Career & Tools
Check out this UCSB series on grad student and postdoc professional development experiences funded by the Individualized Professional Skills (IPS) Program. This week's featured video is by Xin Jiang, a graduate student in Economics, who used the IPS funds to attend a one-week course titled The Post Pandemic World Economy. Read on to watch the video and learn more about the IPS program!
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.
IPS Insights: In our series, "IPS Insights," previous awardees share about their IPS-funded experiences in short informational videos. This week's featured video is by Xin Jiang, a graduate student in Economics.
Xin used the IPS funds to attend an I.S.E.O. Summer School course titled "The Post Pandemic World Economy." Watch the video to learn more!
In Xin's Words: What I Learned
"As a researcher, it's always critical to bring awareness to the change and momentum of the world. I.S.E.O Summer School 2021 invited several Nobel Memorial Laureates to discuss "The Post Pandemic World Economy" with 50 more graduate students in economics around the world. During the one-week course, speakers discussed some of the biggest issues affecting the global economy, including the huge impact of the Covid-19 pandemic. Growth, sustainable development, welfare states, inequalities, labour markets, emerging economies, and digital technology are just some of the topics which were covered. Following a highly appreciated tradition, each lecture of the I.S.E.O. Summer School was followed by a one-hour Q&A session between participants and speakers. I learned many important things, particularly about China's economy, the role of debt restructuring, and the importance of tech firms to the world economy."
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; Graduate Division; the Office of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion; UCSB Innovation and Entrepreneurship Initiative and CNSI Technology Incubator; Career Services; UCSB's divisional deans; and external donors. Learn more about the program here!