National Postdoc Appreciation Week (NPAW 2025)

National Postdoc Appreciation Week began in 2009; UNC Charlotte is proud to participate and celebrate our hardworking Postdoctoral Fellows! The National Postdoctoral Association will be holding a virtual kickoff event on Monday, September 15, and will be hosting all sorts of virtual events throughout the week – you can check out the calendar here.

Meanwhile, the CGLL has teamed up with partners across the campus and state to create special postdoc-centric events right here in Charlotte! You can see all the details below – we hope to see you at some (or all!) of the NPAW activities!

UNC CHarlotte NPAW EVENTS

1. Postdoc Snack & Email Exchange at CIPHER

Date & Time: Monday, September 15, 2025, 3:00–4:00 p.m.
Location: Seminar Room, 4th Floor, Department of Bioinformatics & Genomics, UNC Charlotte (9331 Robert
D. Snyder Road, Charlotte, NC)

Join us for an afternoon of connection and fun at the Center for Computational Intelligence to Predict Health and
Environmental Risks (CIPHER) (https://cipher.charlotte.edu/). Postdocs are invited to share a snack that represents
their culture, childhood, or just something they find amusing. Each snack will be displayed at a tasting table, with the
postdoc’s name and email available for others to connect.

Guests will be able to:

• Taste a variety of snacks from around the world.
• Vote for their favorite snack by placing a slip with the postdoc’s name in a jar.
• Celebrate the winner, who will receive UNC Charlotte swag provided by the Thomas L. Reynolds Center for
  Graduate Life & Learning (gradlife.charlotte.edu).

Coffee will be provided. This event is supported by Dr. Aura Young, Associate Director of the Reynolds Center, as part of
a weeklong celebration of postdocs at Charlotte.

Finding the room: From the elevator, turn right—the seminar room is directly across from CIFER. From the main
staircase, the CIFER entrance opens in front of the seminar room. The Bioinformatics building is located near Duke
Centennial Hall and the UNC Charlotte Marriott Hotel, accessible by the Silver Line shuttle. The nearest stop is the Bat
Cave station.

How to Participate?

• Each postdoc may bring one favorite snack for the competition.
• Other labs, PIs, faculty, and staff are welcome to join the fun as well:
• One snack per person OR
• One snack per PI/lab (if they want to compete as a group).
• Snacks will be placed on tables with a card listing the name and email of the person (or PI/lab) who brought them.

Voting & Awards

• Guests will sample the snacks and then vote for their favorite by writing the person’s name on a slip of paper.
• All votes go into a collection box.
• At the end of the event, the votes will be counted, and the winner will receive swag courtesy of the Thomas L.
  Reynolds Center for Graduate Life & Learning, represented by Dr. Aurelio.
  Purpose

2. Crokinole & Connections at Divine Barrel Brewing

Date & Time: Wednesday, September 17, 2025, 7:00–9:30 p.m.
Location: Divine Barrel Brewing, 3701 N. Davidson Street, Suite 203, Charlotte, NC 28202 (divinebarrel.com).

Step outside campus and unwind with fellow postdocs at Divine Barrel Brewing in the heart of NoDa. Alongside craft
beer and conversation, participants can enjoy Crokinole, a Canadian tabletop game often described as a mix between
curling and shuffleboard played on a wooden board. Players take turns flicking small discs toward the center of the
board, aiming for high-scoring zones while knocking out their opponent’s pieces—a fun, social, and competitive way to
bond.

Directions from UNC Charlotte:

• By light rail: Take the Blue Line southbound and exit at 36th Street Station. From there, walk west on 36th Street, turn left on Spencer Street, left on Academy Street, right on Charles Lane, and left on Anderson Street until you reach North Davidson Street. Divine Barrel is near the Halo Bar & Lounge and DeeJai Noodle Bar.
• By car: Divine Barrel offers easy access from North Davidson Street with nearby parking options. You can parkfor free at the corner next to the brewery.

Crokinole play is free of charge, and postdocs can gather in a relaxed, social atmosphere to celebrate their
contributions to research, discovery, and innovation at Charlotte.

The CLT Crokinole League

• This event will feature the Queen City Crokinole League, a local group of players who gather regularly at Divine Barrel Brewing.
• Two active members of the league are former UNC Charlotte’s post-docs:
  • Dr. Denis Jacob Machado: Assistant Professor, Department of Bioinformatics & Genomics, UNC Charlotte.
  • Dr. Janice Kofsky: Former postdoctoral scholar in bioinformatics and currently a Plant Genomics Data Scientist at Benson Hill.

How to Engage

• Postdocs and guests are invited to learn and play Crokinole alongside Denis, Jan, and other league players.
• Crokinole play is free of charge at Divine Barrel.
• Participants are encouraged to ask Denis and Jan questions about academic careers, industry transitions, and postdoc life, making this both a social and a mentoring opportunity.

3. NC State PREPP Series – The Faculty Search: When to Begin and How to Organize

Date & Time: Thursday, September 18, 2025, 12:00pm – 1:15pm.
Location: Zoom

The Postdoctoral Readiness to Enter the Professorship Program (PREPP) is a yearly, ongoing series of webinars and workshops tailored specifically to the professional needs of postdocs. This workshop, held during NPAW, focuses on one of the most pressing questions amongst postdocs – how do you prepare to find a faculty position? Assistant professors share how they planned and organized their job searches for faculty positions.

4. Postdoc Meetup at Armored Cow Brewing

Date & Time: Friday, September 19, 2025, 5:00pm
Location: Armored Cow Brewing, 8821 JW Clay Boulevard Suite 1, Charlotte, NC 28262

Wrap up Postdoc Appreciation Week with a relaxing evening at Armored Cow Brewing! You can socialize, enjoy great drinks, and network with your fellow UNC Charlotte Postdocs. This week is all about you, so make some connections and have fun!

This event is supported by Dr. Aura Young, Associate Director of the Reynolds Center. Find us at the table with the We Love Postdocs swag!