PODS by Year
PODS: Comments
Selected Comments from PODS I to PODS IX Participants
PODS I
“PODS I was great experience. It was good to meet other recent PhDs and to communicate with representatives of various funding agencies. The good outcome was some experience on writing proposals and knowledge how the funding of grants works.”
“The 1st PODS symposium was a very good experience because it gave us a first glance into the world of academic fund-rising through meaningful advise on how to write successful proposals, how to interact with the funding agencies and getting to know your Program Managers. The organizers gave motivational talks on the challenges of getting your name out there and best practices to get the initial exposure we all need in order to get out of the shadows of graduate school and academic advisors, and be your own persona in the academic world. It was perhaps one of the most important symposiums I've attended to further my career. We got to know very interesting people, like the renowned oceanographer Walter Munk and his wife, and one of the NASA program managers at the time (Gary Lagerlof), and it was also a lot of fun!”
“It was a great experience. I have remained solid friends with a number of people that I met at the symposium who are now spread across at least 3 continents and we make a point of getting together at international meetings. A number of us published a paper together in Oceanography regarding post graduate education, as a direct outcome of the symposium (Brix et al. 2003). And, Cherneys, M. Roughan, M. (2002) Kick-off symposium series to help new PhDs is a success, Eos Trans. AGU, 83(45), 512, doi:10.1029/2002EO000356. obligation to attend the following symposium. ”
PODS II
“It was a GREAT experience and some of the connections I made then are still active today.”
“It was a very good experience. It provided me with a network of peers as well as an opportunity to get to know some program managers.”
“PODS was very beneficial to my career. I learned a lot about some key aspects of proposals. I met program managers and I was able to discuss items in an open environment. Great experience. I recommend future participants to communicate with the program managers; Sponsor recommendation — don't change a thing!!!”
“PODS was a wonderful experience and not only gave me the opportunity to see the types of research going on in my field, but meet others at my stage in their career. It has been invaluable in jump-starting my research and forming new collaborations.”
PODS III
“A strong motivation to keep deadlines for submitting my phd (submitted a Friday and left for the symposium the Sunday). It was a great opportunity to establish contacts. A good experience! I have recommended this to many of my younger colleagues.”
“PODS was a great experience, I always forward the announcement to the PhD student in our center. The talks at the symposium were excellent, I guess because PhD students put a lot of effort in their presentation and it was also very useful to meet representatives from the funding agencies. And of course the venue was wonderful. I still have contact with only a few of the participants (all working outside the US). I would probably use the network from PODS more if I still worked in the US.”
PODS IV
“I think PODS was great. I particularly enjoyed talking with Paola Malanotte-Rizzoli (professor at MIT) about balancing career and life and the challenges of having a family at a critical time for the career. I think it helped confirm that the type of career I chose suits me best. I also learned a lot regarding funding applications. The guidelines and tips that were given to us continue to be of use to me. I have recommended PODS to graduating PhD students and I certainly hope PODS will continue for years to come.”
“PODS really was a great way to get to know my peers from other institutions and I certainly keep in touch with some of them to this day. The single-session format with a lot of social time was ideal for getting to know people and facilitated conversation with the non-new PhD attendants as well. It was also eye-opening in terms of learning about how the US funding system works — which has been helpful as I continue to have US collaborators. I’d encourage future participants to make the most of their time there, get stuck in and engage with everyone. My husband is also a former attendee of PODS and it has been great to also get to know the people from his close-knit cohort. People do tend to spread out across the world in science, so all these links are tremendously important to maintain for the furthering of our field and it really gave a sense of place to have a past participant (PODY award-holder) at our meeting. I’d recommend keeping this link if possible and keeping the series going.”
PODS V
“It was a good meeting as I had the chance to get to know young researchers from a variety of backgrounds and made new and important connections. The talks by the project managers were also very helpful to understand the funding process.”
“Participating in PODS was a very good experience. It provides a unique low-stress setting to meet and interact with managers from different funding agencies. It is also an opportunity to learn what your peers are doing and forge lasting relations with people outside your own school/department.”
“My participation in PODS V has been one of the more exciting and enriching experience in my career. This forum gave me the opportunity to learn about cutting-edge research on physical oceanography conducted by the other participants, and allowed me to interact with them in formal and informal settings and discussions. PODS V also gave me the opportunity to interact with program managers from the various sponsor agencies, which allowed me to learn important tips regarding writing and submitting proposals. I strongly recommend physical oceanography students to participate in PODS. I hope support is always provided by interested agencies to keep this great symposium alive.”
PODS VI
“It was a great opportunity to meet new people, some of whom I am still in touch with. Most of all, it was great to meet the program managers and find out that they are very human and genuinely concerned to see careers happen.”
“I learned a lot about how funding works that I didn’t learn in grad school. It was a good experience. It was nice to meet some fellow students that I’ve talked to at various conferences since PODS.”
“It certainly helped my career. Shell is looking for outstanding PhDs, and PODS gave me an edge. It meant I was part of a select group of people that made the cut. It was a very good experience, although I decided to leave science after all.”
“It was a great experience. I enjoyed lots of high quality scientific talks and discussions as well as warm atmosphere to share interesting ideas. Also I was able to learn how to write a good proposal by having a constructive discussion session with representatives from funding agencies.”
PODS VII
“Fantastic, very worthwhile. will recommend PODS to every PO PhD student I come across.”
“The overall experience was excellent, a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. I am certain that I made connections that will last my entire career. The chance to interact with the agency representatives was also a unique and invaluable experience… I feel very lucky to have been invited.”
“I think PODS succeeded in its goal of making young scientists make friends with each other — I do plan to seek out the other participants at future meetings. I’m also impressed when I see how thoroughly other people have researched different topics — it’s a little bit humbling, but also gives me a very good idea of how broad this field of oceanography is.”
“Excellent. It was great to meet ‘the future generation’ of scientists. Most of the time big conferences like AGU or ASLO are too big and dispersive, which makes it hard to connect with other scientists from your field. Small meeting like this one, on my opinion, are much better for networking.”
PODS VIII
“It was excellent. I was very impressed by the level of organization and the commitment of all the participants.”
“Wonderful! A great program, excellent talks, and a great way to meet a diverse and motivated group.”
“Great! It was very helpful to get to know my peers and representatives from the different agencies.”
“OUTSTANDING! Having both PODS and DISCO together was great!”
“I found the meeting really useful. It helped me to meet all the other students who are at the same stage than me and who work on similar subjects. It is generally hard to meet our peers in conferences, as usually PhD students are more interested to meet senior oceanographers in their respective subject. ”
PODS IX
“It was great hearing everything other people are doing. Well organized, and fun, and informative.”
“Awesome! Great people, talks, and events. Really memorable and encouraging experience.”
“Excellent-truly one of the best meetings I’ve been to. Very well-organized, and it brought a lot of great people together.”
“Great, I enjoyed it immensely and got a lot out of it professionally.“
“I am extremely thrilled to have been able to participate in this meeting and think both the connections I made and the knowledge I gained will be beneficial for me in the future.”
“I really enjoyed my experience, I thought the talks were fantastic and it was great to meet so many enthusiastic and interesting young scientists. “
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