INDIVIDUAL RESEARCH DEVELOPMENT PLAN

At TRIANGLE’s core, there is an individualized training experience for PhD, PDF, and ECR participants.

A minority of doctoral recipients end up in a full-time career in academia, for numerous reasons—the limited number of tenure-equivalent research positions, an interest in putting their skills and knowledge to use in other industries, the systemic biases that push people off the tenure track.

Career uncertainty, and feeling a lack of autonomy in career planning, is also a significant driver of mental health issues for graduate students and research fellows. So even for those who are committed to pursuing a faculty career, TRIANGLE awardees need early exposure to a variety of potential career options and a supportive environment in which to explore them, which we provide through: (1) training workshops and programs; (2) experiential learning opportunities; (3) mentorship and network building; (4) future initiatives to be developed with the leadership of TRIANGLE awardees

People who develop and execute a deliberate career plan achieve greater success and experience greater career satisfaction. Having a structured plan also helps students, fellows, and early career faculty make strategic decisions about what training and opportunities to pursue, which is crucial given the competing pressures of work, family/community, and self-care.

STEP 1

CREATE/UPDATE YOUR IRDP

Submit your Individual Individual Research Development Plan (IRDP) by November 30th each year.

STEP 2

MAKE AN ACTION PLAN

Work with your local supervisor and assigned mentor to draft a career and professional development plan for the coming year, leveraging TRIANGLE and other educational and experiential learning opportunities.

The TRIANGLE curriculum competency framework can help align our offerings with the areas you’ve identified as needing improvement.

STEP 3

IRDP ADVISOR DISCUSSION

At the annual Summit, awardees will meet with a TRIANGLE advisor and have a 1-on-1 discussion about their IRDP. Advisors will help solidify the plan and help awardees leverage training opportunities and support systems that exist in TRIANGLE. After your meeting, you will be asked to complete a quick form to summarize your meeting and actionable items.

Program Supporters
TRIANGLE would like to express their sincerest gratitude to the following benefactors for their generous support of our Program.