Professional Development

Professional Meetings

The Noble Foundation encourages its scientists, researchers, agricultural consultants, technical staff and professional staff to attend approved national and, when appropriate, international meetings to further their knowledge and understanding of specific topics or pursuits. The Noble Foundation pays travel and registration fees to attend such meetings.

Noble Foundation scientists, researchers and agricultural consultants commonly present their research at the most prestigious national and international meetings and conferences. Examples of conferences that have included Noble Foundation presentations include:

• International Plant and Animal Genome Conference
• Congress on Molecular Plant-Microbe Interactions
• ASMS Conference on Mass Spectrometry
• American Phytopathological Society Annual Conference
• American Society for Plant Biologists
• American Society for Virology National Meeting
• Beef Improvement Federation Annual Meeting
• ASA/CSSA/SSSA/ASF
• Gordon Research Conference
• International Botanical Congress
• International Congress on Molecular Plant-Microbe Interactions
• International Model Legume Conference
• International Union of Microbiological Societies
• Metabolomics Society
• Molecular Breeding of Forage and Turf Grass International Symposium

Additionally, the Noble Foundation hosts conferences and workshops that present the research of national and international thought leaders. Examples of past meetings include: International Workshop on Summer Dormancy in Grasses, Workshop in Virus Evolution and Southern Plains Beef Symposium. The Noble Foundation pays travel and registration fees to attend these meetings and conferences.

Centralized graphic services, provided through the Noble Foundation's Publications and Visual Media Department, assist poster presenters in graphic/figure development, photography, layout, finalizing and printing posters for presentation at meetings and conferences.

Publications

Publications contribute significantly to the reputation and career development of scientists and researchers. Noble Foundation scientists and researchers publish approximately 70 articles annually in nationally and internationally recognized, peer-reviewed journals. Journals that publish, and in many instances regularly publish, the research outcomes of Noble faculty and research staff include Archives of Virology, Agronomy Journal, Applied and Environmental Microbiology, Bioenergy Research, Crop Science, In Vitro Cellular and Developmental Biology, Journal of Plant Registrations, Molecular Breeding, Nature, Phytopathology, Plant Journal, Plant Physiology, Planta, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences and Science.

Collaborations

As a consequence of their expertise and scientific leadership, Noble Foundation faculty and scientific staff enjoy the opportunity to collaborate with a broad range of industry, government and academic institutions to mutually benefit each institution's research programs. A sampling of Noble Foundation collaborations includes The Salk Institute for Biological Studies (USA), University of Georgia (USA), University of Minnesota (USA), Texas A&M University (USA), the U.S. Dept. of Energy's BioEnergy Science Center at Oak Ridge National Laboratory (USA), AgResearch Ltd. (New Zealand), Forage Genetics International (USA), BASF Plant Sciences GmbH (Germany) and Ceres, Inc. (USA).

Postdoctoral Training and Mentoring

Postdocs are found in all three operating divisions of the Noble Foundation - Agricultural, Forage Improvement and Plant Biology. The Noble program provides a unique research culture for participants in fundamental, translational and applied plant and agricultural sciences. The Noble Foundation employs about 60 postdocs from more than 20 countries. Research terms typically range from three to four years.

For the most recent five-year period, more than 55 postdocs completed their term(s) at the Noble Foundation and moved on to additional research fellowships or completed their training and returned to their home countries to teach and/or conduct research, take faculty positions within the United States or enter industry.

In addition to their contributions to research at the Noble Foundation, Noble postdocs participate in a mentoring program that fosters the development of the individual and his/her future:

• Seminar Series Program: Each postdoc gives a formal 30-minute seminar once or twice a year to the collective scientific faculty and staff of the Noble Foundation. This program not only permits the internal sharing of ideas, perspectives and research progress, but also facilitates presentation skills training, including specific lessons in time management.
• Summer Scholars Program: Annually, postdocs write research proposals and compete to host an undergraduate Noble Summer Research Scholar. Scholars, who are selected from universities across the U.S., conduct separate, relevant research over a 10-week term. Through this process, these postdocs receive experience in proposal writing and those selected also gain experience in mentoring.
• Teaching Experience Program: Postdocs submit short biographies that include topics for which they are competent to teach one-hour lectures for undergraduate students. At the beginning of each semester, the Noble Foundation provides these bios to area colleges and universities, and arranges for their participation as guest lecturers. Participating postdocs gain important real-world, university-level preparation and teaching experience.
• Scholarly Enrichment: Through both internal and external presenters, the Noble Foundation offers training to its postdocs in a variety of areas necessary for career development, including language skills, CV development, grant writing and job interviewing.

The Scientist magazine recognized the Noble Foundation in 2007 (8th) and 2008 (4th) as a top 10 place to work for postdoctoral fellows. In both surveys, the Noble Foundation was the highest ranking plant- and agricultural-based research institution.