New data about career paths for biomedical PhDs has been published by a group led by Cynthia Fuhrmann and Bill Lindstaedt from the University of California, San Francisco (essay in CBE-Life Sciences Education). They report data they have collected from graduate students in biomedical PhD programs at their school career centers. The statistic that jumps off the page is that 71.2% of all graduate students polled were “strongly considering” a career that was outside of scientific research. The non-scientific research careers were broad ranging (business of science, science policy, education-related, writing, etc.). There is a nice summary of the paper on Bio Job Blog that you can read by clicking…
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NIH Alumni: Where are they now? Profile 8 – NIH Alumnus to NIH Tenure Track Investigator
This is the eighth in a series of profiles about recent NIH postdocs who have found an array of jobs, from academia to industry to communications and beyond, in the U.S. and abroad. What do they do now, and how did they get there? What challenges did they face, and what advice do they have? Read on to find out. NOTE: During the interview for this profile, Dr. Milner noted that he had some exciting findings his lab was submitting for publication. Those findings were published in the New England Journal of Medicine and highlighted in the NIH e-clips. Name: Joshua Milner Current position: Tenure-track investigator, Laboratory of Allergic Diseases, NIAID,…
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Discussing Your Career with Your PI
Last week we challenged you to make your career a priority in 2012. We even provided a calendar you could follow for the year. As with most “resolutions” the first step is an extremely important step. In our calendar to job success, that first step is to have a conversation with your PI about your career plans. This is true no matter what career path you are planning, from academics, industry and beyond. We have conducted a random poll around the OITE and with fellows who have recently left. The results are clear: Having a conversation with their PI about the next step can be scary. You may be unsure…
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Career Resolutions: Setting a Calendar for Career Success in 2012
Happy New Year! It is time for the annual tradition of making New Year’s resolutions. Often the theme of resolutions is to better oneself through eating better, exercising more or changing a habit that drives us crazy (this will be the year that I paste every gel into my notebook and stop using paper towels for my calculations!). While healthy bodies and well organized notebooks are great things, we encourage you to resolve to prioritize advancing your career. Do you need to make a decision about what to do after your training? Do you need to network more and/or more efficiently? Do you need to develop skills to make a…