The Graduate School supports graduate students and postdoctoral scholars by offering a wide range of resources to help you thrive academically and prepare for diverse career pathways.
Start with an Individual Development Plan (IDP)
The Individual Development Plan helps you reflect, plan, and network to achieve your academic and professional goals.
Making an IDP is the best way to:
- Identify your goals and assess your strengths and weaknesses
- Define a plan to develop skills
- Communicate with advisors and mentors
Graduate Education Resources (GEAR)
- GEAR 1 is an online orientation for all incoming UMN graduate students. With Gear 1, you will learn about the University structure and academic expectations, and how to deal with imposter syndrome and maintain your well-being.
- GEAR+ focuses on every phase of graduate school beyond the first year. With Gear+, you will find resources for research, writing, and teaching, developing transferable skills, and navigating job search.
Workshops
The Graduate School partners with University offices to provide a wide range of online and in person events and workshops that focus on skill development.
Earn Digital Badges
Digital badges certify your specialized skills and let your future employers learn key details about the content of your training.
Three-Minute Thesis (3MT)
The 3-Minute Thesis (3MT®) challenges students to communicate the significance of their projects without the use of props or industry jargon in just three minutes. The competition develops academic, presentation, and research communication skills and teaches students to quickly explain their research to a non-specialist audience.
Campus Partners
Center for Educational Innovation (CEI)
The Center for Educational Innovation advances effective teaching and engaged learning and offers International Teaching Assistant and Preparing Future Faculty programs.
University Libraries Services for Graduate Students
The University Libraries have a wide variety of collections and services to support graduate students and trainees with your coursework and research.
Graduate Student Writing Support from the Center for Writing
Student Writing Support (SWS) offers collaborative one-to-one writing consultations to help student writers develop confidence and effective writing strategies.
Beyond the Professoriate
Beyond the Professoriate is a professional development platform that helps graduate students and postdocs to launch meaningful careers.
National Center for Faculty Development & Diversity
National Center for Faculty Development & Diversity (NCFDD) is a website with on-demand access to mentoring, tools, and support you need to be successful in the Academy.
ImaginePhD
ImaginePhD is a free online career exploration and planning tool for PhD students and postdoctoral scholars in humanities and social sciences.
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