Grad Core Professional Skills

UCLA has defined the Core Professional Skills that each graduate student should develop during their training and divided them into 6 categories below. Check out the UCLA Campus Resources under each category to find out where you can develop your skills.

See the key below to identify which UCLA offices and units provide training in specific Core Professional Skills.

🎓 Your Department/Program

💼 UCLA Career Center Graduate Career Services

🏫 UCLA Division of Graduate Education

📝 UCLA Graduate Writing Center

🧰 Other Campus Resources

Career Path Preparation

🎓 Your Department or Program

Check with your department or program for opportunities to network with alumni, speakers and visiting scientists. Research common funding opportunities for those in your area. Speak with visitors and alumni about their experiences in their career path and jobs and for advice on preparation and application. Seek out additional mentors with expertise in the types of careers, training, and network you want to cultivate.

💼 UCLA Career Center – Graduate Career Services


The Graduate Career Services team at the UCLA Career Center provides one-on-one coaching, workshops and networking events for graduate students, around topics of career exploration, career path preparation, job search, networking and interviewing skills, in preparation for jobs inside and beyond academia. Look for event announcements in your email. Log in to their online professional development platform, 12twenty, to access upcoming events, schedule coaching sessions, AND check out their resources below.

📝 Graduate Writing Center

The Graduate Writing Center offers a variety of workshops and thesis-writing support programs. The GWC offers FREE appointments with friendly, experienced writing consultants to all registered UCLA graduate and professional school students. They provide online videos of workshops on a variety of topics, including writing job application materials, conference proposals and presentations, literature reviews, grant writing, and for non-native English speakers in improve their English writing skills. They also have a collection of the best online resources for writing, including how to communicate with broader audiences.

🧰 Other Campus Resources

CIRTL

The CIRTL@UCLA program supports the professional and career development of graduate students who are considering academic careers, through a CIRTL@UCLA Certification Pathway, Courses and Workshops, Resource Guides and a robust learning community. Much of their training involves skills development in preparation for future faculty positions, including preparing faculty applications and teaching philosophy statements. 

BioCareers
UCLA is a member of BioCareers, the largest jobs board for job seekers in the biomedical and life sciences. In addition to the jobs board, they have other resources for bioscience research professional development. You can join for free with our UCLA Affiliate membership!

Graduate Programs in Bioscience
GPB hosts career planning workshops on Creating an Individual Development and hosts or advises several networking and affinity groups that can help grow your professional networks, such as Black Scholars in Biosciences, Bioscience Women’s Circle, Society for the Advancement of Chicanos and Native Americans in Science (SACNAS) UCLA Chapter, and Association for Multi-Ethnic Bioscientists’ Advancement (AMEBA).

Communication

  • Scholarly and professional writing in one’s field 🎓📝🧰
  • Managing complex writing projects 🎓📝🧰
  • Public speaking 🎓📝🧰
  • Making formal presentations in one’s field 🎓📝🧰
  • Employing effective visual communication 🎓🧰
  • Communicating with diverse audiences 🎓📝🧰
  • Communicating across multiple platforms 🎓🧰

🎓 Your Department or Program

Check with your department or program for opportunities to network with alumni, speakers and visiting scientists. Research common funding opportunities for those in your area. Speak with visitors and alumni about their experiences in their career path and jobs and for advice on preparation and application. Seek out additional mentors with expertise in the types of careers, training, and network you want to cultivate.

🏫 Division of Graduate Education

Grad Slam
Grad Slam is a campus and UC-wide competition that showcases and awards the best 3-minute research presentations by graduate students. Think TED Talks on steroids. The competition aims to strengthen the important career development skill of articulating graduate research concisely and effectively to a non-specialist audience. It also highlights the excellence, importance and relevance of UCLA graduate students and their research.

📝 Graduate Writing Center

The Graduate Writing Center offers a variety of workshops and thesis-writing support programs. The GWC offers FREE appointments with friendly, experienced writing consultants to all registered UCLA graduate and professional school students. They provide online videos of workshops on a variety of topics, including writing job application materials, conference proposals and presentations, literature reviews, grant writing, and for non-native English speakers in improve their English writing skills. They also have a collection of the best online resources for writing, including how to communicate with broader audiences.

🧰 Other Campus Resources

CIRTL

The CIRTL@UCLA program supports the professional and career development of graduate students who are considering academic careers, through a CIRTL@UCLA Certification Pathway, Courses and Workshops, Resource Guides and a robust learning community. Much of their training involves skills development in preparation for future faculty positions, including preparing faculty applications and teaching philosophy statements. 

Wellness and Self Development

  • Time management 📝🧰
  • Setting realistic goals 🎓🧰
  • Maintaining progress towards goals 🎓🧰
  • Understanding and navigating requirements and expectations of my program 🎓🏫📝🧰
  • Balancing academic and research responsibilities with other aspects of my life 🎓📝🧰
  • Personal health and wellness 🏫🧰
  • Managing personal finances and planning for the future 🏫📝🧰
  • Developing community and social relationships 🎓🏫🧰
  • Actively engaging with different identities and opinions 🎓🏫🧰
  • Developing healthy boundaries and self-advocacy skills 🎓🏫📝🧰

🎓 Your Department or Program

Your mentor, department or program should be able to help you with realistic goal-setting, maintaining progress, and navigating program requirements. Programs and disciplinary areas offer many avenues to practice engaging with different identities and opinions and developing self-advocacy skills. 

🏫 Division of Graduate Education

Graduate Division oversees graduate student appointments and services and provides a number of centralized resources. In particular, graduate students facing challenges to their training progress for any reason, should reach out to the Graduate and Postdoctoral Case Managers for assistance and guidance to available resources. Graduate Division also provides workshops for graduate students related to navigating your training, obtaining fellowship funding, financial wellness, diversity and inclusion and other topics. 

📝 Graduate Writing Center

The Graduate Writing Center offers a variety of workshops and thesis-writing support programs. The GWC offers FREE appointments with friendly, experienced writing consultants to all registered UCLA graduate and professional school students. They provide online videos of workshops on a variety of topics, including writing job application materials, conference proposals and presentations, literature reviews, grant writing, and for non-native English speakers in improve their English writing skills. They also have a collection of the best online resources for writing, including how to communicate with broader audiences.

🧰 Other Campus Resources

Graduate Student Resource Center
The Graduate Student Resource Center (GSRC) offers workshops year-round on topics related to wellness, self development, funding, success in your program and more. You can visit their office for drop-ins, free printing services, and more. Join their newsletter for more information about upcoming events and to stay connected.

UCLA Wellness and Self Development Resources
UCLA offers a number of wellness and self development resources for graduate students.

Wellness:

Financial Wellness:

Finding Community:

Engage Across Difference:

UCLA Equity Diversity and Inclusion Training Hub

Graduate Programs in Bioscience (GPB)
GPB hosts workshops related to time management and achieving balance, goal-setting, mentoring relationships, successfully navigating your training, personal wellness, and diversity and inclusion. 

Leadership, Collaboration, and Project Management

  • Managing projects 🎓🧰
  • Obtaining funding in a research or professional setting 🎓📝🧰
  • Managing a budget in a research or professional setting 🧰
  • Developing entrepreneurial skills 🧰
  • Leading the planning of an event or initiative 🧰
  • Leading a team 🏫🧰
  • Working in a diverse team 🎓🧰
  • Collaborating across different working styles 🎓
  • Resolving interpersonal conflict 🎓🧰
  • Managing mentor and mentee relationships 🎓🧰
  • Identifying opportunities for service and community engagement 🎓💼🏫🧰

🎓 Your Department or Program

Your mentor, department or program should be able to help you with realistic goal-setting, maintaining progress, and navigating program requirements. Programs and disciplinary areas offer many avenues to practice engaging with different identities and opinions and developing self-advocacy skills. 

📝 Graduate Writing Center

The Graduate Writing Center offers a variety of workshops and thesis-writing support programs. The GWC offers FREE appointments with friendly, experienced writing consultants to all registered UCLA graduate and professional school students. They provide online videos of workshops on a variety of topics, including writing job application materials, conference proposals and presentations, literature reviews, grant writing, and for non-native English speakers in improve their English writing skills. They also have a collection of the best online resources for writing, including how to communicate with broader audiences.

🧰 Other Campus Resources

UCLA Leadership, Project Management and Collaboration Resources
UCLA offers a number of leadership resources for graduate students

Finding and Obtaining Funding:

  • The Division of Graduate Education hosts a searchable graduate student funding database and holds several workshops per year on fellowship funding and financial aid. 

Entrepreneurial:

Leading a group or planning events:

Opportunities for Service and Community Engagement:

Graduate Programs in Bioscience (GPB)
GPB hosts workshops related to time management and achieving balance, goal-setting, mentoring relationships, successfully navigating your training, personal wellness, and diversity and inclusion. 

Teaching and Mentorship

  • Creating an inclusive classroom for learners from diverse backgrounds 🧰
  • Applying evidence-based pedagogical methods 🧰
  • Designing and developing a course and learning goals 🧰
  • Developing effective assessments for learning outcomes 🧰
  • Training learners in research skills and techniques 🎓🧰
  • Advising, role modeling, and mentoring 🧰
  • Using instructional technology effectively 🧰
  • Developing a teaching philosophy 💼🧰

🎓 Your Department or Program

Check with your department or program, and mentors for opportunities to mentor more junior research trainees, including undergraduates, new graduate students, summer researchers, etc.

💼 UCLA Career Center – Graduate Career Services


The Graduate Career Services team at the UCLA Career Center provides one-on-one coaching, workshops and networking events for graduate students, around topics of career exploration, career path preparation, job search, networking and interviewing skills, in preparation for jobs inside and beyond academia. Look for event announcements in your email. Log in to their online professional development platform, 12twenty, to access upcoming events, schedule coaching sessions, AND check out their resource guides below.

🧰 Other Campus Resources

CIRTL
UCLA is part of the Center for the Integration of Research, Teaching, and Learning (CIRTL) nation-wide online network of 40+ universities seeking to enhance excellence in undergraduate education through development of a national faculty committed to implementing and advancing evidence-based teaching practices for diverse learners. The CIRTL@UCLA program supports the professional and career development of graduate students who are engaged in teaching now, or who are considering academic careers, through a CIRTL@UCLA Certification Pathway, Courses and Workshops, Resource Guides and a robust learning community. Much of their training involves skills development in evidence-based pedagogy, creating inclusive classrooms, designing courses, learning goals and assessments, using instructional technology, and developing a teaching philosophy.

Center for the Advancement of Teaching (CAT)
They foster and champion effective teaching, grounded in sound pedagogy and enhanced by innovation, to promote successful learning for our diverse student population. To realize this mission, they collaborate with faculty and other campus partners, drawing on our wide range of expertise in pedagogy, educational technology, assessment, learning spaces, and curricular research.

Graduate Programs in Bioscience (GPB)
GPB hosts courses and workshops related to developing research mentorship skills, both as a mentee and mentor. 

Scholarly Expertise and Integrity

  • Understanding how to access and assess literature and research in your discipline 🎓🧰
  • Developing command of the existing knowledge in your discipline 🎓
  • Developing familiarity with interdisciplinary knowledge and research approaches 🎓
  • Designing research to address important questions in your field 🎓
  • Mastering research methods in your field and relevant adjoining fields 🎓
  • Collaborating effectively in research 🎓🧰
  • Upholding ethical norms and practicing responsible conduct and dissemination of research 🎓🧰
  • Practicing civility in scholarly exchange and the research environment 🎓

🎓 Your Department or Program

Your mentor, department and program should be your primary resources for developing your research, scholarship and academic skills. There may be questions or issues around your research and the way your research group/mentor operates that you do not even know to ask.

🧰 Other Campus Resources

Scholarly Expertise and Integrity Resources

UCLA Library:

Graduate Programs in Bioscience (GPB)
Graduate Programs in Bioscience and Bioscience Postdoc Affairs host courses in Responsible Conduct of Research and Rigor and Reproducibility that meet NIH and NSF Fellowship and Traineeship requirements. Also, many workshops provided by GPB touch on effective collaboration, mentoring relationships, and other best practices in research settings.

You can further explore the Core Professional Skills and campus resources to develop your skills on UCLA Graduate Programs in Bioscience’s website.

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