An IDP is a tool that allows you to reflect on your training objectives and progress toward them, and set future goals.
The IDP helps you develop a concise training plan to support your career goals by helping you consider the resources and mentoring necessary to achieve them. It also provides you with a framework for productive conversations with mentors about your professional development.
Postdoctoral Affairs
Individual Development Plan
IDP Requirements
Biology and Medicine
As required by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and the Division of Biology & Medicine of Brown University, all postdoctoral trainees are to complete and submit an IDP to both their mentor and the OGPS at the time of their initial appointment and/or upon their next re-appointment.
Other Postdocs
The Office of the Dean of the Faculty requires an IDP in some cases and strongly recommends that mentors and postdocs use an IDP or a similar professional development plan in cases even when not required.
Individual Development Plan Instructions
To comply with the IDP Policy, please follow these 3 steps:
- Download a copy of the IDP Template. It is a Word document in which you can record your responses, save the file, and then add and change things as your projects and career plans evolve.
- When you have entered all the information you wish to include in your IDP, share it with your mentor and discuss your achievements and goals.
- Refine your plan based on your discussion.