The LEADERs Program

“The class helped me to form a good summary of my current leadership skills, and also see what skills I should improve in the future. Also, project management brought [a] number of tricks to better lead my projects at the lab.”

[The class introduced me to] “Leadership strategies and using the agile method in meetings.”

“It will help me be a better leader to undergrad students or master’s students that I work with.”

“I learned how to effectively manage projects and how to develop skills for becoming a better leader…. how to think and behave as a leader.”

“I got a lot out of the leadership training, and appreciated the chance to learn and talk about things that never come up directly in PhD work, like the types of power.”

“I learned leadership and team managing skills for when I (hopefully) become a PI, and an overview of the important steps in project management.”

“This course helped me have big picture about project management, and helped me learn more about my strength and weakness.”

“This course gave me a glimpse into project management, which is critical when becoming a principal investigator.”

“I learned how to initiate a project, how to handle difficulties in the project., and how to work more effectively with other team members.”

“The challenge project laid down a foundation for my dissertation. It helped me get from ideas to actual content written on paper.”

“I’ve learned tips on efficient organization of my current tasks, and how to take on an active role in decision making and courage to negotiate my opinion.”

“It enhanced my systemic thinking when looking at a project; trying to understand what each stakeholder’s role is in a project which can help predict how certain events will affect others or cause them to react.”

“I will apply my knowledge of project management and its tools: building a team, risks, methods to execute projects, project monitoring and planning.”

“This course helped me reexamine my communication and negotiation with my teammates.”

“What I learned in this course will help me more effectively manage myself and others.”

[I learned] “How to be a better team member, especially how to interact better with my PI, my colleagues, and my students.”

[I learned] “The importance of communication.”

“Primarily, I learned how to change my view on the PI-student relationships, particularly, on managing up.”

“Irrespective of future career development, I consider this course one of or maybe the most effective course I have taken.”

“I am able to think of my research ideas more in an entrepreneurial way, which I think is important even for someone who strictly aspires to work in academia. It’s important for people to get out of the minutiae of research questions and think about how findings translate to real world events.”

“Advanced academic degrees are inevitably connected to leading oneself and others as well as with project management, therefore the whole scope of the course fits perfectly the needs of doctoral students as well as postdocs. Especially since leadership and project management classes are usually overlooked in lower levels of education.”