FECS Made a Splash at the APS Division of Fluid Dynamics Conference

By Mark Owkes, Member-at-Large

This year, FECS was active at the APS Division of Fluid Dynamics (DFD) meeting, sharing information to early-career scientists and recruiting new members. With our bright FECS t-shirts, many people learned about the forum.

Our largest activity was sponsoring a panel session on applying to postdoc and faculty positions. The six panelists, consisting of department heads and deans, shared insights from their many years being involved in hiring. Here are a few quotes from the session:

• "First paragraph of cover letter needs to 1) grab attention, 2) demonstrate confidence and knowledge, 3) describe fit and new skills bringing to department, and 4) ability to communicate”
• "Tune application to each university you are applying to: identify potential collaborators and talk about how your skills and equipment compliment current department members and resources"
• "9 out of 10 recent faculty hires completed a postdoc”
• "Publish in top journals - quality vs. quantity”
• "Build research network: talk with people at conferences, meet with visitors to current university, etc.”
• “Get teaching experience”
• “Do your homework for the interview: research whom you will be meeting with, the department, the university, etc.”
• Top ways faculty members fail in first five years: "not finding success with grant funding - not teaching effectively - focusing on perfection - not getting to know leaders in area - not getting to know peers in department.”
• Don’t get discouraged: “many very successful faculty members have had to go through many searches”

Overall, involvement at the meeting exposed FECS to many people, and our activities shared very useful information that will help early career scientists.

FECS t-shirt at a table at DFD. Photo credit: Mark Owkes