Career & Tools

Check out this UCSB series on grad student and postdoc professional development experiences funded by the Individualized Professional Skills (IPS) Program. Our latest featured video is by Gracie White, an alumnae of the Bren School of Environmental Science and Management, who attended the 2020 Aquaculture America conference. Read on to watch the video and learn more about the IPS program!

By Chava Nerenberg, Graduate Programming Assistant
Friday, November 13th, 2020 - 8:00am


Have you ever wished you had support to take advantage of a professional or career development opportunity that lies outside the scope of your academic research? The UCSB Individualized Professional Skills (IPS) Program is designed to help graduate students and postdoctoral scholars fill in the funding gaps for pursuing opportunities that support your professional development in a variety of career trajectories.

gracie whiteIPS Insights: We are excited to continue our new series "IPS Insights," where previous awardees share about their IPS-funded experiences in short informational videos. Our latest featured video is by Gracie White, an alumnae of the Bren School of Environmental Science and Management.

Gracie attended the 2020 Aquaculture America workshop in Hawaii. Aquaculture America is the largest national aquaculture conference and trade exposition in the U.S., combining scholarly presentations with an exposition of the latest products and services for the aquaculture industry. Watch her video to learn more about her experience!

In Gracie's Words: What I Learned

"I attended the 2020 Aquaculture America Conference in Honolulu, and then coordinated a site visit to an aquaculture research park to speak to farmers and view their systems on the Big Island. I heard several talks regarding recent research within the aquaculture industry, made valuable career connections, and learned about different industry players. Anyone interested in aquaculture would benefit from attending this conference in the future."

IPS Program Overview

Awards up to $1000 are granted to eligible UCSB graduate students and postdoctoral scholars from any discipline who wish to individually tailor their career paths with outside professional development opportunities. The purpose of the IPS program is to help grad students and postdocs take greater agency in their own career path by funding exploration of a range of professional development opportunities across a variety of career and skill interests.

The IPS Program is a collaboration between the Professional Development Series at the Center for Science and Engineering Partnerships; the Graduate Division; the Office of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion; UCSB Innovation and Entrepreneurship initiative and CNSI Technology Incubator; Career Services; UCSB SACNAS Career Pathways Program via DoD HBCU/MI award W911NF-20-1-0294; UCSB's divisional deans; and external donors. Learn more about the program here!