Early & Mid Career Mentoring Workshop

CRA-WP Virtual Early and Mid-Career Mentoring Series

This year’s series will be offered in six parts, held every Thursday from October 16 through November 20 at 6:00 PM ET. Participants will also have the opportunity to schedule 15-minute one-on-one virtual mentoring sessions on Tuesdays and Wednesdays, beginning at 6:00 PM ET, as availability allows.

Overview

The CRA-WP Virtual Early and Mid-Career Mentoring Series is a six-part program designed to support early-career researchers, junior faculty, and professionals in computing. Through this series, participants will engage with accomplished experts from academia, industry, and government labs who will share their experiences and strategies for navigating career transitions, balancing teaching and research, fostering collaborations, and more.

Each session provides actionable insights and practical tools that can be applied immediately to your professional journey. Whether you’re moving between roles, seeking to enhance your teaching, or exploring new collaborations, this series offers mentorship and guidance to help you succeed.

Fall 2025 Schedule

October 16 | 6:00-7:15 PM ET – Starting a Career at Industry and National Labs
- Alan Bivens, IBM Research
- Nicola Ferrier, Argonne National Labs
- Taghrid Samak, Google Research
- Xiaoye Sherry Li, Lawerence Berkely National Labs
October 23 | 6:00-7:15 PM ET – Seamless Synergy: Integrating Research & Teaching
- Naja Mack, Morgan State University
- Vivian Mott, George Mason Univerity
October 30 | 6:00-7:15 PM ET – Working with Star Undergraduates in Your Research
- Jelani Nelson, University of California, Berkeley
- Kelly Shaw, Williams College
- Yi-Chieh (Jessica) Wu, X Development
November 6 | 6:00-7:15 PM ET – Advancing a Career at Industry and National Labs
- Gonzalo Ramos, Ex-Microsoft Research
- Ioana Baldini, Bloomberg CTO Office
- Judith Hill, Sandia National Laboratories

November 13 | 6:00-7:15 PM ET – Networking Hour
November 20 | 6:00-7:15 PM ET – Effective Teaching
- Rob Parke, University of Southern California
- Shaundra Daily, Duke University
- Oluwakemi Ola, University of British Columbia
- Sadia Sharmin, University of Toronto

Registration

To confirm your participation, a $30 registration fee is required. The fee is reimbursable after you attend at least two sessions and complete the post-series survey, making the series effectively free for engaged participants.

For more details and to register, visit our event registration page.

Intended Audience

The CRA-WP Virtual Early and Mid-Career Mentoring Series is open to everyone, but it is especially designed for those in the early and mid stages of their careers in computing. PhD students nearing graduation may also find the sessions helpful as they prepare for the next step.

Who will benefit most:

Early Career (about 1–4 years after graduate school):
- Postdoctoral researchers
- New faculty members in academia
- Researchers beginning their careers in industry or government labs
Mid-Career (about 5+ years after graduate school):
- Associate professors or faculty with comparable experience
- Researchers with several years of experience in industry or government labs
- Professionals preparing to advance into senior-level roles

We welcome participants affiliated with institutions, industry, or government labs across North America (including U.S. territories).

If you’re unsure whether this series is right for you, contact us at cmw@cra.org.

Past Years

2024 Virtual Career Mentoring Workshops Webinar Series

This six-week webinar series was designed to help early-career researchers, PhD students and graduates, junior faculty, and professionals navigate key career challenges.

Dates: October 11 – November 22
Time: Every Friday at 2:00 pm ET / 11:00 am PT
Where: Via Zoom