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 Maya Dentzel, a PhD student in Global Studies, who used the IPS funds to attend the ETHDenver 2023 Community Conference. 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 Maya Dentzel, a PhD student in Global Studies.
Maya used the IPS funds to attend the ETHDenver 2023 Community Conference. Watch the video to learn more!
In Maya's Words: What I Learned
"My larger career goal is to be an educator, writer, and consultant in the climate tech space. ETH Denver 2023 conference is one of the largest gatherings in the web3 tech industry with multiple side events specifically dedicated to climate and tech. IPS grant was instrumental in allowing me to attend this conference. Thanks to the grant I was able to afford accommodations and flight tickets to and from Denver and explore the conference for five days. ETHDenver was a tremendous professional opportunity for me. I was able to meet over thirty different experts and entrepreneurs in the climate tech field in person, ask them questions about their career advice, professional opportunities and the direction the sector is going. Besides official networking sessions and conference presentations, I connected with a lot of people in the climate tech industry in an informal way at side events which helped me a lot to break the ice and introduce myself to new people. It was definitely a very successful networking event as I still stay in touch with most people I met and am engaged with them via LinkedIn and Twitter. I was also able to learn a lot about the industry trends, culture, challenges and opportunities when attending conference sessions and trainings. Overall, this experience was immensely helpful in expanding my professional horizons and growing my network. I feel much more confident about reaching out to my new connections and seeking advice in my next career step. I also feel much more informed and knowledgeable about the climate tech industry. "
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!