Academic Departments & Faculty

Join the GradFUTURES initiative!

Academic departments and faculty inspire graduate students across fields to approach their research and future planning with clarity and confidence.
Shirley Tilghman - Business Skills for PhDs

Image: Sameer A. Khan / Fotobuddy

Each year, GradFUTURES hosts more than 200 programs in concert with our campus partners. We invite you to create customized, discipline-specific professional development programs and resources in your department in partnership with the GradFUTURES team. From bespoke presentations regarding departmental alum outcomes and labor market analyses to professional development programs that augment or complement departmental conferences or symposiums, we work one-on-one with your department to design programs that empower graduate students to succeed in their research while envisioning their future(s).

Explore Our Departmental Offerings

Customized Programs & Presentations

  • Professional development seminars
  • Presentations for symposiums & conferences
  • Orientation programs
  • Admissions open houses
  • Faculty meetings
  • Department webpages & resources
  • Satellite office hours

Career Outcomes & Labor Market Data

Schedule a departmental meeting to discuss graduate alum outcomes, job market trends, and ways to share data regarding diverse careers.

  • Internal dashboards
  • Customized briefings and reports
  • Consultations for department outcomes pages

Competency-based Learning Programs

  • Interdisciplinary Learning Cohorts that span topics and fields
  • Skill-building Workshops
  • Bootcamps, Treks & Retreats
  • IDP sessions
  • LinkedIn Learning Modules & workshops
  • Annual GradFUTURES Forum Conference

Alum Engagement Programs

  • Graduate Alum Mentorship Program
  • Alums-in-Residence
  • Networking receptions
  • Trailblazers Beyond the Tenure Track
  • GradFUTURES podcast
  • Workshops & events

Flexible, Part-time Experiential Programs

  • University Administrative Fellowships
  • Community College Teaching Fellowships
  • GradFUTURES Social Impact Fellowships
  • Higher Education Leadership Fellowships
  • GradFUTURES Micro-Internships in Industry
  • Pre-matriculation Internships (by Department)

Departmental Stories, News & Events

Create and promote stories, news and professional development events from your department. Share this profile form with graduate students, faculty and graduate alums, enabling them to share inspiration regarding graduate student professional development. We will feature them on our site and on social media.

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“As my career has moved between large public and smaller private institutions—and between the humanities and sciences—I’ve learned that navigating these contexts called on skills I’d never been explicitly taught. For graduate students, programs like GradFUTURES that can build these skills now will empower them to succeed even as the world around them changes."

Elizabeth Margulis, Professor of Music, Director of the Music Cognition Lab

Featured Faculty and Alum Profiles

Ann Marie Russell *12, PSY
Associate Provost for Data and Analytics, University of Massachusetts-Amherst

"When I was in graduate school, it felt like we had two choices: an academic career or failure. The thought of voluntarily pursuing a non-academic career felt sacrilegious. Now I laugh about that culture and mentality."

Patrice Jean *99, MOL
Intellectual Property Partner, Hughes Hubbard

"During graduate school, I honed my skills as a scientist, but I also learned how important it was to engage with all people from different disciplines, places, lifestyles and cultures."

Stanley N. Katz
Professor of Public and International Affairs;
"The Higher Education Workshop has been a boon for me as a scholar-teacher with a long commitment to the study of higher education policy."
William A. Gleason
Hughes-Rogers Professor of English and American Studies

"It's exciting to see how many new initiatives and opportunities for graduate student professional development are emerging here on campus, in communication, teaching, leadership, wellness, career management, and other crucial areas."

We empower graduate students to create their future(s) -- on their terms.

GradFUTURES Star

Established by the Graduate School in fall of 2019, GradFUTURES® serves as Princeton’s professional development hub for empowering graduate student futures through a broad spectrum of skills training, mentorship, bespoke experiential opportunities and interdisciplinary learning programs. 

Learn more about our approach.