Postdoc Awards

The 2025 Excellence in Postdoctoral Mentoring Award Announcement

The Office of the Vice Provost for Graduate Students and Postdoctoral Scholars (OGSPS) wants to acknowledge the essential role postdoctoral trainees play in our research, teaching, and engagement missions here at Purdue University. 

The Council of Graduate Schools (CGS) defines a mentor as:

"…a more senior individual who provides career and psychosocial support to a junior member of a given organization. Mentorships center on emotional commitment, which focuses on the protégé’s personal and professional growth. Mentoring relationships, by nature, are reciprocal and more enduring than relationships with an academic advisor, supervisor, or dissertation chair."

If you know an amazing postdoc-mentor and would like to nominate this individual, follow these steps:

1. Gather all documents required for the nomination package:
   1. Two nomination letters written by two different mentees
      • Mentee letters are limited to 1 page each
   2. One recommendation letter from the postdoc-mentor’s PI
      • The PI letter is limited to 2 pages
   3. Mentoring statement written by the nominee
      • The statement is limited to 2 pages
2. Email the nomination package to ops@purdue.edu by the deadline.
   • Only one nomination package is allowed per postdoctoral scholar
   • There is a 6-page limit for the package, and it must come as a single PDF

Nomination packages are due NOON ET on Thursday, March 6

The Top 5 winners will receive a special plaque to commemorate their achievement, and the TOP Mentor will receive a check for $1,500! Winners will be notified by April 1^st.

What is a mentoring statement?

• A "mentoring statement" is a written declaration that outlines a person's approach to mentoring, explaining their beliefs, expectations, and methods they will use when guiding another individual in their professional development, often including their goals for the mentorship relationship and how they plan to support their mentee's growth; essentially, it's a philosophy statement about how they mentor others. 
• The most successful statements will use concrete examples to support/illustrate mentoring strategies/philosophies
• The most successful packages will have cohesion between all three documents—the mentee letters, the PI letter, and the mentoring statement

Questions? Email the Office for Postdoctoral Scholars at ops@purdue.edu

Postdoc Travel Awards

The Office for Postdoctoral Scholars offers three annual award cycles to supplement career-building travel expenses. To be eligible, you must have already applied (or been invited) to present at an event taking place within the cycle’s targeted travel months.

Awards average $550. Awards are merit-based; postdocs can apply each cycle. Applicants with the greatest professional investment in event attendance are prioritized. Funds are distributed to the postdoc's Concur account. To apply during an open-portal period, click here. For more information, email ops@purdue.edu