The Postdoc Network's article on teaching opportunities for postdocs - Practical Paths of Promising Professors [1] - has been one of our most popular. Since many of our postdoc (and graduate student) readers are interested in teaching at a college or university, we thought we would create a list of resources to help you in your quest.

Teaching Opportunities for Postdocs -

• Four universities have postdoctoral training programs - funded by the NIGMS's MORE Institutional Research and Academic Career Development Awards [2] - to give postdocs teaching experience:

Preparing the Professors of the Future [3] at UC-Davis

Seeding Postdoctoral Innovators in Research and Education [4] (SPIRE) at the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill

Postdoctoral Research and Education Program [5] (PREP) at Emory University

Postdoctoral Excellence in Research and Teaching [6] (PERT) at the University of Arizona

• Preparing Future Faculty:

  While the Preparing Future Faculty [7] (PFF) program of the Council of Graduate Schools (CGS) and the Association of American Colleges and Universities (AAC&U) is designed primarily for graduate students, some university PFF programs allow postdocs to participate. Learn more about the PFF program in this article [8] by Mona Mort.
  In addition to the PFF programs at over 40 institutions, some universities have created their own clone PFF-like programs. A list can be found on the PFF site [9]. For example, Vanderbilt University has a program - Future Faculty Preparation Program [10] - that includes postdocs.
  

• Liberal Arts Colleges:

  As discussed in Leslie Pray's article (Postdoc Life at Liberal Arts Colleges, Part 1 [11] and Part 2 [12]), postdocs at liberal arts colleges often have the opportunity to teach and mentor undergraduate students.
  

• Practical Paths of Promising Professors [1] discusses a variety of ways that postdocs can find teaching opportunities and experiences and why this experience can be critical for future success.

Advice on how to teach -

Learning How to Teach: How to Do It and Why You Want to [13]

Gordon Uno's Handbook on Teaching Undergraduate Science Courses: A Survival Training Manual [14] (the Next Wave's review can be found here [15] - note: the cost of the book on 4/4/01 is $19.50).

Teaching Statements -

The Truth Behind Teaching and Research Statements [16]

Advice on Student Evaluations -

Your Teaching Style Can Make Your Career [17]

General advice and first-person perspectives -

Q & A: Teaching At a Liberal Arts College [18] - a professor of biology at a small liberal arts college answers a postdoc's questions about teaching experience and making the transition to a college teaching career.

Making the Transition from Graduate School to Teaching [19] - an assistant professor at a small college discusses and dispels the myths about college teaching.

Advice for Postdocs [20] - In this letter to the editor of The Chronicle of Higher Education, a departmental chair gives his advice to postdocs interested in college teaching careers.

The Chronicle of Higher Education's Career Network [21] - a great resource of job announcements in academics and free advice on academic career topics. Check out Richard Reis' recent article on Giving a Job Talk in the Sciences [22] and Ms. Mentor [23]'s sage, and always witty, advice on life in academics.

Index of Postdoc Network Articles on Teaching Opportunities

Learning to Teach: Diary of the Postdoc Pilots. Part 2: Exams, Ethics, and Evaluations. [24]

Science Education Partnerships: Building communities where everybody learns. [25]

Learning to Teach: Diary of the Postdoc Pilots. Part 1: Developing the Profession. [26]

Teaching the Professoriate: A web-based program designed for postdocs by UCSF and SF State faculty. [27]

SPIRE program at UNC-CH prepares postdocs to be scientist-teachers for academic careers. [28]

Teaching postdocs focus on science education instead of research. [29]

UMass Teaching Documentation Program validates postdoc efforts to develop teaching skills. [30]