When attending the third Max Planck Career Fair at Harnack-Haus in Berlin earlier this fall, we got the chance to talk to Katrin Franke, Professor of Computer Science and Head of the NTNU Digital Forensics group at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU).
In this episode, we talk to Katrin about her decision to pursue an academic career and the reason why she moved to Norway. We also get to hear her thoughts on networking and how important it is to build a culture of sharing.
Getting a PhD is only level 1 in Super Mario. At level 2, we need to reorientate ourselves.
- Dr Katrin Franke, Professor of Computer Science at NTNU, Norway
For complete show notes, including links to items mentioned in this episode and a transcript of the podcast, visit www.phdcareerstories.com. You can also find us on social media:
Welcome to a special episode of PhD Career stories. Our guests today are Yorick Peterse and Maria Eichel, whom we met at this year’s Max Planck Symposium for Alumni and Early Career Researchers (#MPSAECR) in Berlin, Germany. At this symposium, Maria and Yorick conducted a workshop on Mental Health and also wrote an article about it on the blog of the Max Planck PhDnet entitled The Mental Health of PhD Candidates.
Today, Maria and Yorick will tell us how “normal” it is to encounter mental health challenges during a PhD, which sounds rightfully alarming. There are numerous preventive and coping measures that can ease the situation. Some of these lie in your own hands, some are – and should be – offered to you by the research institution. Let’s hear it from the experts, welcome Maria and Yorick!
When attending the third Max Planck Career Fair at Harnack-Haus in Berlin earlier this fall, we got the chance to talk to Dr David Alich who works at Capgemini Consulting as Principal for Insight & Data. We talk to David about his decision to leave academia, what he wished he had known before he started his PhD at the Max Planck Institute and how he landed his current position at Capgemini.
I was always asking myself this question: Are you working to live or are you living to work?
- Dr David Alich, Principal Insight & Data at Capgemini Consulting, Hamburg
For complete show notes, including links to items mentioned in this episode and a transcript of the podcast, visit www.phdcareerstories.com. You can also find us on social media:
Prateek Mahalwar is originally from India and completed his PhD under the supervision of Nobel laureate Prof. Christiane Nüsslein-Volhard at the Max Planck Institute for Developmental Biology in Tübingen, Germany. During this time, he studied the cellular mechanism of pigment pattern formation in zebrafish. Beside his PhD research, he was involved in several initiatives with Max Planck Society (MPG) stakeholders as the spokesperson and deputy spokesperson of the Max Planck PhDnet in 2015 and 2014 respectively. He has represented the MPG at several internal and external initiatives like Opencon (a global open science initiative), Early Career Researchers (ECR) advisory board member at eLife, science policy meetings with Science Europe and Open Access Ambassadors program at MPG.
He has been an entrepreneur as well and co-founded two start-ups in parallel to his PhD studies. Currently, he is working as Manager Strategy - Life Sciences at Ernst & Young in Frankfurt. His work includes advising biotechnology, pharma and MedTech companies on investment, product commercialization and digitization topics.
Dr Susanna Bächle is a scientist with a background in Immunology and Virology. Originally from Germany, she has lived, studied and worked in Germany, Australia, Sweden and the US. After graduating with a PhD in Medical Sciences from Karolinska Institutet she moved to Boston (US) to pursue a career at the interface of science and business. At the moment she works for Addgene, a scientific nonprofit organization that aims to accelerate science by facilitating sharing of materials and information. She is passionate about science, innovation, entrepreneurship and global health.”
To me a career path is not a line, it really is a zigzag, and often enough a random looking or even 'lucky' turn to a new job was determined by a meeting, a follow-up email, a networking event which seemed unimportant at the time but ultimately make up the many small necessary steps for shaping your own 'luck'.
- Dr Susanna Bächle, Outreach Scientist at Addgene
For complete show notes, including links to items mentioned in this episode and a transcript of the podcast, visit www.phdcareerstories.com. You can also find us on social media:
Michael Gralla returns for a Tips & Tricks on Career Building, to shed light on what else is important to work on despite your scientific skills. In episode 26 you can hear what motivates him and why he is currently pausing his PhD for is own human capital company.
Linkedin: in/michaelgralla
Website: fby – Find the Best in You.
Twitter: @michaelgralla
My three tips: 1) Become an expert in a discipline unrelated to your PhD project. 2) Get out! 3) Be brave.
Anestis Dougkas is a Researcher in nutrition, health and eating behaviour at the Centre for Food and Hospitality Research at Institut Paul Bocuse, Lyon, France. He graduated from the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Greece with a four-year B.Sc. degree in chemistry with specialization in biochemistry and food chemistry. He continued his studies and received a M.Sc. in food science and nutrition and a Ph.D. in nutrition, within the Nutritional Research Group at University of Reading, UK. His Ph.D. work focused on the associations between consumption of dairy products and the risk of obesity. Specifically, he undertook epidemiological research and human dietary intervention trials, which investigated the effect of dairy on appetite regulation. In 2011, he got a Post-Doctoral Research Fellowship at Food for Health Science Centre, Lund University, Sweden. His research interests are within the area of protein and appetite regulation, obesity prevention and sustainable diets. He is a member of the Nutrition Society, American Society for Nutrition and the Association for the Study of Obesity and alumni of the European Nutrition Leadership Platform.
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In episode 31 of PhD Career Stories, Jenny Zie tells us about her journey from marine research to career coaching and what she has learned along that path.
Jenny Zie finished her PhD at Stockholm University in 2014 and since then worked as a researcher in industry and with competence development at the Swedish Government Offices (Regeringskansliet). Now she is working as a career coach at Uppsala municipality (Uppsala kommun).
In episode 30 of PhD Career Stories, Åsa Burman returns for a tips & tricks-themed podcast. In this episode, we learn more on why shifting focus from what you are working with to how you are working will increase your productivity. In addition, we are presented with different productivity tools and how you can apply them to your own work situation.
Dr Åsa Burman has a broad background and professional experience from business, academia, and social entrepreneurship. Amongst other things, Åsa is the Founder and CEO of Finish On Time - a company that helps graduate students, postdocs, and other academics to finish their academic work on time and feel well during the process. So far, over 1000 PhD students, supervisors, professors and researchers have participated in conferences and seminars organised by Åsa and her colleagues Johanna Clausen Ekefjärd and Henrik Levinsson. Earlier this year, she also published her first book: Bli klar i tid och må bra på vägen: Handbok för doktorander (Natur & Kultur, 2017) which is to be translated into English during next year.
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Professor Alfred Orina Isaac is a Pharmaceutical Scientist with a specific interest in Neuroscience. His research is focused in neurotoxicology and neuroprotection mechanisms in the brain. Currently, he is studying the neurotoxicity of Khat in a mouse model; and also the neuroprotection capability of naturally found compounds against neurotoxic drugs e.g. Melarsoprol. His long term goal is to start the first institute for brain research in Kenya and he has published a book entitled, “Scientific Writing for Students and Young Scientists”.
We are joined by Dr Åsa Burman who has a broad background and professional experience from business, academia, and social entrepreneurship. Amongst other things, Åsa is the Founder and CEO of Finish On Time - a company that helps graduate students, postdocs, and other academics to finish their academic work on time and feel well during the process. So far, over 1000 PhD students, supervisors, professors and researchers have participated in conferences and seminars organised by Åsa and her colleagues Johanna Clausen Ekefjärd and Henrik Levinsson. Earlier this year, she also published her first book: Bli klar i tid och må bra på vägen: Handbok för doktorander (Natur & Kultur, 2017) which is to be translated into English during next year.
In addition, Åsa holds a PhD in Philosophy from Lund University and has also conducted research as a Fulbright Scholar at the University of California, Berkeley. After finishing her PhD, she started working as a Management Consultant at McKinsey & Company and then continued to work with social entrepreneurship. As of a few years ago, Åsa has returned to academia and is currently working as an Assistant Professor in Practical Philosophy at Stockholm University.
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A year ago, [Tina] talked to Michele. At that time, he was a PhD student looking for a job in industry. […] “I have a feeling that you have a lot of energy; would you like to share what you have learned with other people so that you will make life easier for them? Because, you see, I have a dream and a vision to start a podcast.” And Michele said, “Why not? I would love to! I don’t know how to do it, but I can probably learn.”
To learn how this story continued to where we are now just click and listen...
Michael Gralla is a PhD student at the Karolinska Institutet in Stockholm, Sweden and also a Leadership Consultant and Career Coach who has just started his own company: fby – find the best in you.
During his career, Michael has never followed the given path. With a Master in Nutrition, he switched fields to get a PhD in Molecular Biology. During his PhD studies, Michael repeatedly guided fellow PhD students and postdocs in career related questions and helped them organize their next career moves. Furthermore, he holds an executive position in a German travel agency start-up.
Due to various reasons, Michael is pausing his PhD right now to start his own company. As his passion lies in people and team development, he started fby – find the best in you – a leadership consulting company. Michael's constant interest in broadening his network and meeting people to discuss talent development-related topics has given him the opportunity to team up with experts of different areas covering leadership.
"In her TED talk in 2015, Emilie Wapnick introduced “multipotentialites” – a type of personality that easily gets interested in different areas. Multipotentialites quickly consume a new field of interest. By repeatedly doing so they become fast learners, adaptable and innovative."
- Michael Gralla, CEO and Founder of fby – find the best in you
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Sara Borniquel started her career as a scientist in Spain, before moving to Sweden in 2008. At Karolinska Institute she combined a postdoc position -leading a pre-clinical study about immune-inflammatory diseases- with two internships at KI Innovations AB and Stockholm-Uppsala Life Science. Since 2014, Sara has held several positions in industry including project management, marketing, and business development. Today she works as freelance consultant for Life Science companies, as recruiter (Rekryteringsspecialisten AB) and marketing & sales consultant (innoFund Innovation Funding Advisors) among others.
Sara holds a BSc in Biology and a PhD in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, and has completed her education with various courses in Business and Marketing.
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Sam Dupont is a Researcher and an Associate Professor in Marine Eco-Physiologist at the University of Gothenburg and an Honorary Assistant Professor at the School of Biological Sciences, Hong Kong University. His main research topic is on the effect of global changes on marine species and ecosystems.
He currently has about 150 publications in journals including Nature, PNAS and TREE. His work aims at revealing the mechanisms behind species and ecosystem responses to environmental changes and at developing the needed unifying theory for large scale projections.
"To study without passion was never an option for me and I early decided that all my decisions should always be based on passion, not on potential jobs, not on potential positions.”
- Dr. Sam Dupont, Associate Professor at University of Gothenburg
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Thomas Thestrup was born in New Jersey (USA) and has lived and worked in the USA, Australia, Germany and Denmark. He holds a MSc in Biology and Biotechnology from the University of Copenhagen and a PhD in Neurobiology from the Max-Planck Institute of Neurobiology and Ludwig Maximilian University in Munich. Today, Thomas is an Associate at Sunstone Capital, an early-stage Life Science and Technology venture capital company investing in European start-up companies with strong potential to achieve global success in their markets.
"By networking, networking and networking, and assessing your dreams, your feelings about what keeps you excited, you will eventually find people that can help you take the next step, at least, that helps a lot."
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Dr Amanda González-Bengtsson is a Public Relations Manager at Stockholm University and her passion is to promote science and make it known in society and to stakeholders. In episode 22 of PhD Career Stories, Amanda returns for a tips & tricks-themed podcast. In this episode, we learn more on how we can start preparing for a career after a PhD already in graduate school.
"You have only failed if you don’t keep trying."
- Dr Amanda González-Bengtsson, Public relations manager at Stockholm University
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Dr Filippo Guarnieri earned his PhD in theoretical physics in 2014. He is currently working as a postdoc in theoretical physics at NORDITA in Stockholm, Sweden and is the chair of the Max Planck Alumni Association. In this episode, Filippo will share his story about his transition from academia to entrepreneurship, which he is presently undertaking.
"Many PhDs aim to transition outside of academia. However, many PhDs also prefer to procrastinate this transition, further venturing into academia. Procrastination may provide additional time to better develop your transferable skills and find your mission in life, but may also come with a price."
- Dr. Filippo Guarnieri, Postdoctoral Fellow at Nordita
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Dr Dennis Fink changed his career path in 2011 after his PhD in Marine Microbiology at the Max Planck Institute for Marine Microbiology in Bremen. In this "PhD Career Story” Dennis tells about his path from scientist to science communicator and which skills you can use from your PhD if you would like to become self-employed.
"You can use a lot of your PhD skills, even if you leave academia. Networking is the key to success!"
- Dr. Dennis Fink, CEO & Co-Founder of mediomix GmbH in Cologne, Germany
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Gunes Ozhan earned her Bachelor’s degree from the Department of Molecular Biology and Genetics at Middle East Technical University in 2003.
Shortly after, she was admitted to the Molecular Biology Program of International Max Planck Research School in Göttingen, Germany. She received her PhD in 2009, with her thesis on the molecular evolution of embryonic development in arthropods, which was conducted at the Max Planck Institute for Developmental Biology in Tübingen.
After working as a postdoctoral fellow at the Biotechnology Center of TU Dresden and gaining experience in signal transduction and the zebrafish animal model, Dr. Ozhan was offered a PI position at iBG-izmir and moved to her hometown Izmir in 2014, to achieve her vision of establishing an independent lab in a top-notch biomedical research center in this lovely city.
Upon her return, she has been successively awarded Reintegration Fellowship of TUBITAK, EMBO Installation Grant, L'Oréal Turkey For Women In Science award, Academy of Science BAGEP award and Turkish Academy of Sciences GEBIP award.
Dr. Ozhan is a molecular and developmental biologist and made valuable contributions to our understanding of Wnt/β-catenin signaling regulation at the plasma membrane. At iBG-izmir, she explores the tight regulation of Wnt signaling that will reinforce discovery of novel drugs and its roles in adult zebrafish brain regeneration.
In episode 18 of PhD Career Stories, Dr Umesh Gangishetti describes his transition from a PhD student working on Drosophila Embryogenesis to become a senior scientist conducting clinical studies on Alzheimer's disease.
In episode 17 we have Dr Amanda González-Bengtsson who is a Public Relations Manager at Stockholm University and her passion is to promote science and make it known in society and for stake holders.
She tells the story of how she managed to get a lot of job offers after the PhD just by actually doing all those things that career advisors tells us to do. She hopes that all of you can benefit from listening to the podcast and that you will achieve great things in your life.
In episode 16 of PhD Career Stories, Fatma Guettou shares the story of her transition from academia to industry and gives us a few tips and tricks on how to successfully complete the journy.
Fatma is a structural biologist with a PhD in X-ray crystallography from Karolinska Institutet.
After completing her PhD, Fatma moved to Munich for a postdoc position in the field of cryo-electron microscopy. However, she soon made a career transition to the industry and is currently working as a crystallographer at Medivir.
Fatma is involved in drug discovery projects where her main responsibility is to understand how proteins and drugs interact. The structural information generated by X-ray crystallography is very useful for the design of new and improved drug molecules.
In this “tips & tricks”-themed episode Fatma will share 4 tips that she found useful throughout her career pathway.
In episode 15 of PhD Career Stories, Jo Havemann returns for a “tips & tricks”-themed podcast on why it is crucial to be aware of your audience when writing about your research.
<a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/johavemann">Dr Johanna Havemann</a> works as a trainer and consultant in Science Communication for Universities and research institutions in Europe and Africa (access2perspectives.com). Follow her tweets about #scicomm and other topics of interest at @johave.
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In episode 14, the PhD Career Stories founder Tina Persson returns for another “tips & tricks”-themed episode. In this podcast, Tina shares her experiences on how to get started with self-assessments and why it is important to grow your understanding about who you are and what you want and expect from your professional life to land your dream job.