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A new training program supported by the McCall MacBain Foundation aims to help postdoctoral fellows in the Faculty of Science stand out in competitions for tenure-track faculty positions and step into leadership roles in teaching policy and practice.

The McCall MacBain Postdoctoral Fellows in Teaching and Leadership Program will train up to 20 postdoctoral fellows on how to teach using evidence-based methods, become discipline-based education researchers and perform pedagogical research that influences educational policy and practice.  

Applications to the training program are due by Dec. 5 at 5 p.m. To learn more about the program, postdoctoral fellows and faculty are invited to a networking event on Wednesday, Nov. 13 from 2 p.m. to 5 p.m. in Psychology 205.

“When applying for faculty positions, it’s increasing common to give both a job talk about your research and a teaching talk where you deliver a lecture,” says Constance Imbault, Program Manager and Research Coordinator for the McCall MacBain Postdoctoral Fellows in Teaching and Leadership Program. “This new program will give post-docs a head start on their academic leadership journey. They’ll gain the competencies and the confidence to to become great teachers who in turn inspire great students.” 

Post-docs will spend the winter term in weekly journal club meetings on education cognition and attend bi-monthly workshops led by Joe Kim, Associate Professor with the Department of Psychology, Neuroscience & Behaviour. Participants will also complete a capstone project to apply their leadership and education skills.

The Faculty of Science will reimburse 20 per cent of the post-doc’s stipend to their supervisor for the duration of the program during the winter term.

The training program is funded by the McCall MacBain Foundation, which was founded in 2007 by alumna Marcy McCall MacBain and her husband John. Marcy received her BKin (Hons) from McMaster, as well as a Master of Science in International Health Policy from the London School of Economics and Political Science and her PhD in Evidence-Based Health Care at the University of Oxford.

The McCall MacBain Foundation has also invested in teaching and learning in kinesiology and science research with support for the McCall MacBain Foundation Neurophysiology Lab in the McMaster Physical Activity Centre of Excellence. The Foundation also offers one-year international fellowships for McMaster students to study, work and take language training in another country.