Upcoming and Past Events

Every semester, we plan a series of workshops that fits into a theme. Most of these are built around our microcredential badges, as described on the Professional Development Program’s Details page. These focused workshop series complement—and sometimes include—the ongoing programming from The Libraries, The Graduate School, and other organizations on campus. The descriptions below are not exhaustive lists of our programmatic offerings.


Spring 2024

We are repeating the theme of Intellectual Property and Innovation with some important improvements. We are again kicking things off with our expert partners from the Innovation Law Center to define concepts of intellectual property. This year, we are partnering with innovator and entrepreneur Dr. James Monroe to further explore the role that intellectual property plays in scientific discover as well as what the process of creating and growing a startup company is like.

  • Introduction to Intellectual Property (IP), Syracuse University’s Innovation Law Center.
  • The Value of Intellectual Property to an Innovator, Dr. James Monroe.
  • What I Wish I Knew as an Academic Before Starting a Company, Dr. James Monroe.
  • Innovation: Academic and Professional Perspectives panel discussion, details coming soon.

Fall 2023

We repeated the sequence on Graphic Design for STEM Professionals this semester. We also piloted an animations with Python workshop with an external expert.

  • Introduction to Graphic Design (3-part workshop series), Jospeh Sgambati
  • Scientific Figure Design, Jessica MacDonald
  • Poster Design and Presentation, Jeremy Steinbacher
  • Scientific Animations with Python, Phil Nelson (UPenn)

Spring 2023

We repeated our collaboration with industry experts at Ichor Therapeutics to present a series of workshops to introduce the fundamentals of Project Management, a valuable set of skills for scientists and engineers in the lab or any professional setting

  • The Nuts and Bolts of Project Management, Jeremy Steinbacher, BioInspired.
  • Managers in Technical Projects, Aaron Wolfe, Ichor Therapeutics.
  • Modern Project Management Methodologies, Jeremy Steinbacher.
  • Stakeholder Management, Kelsey Moody, Ichor Therapeutics.
A person presents in front of a crowded classroom
Dr. Jeremy Steinbacher presents an “Introduction to Project Management”.

Fall 2022

This semester brought a focus on Research Skills & Scholarly Publishing, focusing on the process of turning ideas into polished scholarly outputs successfully shared with the community.

  • Advanced Literature Searching, Emily Hart.
  • Navigating the Journal Publishing Process, Emily Hart.
  • Open Access Publishing, Dylan Mohr.
  • Data Management Plans, Paul Bern and Sebastian Karcher.

A schematic of the publishing process proceeding from goals to publishing to impact.


Spring 2022

The theme of Intellectual Property and Innovation consisted of several events designed to introduce the concepts of intellectual property and define the value that research can bring outside the scholarly world.

  • Career Workshop: Is Consulting a Career Option for You?, Kim White, Numerof & Associates, in partnership with the Graduate School.
  • Introduction to Intellectual Property (IP), Syracuse University’s Innovation Law Center.
  • Innovation: the Academic Perspective panel discussion, Jennifer Crisp, Dacheng Ren, Michael Marciano, and Liviu Movileanu.
  • Innovation: the Industry Perspective panel discussion, Lorenzo D’Amico, Blaine Bettinger, Albert Di Rienzo, Brian Gerling, David Nocilly, and David Quinn.
  • Related cross-campus offering: Understanding Your Industry Counterparts and the Corporate World,  Jennifer Crisp, Director, Office of Technology Transfer

Fall 2021

We repeated the focus on Graphic Design for STEM Professionals this semester.

  • Introduction to Graphic Design (3-part workshop series), by Nathan Eaton
  • Scientific Figure Design, Jennifer Schwarz and Jessica MacDonald
  • Poster Design and Presentation, Joey Paulsen and Jeremy Steinbacher
An instructor gesticulates to a computer lab full of students seated at computers.
Nate Eaton instructs the Introduction to Graphic Design workshop.

Spring/Summer 2021

We collaborated with industry experts at Ichor Therapeutics to develop a series of workshops to introduce the fundamentals of Project Management, a valuable set of skills for scientists and engineers in the lab or any professional setting

  • Managers in Technical Projects, Aaron Wolfe
  • Project Execution, Forrest Wright
  • The Nuts and Bolts of Project Management, Jeremy Steinbacher
  • Stakeholder Management, Kelsey Moody
  • Project Management Industry Expert Panel, Kelsey Moody, Aaron Wolfe, Forrest Wright, Quinta Warren
A Powerpoint slide and several faces during a Zoom presentation
Dr. Kelsey Moody presents a workshop on stakeholder management during the Project Management series.

Fall 2020

This semester brought a focus on Research Skills & Scholarly Publishing, focusing on the process of turning ideas into polished scholarly outputs successfully shared with the community.

  • Advanced Literature Searching, Emily Hart
  • Navigating the Journal Publishing Process, Emily Hart
  • Introduction to Open Science Framework, Eric Olsen, Kayla Brown, and Mark Call
  • Data Management Plans, Paul Bern
  • Faculty development workshop: Individual Development Plans and Annual Review Documents, Katie Becklin, Jay Henderson, and Lisa Manning
A Powerpoint slide and several faces during a Zoom presentation
Experts from the Center for Open Science delivered an interactive workshop on the Open Science Framework.

Spring/Summer 2020

We adapted our plans due to the pandemic by focusing on providing support to graduate students on hot topic issues and expanded virtual social events.

  • Literature Searching, Emily Hart
  • Self-Assessment and IDP Development, Dan Olson-Bang
  • Citation Management, Emily Hart
  • Coffee Hours and Trivia Nights
A grid of people participating in a Zoom meeting
Team trivia night early in the pandemic as a way to build ties between departments and release some anxiety.

Fall/Winter 2019

The BioInspired Professional Development Program debuted with the Graphic Design for STEM Professionals sequence in November 2019. These workshops included:

  • Introduction to Graphic Design (3-part workshop series), by Nathan Eaton
  • Scientific Figure Design, Jennifer Schwarz and Jessica MacDonald
  • Poster Design and Presentation, Jeremy Steinbacher