Registration is now open for the 2026 Postdoc Career Development Symposium taking place on Friday, July 17, 2026, at the UC Berkeley Pauley Ballroom. Click HERE to register on Eventbrite. Registration will close by Monday, July 13, 2026.
- The Postdoc Development Career Symposium is FREE for Berkeley Lab Postdocs and UC Berkeley Postdocs, Visiting Scholars, and Visiting Student Researchers.
- Shuttle Services will be provided from Berkeley Lab Building 65 to Bancroft & Telegraph (next to CAL Student Union) from 8:30 AM – 6:00 PM.
Career Symposium Agenda
Location: MLK Student Union, UC Berkeley
Date: Friday, July 17
Main Locations:
- Session A: West Pauley Ballroom
- Session B: East Pauley Ballroom
- Session C: Stephens Lounge
- Shared Events: West Pauley Ballroom, 3rd Floor Lobby, Patio Outside Pauley Ballroom
Morning Activities (Shared Events)
|
Time |
Event |
Location |
|
9:00 AM |
Registration Opens |
3rd Floor Lobby |
|
Headshot Appointments |
East Pauley Ballroom |
|
|
10:00 AM |
Opening Remarks Speakers to be announced. In 2025, opening remarks were given by Carol Burns (LBNL) & Katherine Yelick (UC Berkeley) |
West Pauley Ballroom |
|
10:15 AM |
Keynote: “AI and the Future of Work” Ali Douraghy, Head of Special Projects, Frontier AI Affairs, Google DeepMind
|
West Pauley Ballroom |
|
Sponsor Office Hours (To be announced) |
Stephens Lounge |
Break – 11:15–11:30 AM
Concurrent Sessions Block 1 – 11:30–12:30 PM
|
Session A – West Pauley Ballroom |
Company Pitches
|
Hear brief lightning talks from Career Symposium sponsors about what it’s like to work in their organizations, and the types of opportunities available for postdocs. |
|
Session B – East Pauley Ballroom |
“Faculty Job Search Strategy” Dr. Daniel Olson-Bang, Director, Graduate School Professional and Career Development, Syracuse University |
How to prepare for and stand out in a faculty job search, including preparing application materials for different kinds of faculty positions. |
|
Session C – Stephens Lounge |
Sponsor Office Hours (To be announced)
|
Meet informally with representatives from the Career Symposium’s sponsoring organizations. |
Lunch – 12:30–1:30 PM
|
Session A – West Pauley Ballroom |
Networking Lunch Tables
|
Network informally with other postdocs, postdoc alumni, and Career Symposium sponsors over lunch. Select from the following themed tables (all topics tentative):
|
|
Session B – East Pauley Ballroom |
Job Search Strategy Lunch | Join a lunch table hosted by a Berkeley Lab or UC Berkeley career advisor or recruiter for informal small-group discussions. Bring your questions about job search strategy, job application materials, interviewing, etc. |
Concurrent Sessions Block 2 – 1:30 PM–2:30 PM
|
Session A – West Pauley Ballroom |
Workshop: “Job Search Strategy in the Age of AI” Shirin Frederich, Principal Talent Acquisition Partner 1, Calico; Hector Mendoza, R&D Computational/Experimental Thermal Researcher, Sandia National Lab
|
How is AI changing job applications, and how should your job search strategy change in response? Get actionable tips from recruiters and other experts. Speakers and sponsor to be announced. |
|
Session B – East Pauley Ballroom |
Panel: “Careers in Biotech” Ishan Deshpande, Principal Scientist & Group Leader, Genentech Sara Gushgari-Doyle, Associate Director of Strain Development, ZymoChem Naresh Sunkara, Founder, Nostalgic Foods Rishi De-Kayne, Scientist, Arcadia Science
|
Hear from postdoc alumni who have made the leap to industry about how they got their foot in the door, and what the day-to-day is really like. Speakers and sponsor to be announced.
|
|
Session C – Stephens Lounge |
Sponsor Office Hours
|
Meet informally with representatives from the Career Symposium’s sponsoring organizations. |
Break – 2:30–2:45 PM
Concurrent Sessions Block 3 – 2:45–4:00 PM
|
Session A – West Pauley Ballroom |
Workshop: “Interviewing for Industry Jobs,” Bill Lindstaedt, Career Consultant, STEM PhD Career Development
|
This interactive workshop will offer a general overview of the principles of effective interviewing that are applicable to any field, as well as resources and further suggestions for preparing for interviews in industry. Speakers and sponsor to be announced. |
|
Session B – East Pauley Ballroom |
Panel: “Engineering & Data Careers” Justin Ondry, Sr. Process Engineer, Lam Research Terri Lin, Process Engineer, Tesla Valerie Boctor, Research Data Scientist, Google Beichen Zhang, Climate Data Scientist, BlackRock Erwin Lau, Principal Engineer, Exponent. |
Hear from postdoc alumni working in fields like consulting, business, policy, or nonprofits about what it’s like to work “beyond the lab,” and how to find and position yourself for jobs like these. Speakers and sponsor to be announced. |
|
Session C – Stephens Lounge |
Sponsor Office Hours |
Meet informally with representatives from the Career Symposium’s sponsoring organizations. |
B North 82A – Drop-In Consultations: Non-Academic Resumes/CVs, Academic Job Search
Reception – 4:00 PM – 5:00 PM
Location: Patio Outside Pauley Ballroom
Details: Close the day with refreshments and informal networking.
. 
@BerkeleyLab – www.lbl.gov – postdoc-career-fair@lbl.gov – postdoc.lbl.gov – @BerkeleyPostdoc