Intermural Online Research Group Meetings As Professional Development Tools for Undergraduate, Graduate, and Postdoctoral Trainees

ABSTRACT

In academic research laboratories, well-organized group meetings are common training tools that can benefit individuals and the group as a whole. Owing to the COVID-19 pandemic, virtual meetings have become an increasingly important format for research group meetings. Virtual meeting formats also offer an important and underappreciated advantage ease of collaboration with researchers at other (potentially distant) institutions. Herein, we describe the strategies we employed to facilitate engaging and productive online meetings and academic exchanges between environmental chemistry/engineering laboratories at a primarily undergraduate program and a doctoral research intensive institution. Over a period of 12 months, six intermural group meetings were held through videoconference. All meetings consisted of two segments (1) a literature or research discussion and (2) a professional development session that emphasized topics such as navigating life after completing a bachelor's degree, advice on securing graduate school admission and funding, and characteristics of effective instructors (from the undergraduate perspective). Student-led discussion of scientific literature and research is valuable in enhancing trainees' communication skills, interdisciplinary perspectives, and critical reading of the literature. Professional development sessions facilitate unique opportunities for professional mentorship. Given the substantial pedagogical and other professional benefits of intermural group meetings, we recommend this meeting format as a useful training tool for research trainees even after the current pandemic wanes. © Copyright 2022, Mary Ann Liebert, Inc., publishers 2022.