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IDP Resources

QB3-Berkeley’s IDP tools for doctoral students and postdocs: the Individual Development Plan (IDP) process enables students and postdocs to be proactive – making the most of their training and preparing for satisfying careers. To help both our faculty and trainees, QB3-Berkeley has created IDP templates tailored to doctoral students and postdocs.  The IDP process is supported by resources such as those below, which help with assessment, goal setting and skill development, career information and wellness.

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Berkeley Resources

QB3-Berkeley Graduate and Postdoc Career Development
  1. Assessment of competencies/skills – worksheet
  2. SMART goal setting – worksheet
  3. Examples of goal setting – Career Exploration, Networking, Writing/Time Management, Funding (doctoral), Funding (postdoctoral)
  4. Berkeley Initiatives (expand and strengthen your skills and knowledge, and develop your community)
  5. Career Development/Career Fields (learn about 10 career fields in the public, private and non-profit sectors)
Other Berkeley Resources
  1. Graduate Student Professional Development Guide
  2. Graduate Student Instructor Teaching & Resource Center
  3. Writing Center
  4. Berkeley Research Development Office  – Finding Funding » Databases to Search for Funding
  5. Counseling and Psychological Services (CAPS) – resources for graduate students
  6. Berkeley Career Engagement – self-assessment resources (values, interests, etc)
  7. Visiting Scholar and Postdoc Affairs – for Postdocs

Additional Resources

  1. iBiology resources: presentations such as “How to Pick a Graduate Advisor” and courses including “Planning Your Scientific Journey“
  2. Article on topics to think through as you embark on your rotations.
  3. NIH Office of Intramural Training and Education, webinar series on Becoming a Resilient Scientist includes topics such as self advocacy and “feedback resilience”.
  4. Assessment exercise to gain insight into interests/motivations, “Avoiding an All-or-Nothing Approach to Your Career“
  5. myIDP at Science Careers is a well-established online IDP. UCSF created four brief instructional videos (on YouTube) about using myIDP
  6. ChemIDP – American Chemical Society’s online IDP (requires free account)
  7. National Postdoc Association (NPA)’s six Core Competencies for postdocs
  8. From Molecular Cell (forum) article, “Yearly Planning Meetings: Individualized Development Plans Aren’t Just More Paperwork” (2015)
  9. Nature article, “Career planning: The next five years” (2015)
  10. Nature Biotechnology article, “Optimizing the utility of the individual development plan for trainees in the biosciences” (2018)
  11. Inside Higher Ed, “Reframing the Individual Development Plan: how it can be an important tool for equity in graduate student career development” (2022)