations of research and/or professional ethics? Can the postdoc
describe best practices for recording and storing data and
protocols/SOPs? Can the postdoc specifically describe the criteria for the
appropriate exclusion of data?
2. Identify ways you can help your postdoc improve skills:
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IDP OVERVIEW AND GUIDELINES
a. Now that you’ve identified skills and areas that the postdoc can improve, it will be
helpful for you to come up with ways that you, as a mentor, can help the postdoc
improve.
b. Consider having instructive discussions at regularly scheduled one-on-one
meetings.
c. Encourage your postdoc to seek mentorship from a colleague who is an expert in
a skill or knowledge area. Many funding agencies now encourage or require
multiple mentors in order for a postdoc to receive fellowship funding, both
because multiple perspectives can offer additional insights and because having
multiple mentors can reduce training pressure on the primary mentor.
d. How might you encourage your postdoc to develop and implement a broad
research plan?
e. Can you involve your postdoc in lab management and budget activities? In
publication and grant planning/writing? In supervision of junior trainees or
undergraduate students?
f. Do you have regular discussions about research ethics, data integrity, publication
practices and professional behavior during lab or one-on-one meetings?
3. Become familiar with available training opportunities:
a. Are there any trainings, seminars or courses offered by your department or
professional societies that can help your postdoc improve skills or disciplinespecific knowledge? Sharing these resources with your postdoc as you learn of
them may help them while they are drafting their IDP.
b. The OPA website (www.colorado.edu/opa) has a list of resources for
postdoctoral career development. The OPA maintains relationships with a
number of on-campus resources and offers workshops and one-on-one help to
postdocs. Note: This website is currently under construction; to learn about
resources, please email leah.colvinwanshura@colorado.edu.
c. Email leah.colvinwanshura@colorado.edu if you are unsure of how you can help
your postdoc. The OPA can help you develop additional ideas to define a
mentoring plan.
4. Review and help refine the IDP:
a. Set a date to have an approximately one-hour conversation with your postdoc to
review the IDP and hold a performance evaluation. Your postdoc should provide
you with a draft IDP at least one week prior to this date.
b. Complete the “Comments” sections of the IDP, as appropriate. These sections
appear in blue text for your convenience.
c. Have an honest and constructive conversation with your postdoc about his or her
career development and goals. Are the postdoc’s goals SMART (specific,
measurable, achievable, realistic and time-bound)? What commitments can you
make, as a mentor, to help your postdoc meet his or her goals?
d. Your postdoc should revise the IDP based on this conversation, providing you
with a revised copy of your IDP within two weeks for your review. At this point
you can approve the IDP or you can provide additional feedback on it.
e. Set an appropriate and realistic timeframe for the duration of your postdoc’s
training.
5. Establish regular meetings to discuss career plans and progress:
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IDP OVERVIEW AND GUIDELINES
a. Meet with your postdoc regularly to discuss his or her career development. The
best practice is to meet weekly; however, the challenges of postdoc and mentor
lives can make this difficult. Some ideas for overcoming these challenges are:
scheduling week-to-week rather than a regularly repeating time; meeting via
Skype; completing status reports via email and requesting mentor feedback on
the reports; or meeting less frequently. It is recommended that you meet at least
once a month to discuss your career development.
b. The scope of one-on-one meetings is career development. These one-on-one
meetings should focus on the postdoc’s accomplishments, opportunities for skill
improvement, and constructive feedback on progress. This may include helping a
postdoc solve a research-specific problem; however, research-specific
discussions should not take up the whole meeting.
c. The best practice is for the postdoc to lead the meetings and/or provide the
agenda; however, you may need to help teach the postdoc how to lead an
effective meeting, or bring up issues that the postdoc may be unaware of or have
forgotten.
d. It is helpful to schedule a mid-year review with your postdoc to discuss your
postdoc’s progress toward his or her goals, challenges that have arisen, and
modifications that can be made to the IDP based on a change in research
direction or significant barriers that may have arisen.
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POSTDOC NAME
[Date]
INDIVIDUAL DEVELOPMENT PLAN
INFORMATION
Postdoc Name:
Department or
Program:
Job Title:
Mentor:
Appointment
Start Date:
Date
Department or
Program:
Review Date:
Date
Regular Postdoc-Mentor Meeting Time and Location (e.g. every other Monday at 3 PM via
Skype):
Click here to enter text.
APPROVALS
Postdoc Signature:
Date:
_______________________________________________
_________________
Mentor Signature:
Date:
_______________________________________________
_________________
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POSTDOC NAME
[Date]
INDIVIDUAL DEVELOPMENT PLAN
SELF-ASSESSMENT
Postdocs: Reflect honestly on your level of development in each of the listed skill areas. Check
the column that most accurately describes your skill level.
Mentors: Provide constructive feedback (in “Comments”) on the postdoc’s skills in each of the
areas listed below.
Discipline-Specific Conceptual Knowledge
Broad-based knowledge of (fill in your field)
Deep knowledge of (fill in your specific research
area)
Deep knowledge of (another specific research
area, if applicable)
Able to critically evaluate literature
Comments
Strength
Appropriate to
Career Stage
Needs
Development
N/A
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Research Skills
Able to design a research program in the
context of the broader field
Able to design reproducible experiments/series
of experiments
Technical skills
Able to analyze and interpret data
Understands and can perform appropriate
statistical analyses
Able to perform literature review
Able to perform peer review
Comments
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POSTDOC NAME
[Date]
INDIVIDUAL DEVELOPMENT PLAN
Communication Skills
Basic writing and editing skills
Can generate protocols/standard operating
procedures for others to follow
Able to write scientific publications
Able to write grant/fellowship proposals
Able to write high impact abstracts
Speaks confidently and clearly
Comfortable and capable of presenting research
to peers
Able to design and present an effective poster
Seeks advice from peers and mentors
Communicates professionally via email
Classroom teaching skills*
Able to create targeted job application materials
Interview skills
Comments
Strength
Appropriate to
Career Stage
Needs
Development
N/A
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*note: if you are seeking a primarily teaching position, you may wish to create an addendum listing specific teaching skills.
Professionalism
Demonstrates workplace etiquette
Demonstrated commitment to the safety of self
and others in the workplace
Complies with rules and regulations
Upholds commitments and deadlines
Maintains positive relationships with colleagues
Contributes service to the discipline/professional
societies, research group, department and/or
institution
Able to create and maintain a professional
network
Comments
Strength
Appropriate to
Career Stage
Needs
Development
N/A
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POSTDOC NAME
[Date]
INDIVIDUAL DEVELOPMENT PLAN
Leadership and Project Management Skills
Demonstrated ability to train and/or mentor
others
Motivates others in the workplace
Able to provide constructive feedback to
trainees and mentor(s)
Able to negotiate difficult conversations
Serves as a role model within the research
group and department
Able to plan and organize a defined project
Establishes priorities and organizes time to
meet deadlines
Able to develop and manage a budget
Connects self and others with research
resources
Comments
Strength
Appropriate to
Career Stage
Needs
Development
N/A
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Strength
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Needs
Development
N/A
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Responsible Conduct of Research
Maintains data integrity, both in digital form and
in a lab notebook
Understands intellectual property and
authorship practices
Has completed responsible of research training
Conducts research with impeccable ethics with
respect to data analysis and interpretation, as
well as ethical human and animal research
practices (if applicable)
Able to identify and address research
misconduct
Able to identify and address conflicts of interest
Comments
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POSTDOC NAME
[Date]
INDIVIDUAL DEVELOPMENT PLAN
ACCOMPLISHMENTS
Note: if this is the your first IDP, use this section to list all relevant prior accomplishments.
List manuscripts submitted or published this year. Include the status of submitted publications.
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List meeting abstracts submitted this year. Include whether this was an oral or poster
publication, and who presented the work.
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POSTDOC NAME
[Date]
INDIVIDUAL DEVELOPMENT PLAN
List your funding source(s) and projected duration of funding, even if you are not funded on your
own award. List grant and/or fellowship applications submitted this year, including their status.
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List awards and/or honors received this year, including travel awards.
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List new skills and/or certifications/certificates learned this year.
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POSTDOC NAME
[Date]
INDIVIDUAL DEVELOPMENT PLAN
RESEARCH PROJECT
Outline the overall goal of your research, your specific aims and experimental approaches.
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POSTDOC NAME
[Date]
INDIVIDUAL DEVELOPMENT PLAN
Describe your intellectual contribution(s) to the design, execution and results communication of
this project.
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Discuss how your research contributes to the overall goals your research group, specifically,
and more broadly, the significance of your research to the research field and community.
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POSTDOC NAME
[Date]
INDIVIDUAL DEVELOPMENT PLAN
GOALS AND OBJECTIVES
Long-Term Career Goals
List one long-term career goal (i.e. tenure-track faculty member at a research university,
research scientist at a pharmaceutical company, etc.). If you are early in your postdoctoral
training and would like to explore career options further, you may list up to two.
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List the expected duration of your postdoctoral training. If you plan to finish in 18 months or less,
estimate when you will begin your job search.
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Describe any further training and accomplishments you aim to complete before you begin your
job search.
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Describe how your mentor and department can help you achieve your long-term goals.
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POSTDOC NAME
[Date]
INDIVIDUAL DEVELOPMENT PLAN
Short-Term Career Goals
Postdocs: Using your self-assessment, long-term goals and self-reflections, write one or two
SMART goals for each skill area (see Guidelines for Postdoctoral Fellows). Make sure that it is
realistic to accomplish all of your goals within one year.
Mentors: Provide constructive feedback (in “Comments”) on the postdoc’s goals and plans in
each of the areas listed below.
Discipline-Specific Conceptual Knowledge
Goal:
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Plan to Achieve Goal:
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How Success will be
Measured:
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Comments:
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Goal:
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Plan to Achieve Goal:
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How Success will be
Measured:
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Comments:
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POSTDOC NAME
[Date]
INDIVIDUAL DEVELOPMENT PLAN
Research Skills
Goal:
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Plan to Achieve Goal:
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How Success will be
Measured:
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Comments:
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Goal:
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Plan to Achieve Goal:
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How Success will be
Measured:
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Comments:
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POSTDOC NAME
[Date]
INDIVIDUAL DEVELOPMENT PLAN
Communication Skills
Goal:
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Plan to Achieve Goal:
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How Success will be
Measured:
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Comments:
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Goal:
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Plan to Achieve Goal:
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How Success will be
Measured:
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Comments:
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POSTDOC NAME
[Date]
INDIVIDUAL DEVELOPMENT PLAN
Professionalism
Goal:
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Plan to Achieve Goal:
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How Success will be
Measured:
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Comments:
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Goal:
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Plan to Achieve Goal:
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How Success will be
Measured:
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Comments:
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POSTDOC NAME
[Date]
INDIVIDUAL DEVELOPMENT PLAN
Leadership and Project Management Skills
Goal:
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Plan to Achieve Goal:
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How Success will be
Measured:
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Comments:
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Goal:
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Plan to Achieve Goal:
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How Success will be
Measured:
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Comments:
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POSTDOC NAME
[Date]
INDIVIDUAL DEVELOPMENT PLAN
Responsible Conduct of Research
Goal:
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Plan to Achieve Goal:
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How Success will be
Measured:
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Comments:
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Goal:
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Plan to Achieve Goal:
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How Success will be
Measured:
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Comments:
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