Science and Pharmaceuticals Case Studies
The Transitions Survey was originally conducted in Autumn 2019 in order to gather data about the post-graduation jobs of recent PhD graduates. Participants were asked about their roles, the transition into their roles, and their advice for current PhDs to make the most of their PhD experience and prepare for post-PhD life and job searching. Those participating in the case studies included here also had the opportunity to update their responses in Summer 2020.
Jiska van der Reest, Cancer Research UK Beatson Institute, Institute of Cancer Sciences
Employment
Post-doctoral contract, Harvard Medical School, Boston, USA and co-founder of GOViral, a social enterprise that facilitates access to healthcare for hepatitis B patients in the Philippines
Position secured before graduation.
What do you like and dislike about your current role?
I love combining science and entrepreneurship: during the day, I get to work with the brightest minds in the world on understanding the fundamental biology of cancer. At night, I get to unite with the most passionate young changemakers to shape our world to be a fairer, healthier, and happier place.
How did your doctorate lead to your current post?
Academic results, technical expertise, networks made (conferences etc.), extracurricular achievements.
What career progression tips would you offer to researchers if they want to follow a similar path to your own?
Hustle, network, and re-assess your goals and progress periodically – adjust your actions as necessary. Be careful with your time dollars and spend them strategically.
Transitioning to Employment
What was most helpful to you in managing your transition on from your PhD?
Being given the freedom to forge my own path in science and my career.
What did you find most challenging in making the transition?
Planning, time and people management.
The PhD
What advice would you give in terms of making the most of the PhD experience?
Focus on your personal and professional growth and tailor your PhD experience to your own goals. Figure out early on what the requirements for different jobs post-PhD are, and try to get a flavor of these positions during your PhD so that you figure out what you truly want to do, and how to get there. Don't succumb to pressures to work solely in the lab/on publications as a lab rat/publication slave and wait until the last year to figure out that this does not fulfil you, as you risk wasting years chasing goals that do not fit your true ambitions. Your PhD is an intellectual journey: of the philosophy of science, but also to discover and develop who you are personally and professionally. UofG offers loads of extracurricular opportunities to maximize your PhD experience.
I did an internship with Research and Innovation Services, was a student representative, wrote for GIST (student-run online magazine), joined a committee, and volunteered. I worked with Nature editors and journalists to cover their flagship career fair in London, was the University of Glasgow’s delegate at the 2018 University Scholars Leadership symposium at the United Nations, and participated in the Biotechnology Young Entrepreneurs Scheme 2017.
What do you know now that you wish you had known then?
Be more strategic with my time / develop better time management skills.
Graduate of the Institute of Health and Wellbeing
Employment
Senior researcher at a large public sector organisation.
Position secured before graduation.
What does your role entail?
It’s a permanent position, and I’m full time (though I’m on maternity leave at the moment). I both manage external research contracts and conduct primary research.
What do you like and dislike about your current role?
I love that it's permanent and that I'm able to apply my skills to real world issues and (hopefully) make some sort of difference in the world. I like that there's real career progression, and that you're encouraged to work towards moving up, and it's not frowned upon like I felt it was in academia.
I dislike that I'm working on an evaluation; I'm generally quite bored of them after 15 years of working in research. I also dislike that I'm no longer part of academia and feel a bit like I lost a part of my researcher identity by moving here, as I no longer work in my specialist area.
How did your doctorate lead to your current post?
I did an internship during my PhD. However, I'd been thinking about applying even before I started the PhD: it's a secure job with good prospects. The doctorate improved my skills and meant I could go in at a higher grade than I would have otherwise. It wasn't my first choice - I went for any permanent academic job I could find but was unsuccessful.
What career progression tips would you offer to researchers if they want to follow a similar path to your own?
It's difficult but you become incredibly resilient. I know I'll never have to work like that again and that I'm a far more efficient worker. I think you need to think really hard about what you're going to do if you don't have a finished thesis at the end of three years.
Transitioning to Employment
What was most helpful to you in managing your transition on from your PhD?
I remember having good support from colleagues.
What did you find most challenging in making the transition?
My transition was bumpy as I went into a full-time research job at the end of three years when my funding ran out, but I wasn't finished the PhD. I worked 9-5 at my job, and evenings and weekends on my PhD for over a year. It was awful.
The PhD
What advice would you give in terms of making the most of the PhD experience?
Take up as many other opportunities as you can - teaching, internships, conferences. Get what you want out of it. If you're not going to go into academia, then don't kill yourself writing articles. Treat it like a job: don't see your supervisors as teachers, but more experienced colleagues whose job it is to guide you.
What do you know now that you wish you had known then?
That a mixed method, interdisciplinary PhD using administrative data and stats would be very complex! And that everything takes A LOT longer than you might think. And that more experienced researchers are really happy to help you, especially if they've done a PhD and know what it's like, and that it's OK to ask. And that more senior researchers are also just people and not to be intimidated by them. And that it's OK to say you don't know about a theory or paper - you're there to learn.
Jiska van der Reest, Cancer Research UK Beatson Institute, Institute of Cancer Sciences
Employment
Post-doctoral contract, Harvard Medical School, Boston, USA and co-founder of GOViral, a social enterprise that facilitates access to healthcare for hepatitis B patients in the Philippines
Position secured before graduation.
What do you like and dislike about your current role?
I love combining science and entrepreneurship: during the day, I get to work with the brightest minds in the world on understanding the fundamental biology of cancer. At night, I get to unite with the most passionate young changemakers to shape our world to be a fairer, healthier, and happier place.
How did your doctorate lead to your current post?
Academic results, technical expertise, networks made (conferences etc.), extracurricular achievements.
What career progression tips would you offer to researchers if they want to follow a similar path to your own?
Hustle, network, and re-assess your goals and progress periodically – adjust your actions as necessary. Be careful with your time dollars and spend them strategically.
Transitioning to Employment
What was most helpful to you in managing your transition on from your PhD?
Being given the freedom to forge my own path in science and my career.
What did you find most challenging in making the transition?
Planning, time and people management.
The PhD
What advice would you give in terms of making the most of the PhD experience?
Focus on your personal and professional growth and tailor your PhD experience to your own goals. Figure out early on what the requirements for different jobs post-PhD are, and try to get a flavor of these positions during your PhD so that you figure out what you truly want to do, and how to get there. Don't succumb to pressures to work solely in the lab/on publications as a lab rat/publication slave and wait until the last year to figure out that this does not fulfil you, as you risk wasting years chasing goals that do not fit your true ambitions. Your PhD is an intellectual journey: of the philosophy of science, but also to discover and develop who you are personally and professionally. UofG offers loads of extracurricular opportunities to maximize your PhD experience.
I did an internship with Research and Innovation Services, was a student representative, wrote for GIST (student-run online magazine), joined a committee, and volunteered. I worked with Nature editors and journalists to cover their flagship career fair in London, was the University of Glasgow’s delegate at the 2018 University Scholars Leadership symposium at the United Nations, and participated in the Biotechnology Young Entrepreneurs Scheme 2017.
What do you know now that you wish you had known then?
Be more strategic with my time / develop better time management skills.
Graduate of the Institute of Health and Wellbeing
Employment
Senior researcher at a large public sector organisation.
Position secured before graduation.
What does your role entail?
It’s a permanent position, and I’m full time (though I’m on maternity leave at the moment). I both manage external research contracts and conduct primary research.
What do you like and dislike about your current role?
I love that it's permanent and that I'm able to apply my skills to real world issues and (hopefully) make some sort of difference in the world. I like that there's real career progression, and that you're encouraged to work towards moving up, and it's not frowned upon like I felt it was in academia.
I dislike that I'm working on an evaluation; I'm generally quite bored of them after 15 years of working in research. I also dislike that I'm no longer part of academia and feel a bit like I lost a part of my researcher identity by moving here, as I no longer work in my specialist area.
How did your doctorate lead to your current post?
I did an internship during my PhD. However, I'd been thinking about applying even before I started the PhD: it's a secure job with good prospects. The doctorate improved my skills and meant I could go in at a higher grade than I would have otherwise. It wasn't my first choice - I went for any permanent academic job I could find but was unsuccessful.
What career progression tips would you offer to researchers if they want to follow a similar path to your own?
It's difficult but you become incredibly resilient. I know I'll never have to work like that again and that I'm a far more efficient worker. I think you need to think really hard about what you're going to do if you don't have a finished thesis at the end of three years.
Transitioning to Employment
What was most helpful to you in managing your transition on from your PhD?
I remember having good support from colleagues.
What did you find most challenging in making the transition?
My transition was bumpy as I went into a full-time research job at the end of three years when my funding ran out, but I wasn't finished the PhD. I worked 9-5 at my job, and evenings and weekends on my PhD for over a year. It was awful.
The PhD
What advice would you give in terms of making the most of the PhD experience?
Take up as many other opportunities as you can - teaching, internships, conferences. Get what you want out of it. If you're not going to go into academia, then don't kill yourself writing articles. Treat it like a job: don't see your supervisors as teachers, but more experienced colleagues whose job it is to guide you.
What do you know now that you wish you had known then?
That a mixed method, interdisciplinary PhD using administrative data and stats would be very complex! And that everything takes A LOT longer than you might think. And that more experienced researchers are really happy to help you, especially if they've done a PhD and know what it's like, and that it's OK to ask. And that more senior researchers are also just people and not to be intimidated by them. And that it's OK to say you don't know about a theory or paper - you're there to learn.
Konstantina Loumou, School of Physics and Astronomy
Employment
Providing services to the European Space Agency and other partners of the Royal Observatory of Belgium.
Position secured before graduation.
What does your role entail?
My duties include space weather forecasting and product support for the Royal Observatory of Belgium. For the forecasting, I am looking at solar images and particle data to understand the current conditions are on the Sun’s surface atmosphere and if, how and when they will impact Earth. For the product support, I monitor products that the observatory has created, fix bugs spotted and drive developments to established pipelines. Finally, I perform project management for specific products of the observatory’s partners.
What do you like and dislike about your current role?
In my current role, I am required to use all the knowledge and skills I have acquired through my studies and apply them in a non-academic role, for the first time. I find this change exciting and I feel that I am growing as a professional this time, compared to as a student or a researcher. I have been doing my work for about a year now and I have enjoyed every aspect of it so far.
How did your doctorate lead to your current post?
My PhD gave me the theoretical and technical background needed to get this position. My thesis was not particularly on forecasting but was exploring the physics associated with it. In non-academic interviews employers focussed mainly on the project and time management as well as soft skills I acquired from it, rather than just the project itself, although there were always quite a few technical questions. However, it was my whole career trajectory, the fact that I have worked with various teams in different projects that attracted my current employer. The PhD additionally gave me the chance to travel, meet a variety of scientists and service providers in conferences, collaborate with a number of scientists and make a more informed decision on what I want to do next. Furthermore, two very important benefits from doing a PhD in UofG were the discussions with the career advisor and the student jobs I was able to take up when my funding was over. Only through putting myself into jobs I was in 10 years ago and discussing about my achievements I realised that I developed skills and was approaching work in a thoroughly more organised way.
What career progression tips would you offer to researchers if they want to follow a similar path to your own?
Possibly think were you want to be in 5-10 years’ time and which job will lead you there. Start applying before finishing the PhD, it takes time to find something.
Transitioning to Employment
What was most helpful to you in managing your transition on from your PhD?
The challenges of the job is to have some of the technical background, learn fast, be timely and collaborate effectively. Since this role is a natural next step to take after my PhD, everything, from background knowledge to soft and hard skills, networking, prior advice given, have been extremely useful.
What did you find most challenging in making the transition?
Applying for jobs while writing up and having a part-time job. I was very tired.
The PhD
What advice would you give in terms of making the most of the PhD experience?
I enjoyed the college courses and felt very supported by the staff and everything offered to me. Some others felt the courses as an extra hassle. Both views are valid, but try them first, they are there for you and maybe you will find them helpful.
What do you know now that you wish you had known then?
I was applying way too early! Academic jobs need from a few months to a year of applying in advance but non-academic jobs need you to start in 3-6 months.