LEADERSHIP TRAINING & PROGRAMS
Leadership and Professional Strategies and Skills (LEAPS)
In Spring 2020, I co-founded a new program at MIT together with Diane Rigos, called “Leadership and Professional Strategies and Skills (LEAPS)”. Our goal has been to offer high level career development training to emerging scientists (grad students and postdocs), in addition to the rigorous technical training they are receiving at MIT. Professional development has long been recognized as vital for advancing graduate student and postdoc careers in academia and industry and our LEAPS program has significantly and sustainably contributed to the career success of many since then.
The responses to our course have been overwhelming and it’s been such a joy to work with the students and postdocs, many of whom have since become prestigious postdoctoral fellows, industry group leaders, and tenure-track faculty at renowned universities across the globe.
In 2023, I received the Irwin Sizer Award for the "Most Significant Improvement to MIT Education" by the MIT Graduate Student Council. The citation reads:
Anna has a gift for empowering others. She spearheaded the Leadership and Professional Skills and
Strategies (LEAPS) course, sharing her own career experiences to increase academic and
professional opportunities for Ph.D. candidates and postdocs. In the words of one
student, “I cannot overstate how much of an impact her talent, insight, and dedication
have had on the next generation of MIT researchers and leaders.”
Curious to learn more about the LEAPS program? An 8-page feature article can be found here.
Professional development for MIT Junior Faculty and STEM professionals
Learning new skills and about various leadership aspects is not limited to any specific career age. In fact, it becomes more and more important as we all climb our respective career ladders.
Given the enormous success of LEAPS for graduate students and postdocs, I have also offered a Faculty version of the LEAPS program for Junior Faculty at MIT.
=> To offer these kinds of programs more widely, I have teamed up with MIT Professional Education. I'm one of several instructors of the "Women in Leadership: Becoming an agent of change" online course, and I teach my own in-person short program "Roadmapping Success for Women Leaders" every summer now. These course are wonderful way of connecting with other women and helping them transform their careers, goals and lifes.
As participants shared afterwards:
“I think the concept is amazing and it is extremely helpful to junior and senior faculty. We are not trained in management or leadership yet that's what we have to do and therefore it is crucial we get training like this.”
“This has been extremely helpful, especially discussing with others about their experiences and how they manage different situations.”
“I enjoyed this course very much. Yes, I would recommend this course for faculty and for scientific staff as well, anyone who supervises students or postdocs, and has to give talks/write papers.”
“The course gave me a framework to better understand some of the practices I was already doing, and how I might improve upon them. I also learned some techniques for conversations and mentoring that I will definitely be able to use. Thanks Anna!”
GAPS - Graduate Applications and Professional Skills
We developed a mini series for graduating seniors in Physics about strategic writing in preparation for their Personal Statement as part of the graduate school applications. This includes several writing workshops and writing “office hours” in addition to tips and tricks on networking and how to make the most of the school visit after receiving a grad school offer.
Every Fall, our GAPS sessions are extremely well attended as it provides practical tools and reassurance about graduate school application process!Are you ready for the next level with your career ?
