PhD Career Stories

  Dr Lina Tengdelius holds a MSc in Chemistry and a PhD in Materials Science with specialisation in Thin Film Physics from Linköping University, Sweden. She recently transitioned from academia to a role as a Consultant Manager at Dfind Science & Engineering. She works with recruiting people with a science background and reads a large number of CVs from PhDs every day. Listen to her exciting story on how she landed her current position and what her experiences on “the other side” has taught her about the recruitment process. In this episode, Lina also shares her views on how to market yourself efficiently when looking for a job in the Life Science industry. Tina helped me realize that the personality traits that I had considered to be problems for most of my life could be my greatest strengths, and that I should look for a job that suited my personality instead of adapting my personality to a job that didn’t really suit me. - Dr Lina Tengdelius, Consultant Manager at Dfind Science & Engineering, Sweden 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: www.facebook.com/PhDCareerStories www.twitter.com/PhDCareerPod www.instagram.com/phdcareerstories www.linkedin.com/company/phd-career-stories

Alex Rutherford is a freelance data scientist and entrepreneur with a PhD in Physics from the University College London. He has subsequently undertaken post-doctoral work in complexity science and computational social science using computational techniques to understand why ethnic violence breaks out, how large groups of people can work together remotely and how constitutional reform takes place. His work has been published in Proceedings of National Academy of Sciences and has been covered in the New York Times and Nature among others.  Alex worked as a data scientist for the United Nations in New York for several years applying computational techniques such as natural language processing and network analysis to aid and inform the development and humanitarian work of UN agencies and NGOs. This has included field work in Mexico, Jordan and Brazil, collaborations with numerous blue chip companies, presence at high level UN events and a handshake from Ban Ki Moon. Alex has lived and studied in Coventry, London, Damascus, Boston, Dubai, New York and Silicon Valley and speaks passable Spanish and Arabic.  More recently, Alex is the founder of Data Apparel, an organisation selling custom, ethical clothing that uses the power of data and visualisation to promote empathy and debate among global citizens. He is an active Twitter user and blogger. More information and contact details can be found at alexrutherford.org.

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: www.facebook.com/PhDCareerStories www.twitter.com/PhDCareerPod www.instagram.com/phdcareerstories www.linkedin.com/company/phd-career-stories  

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: www.facebook.com/PhDCareerStories www.twitter.com/PhDCareerPod www.instagram.com/phdcareerstories www.linkedin.com/company/phd-career-stories

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: www.facebook.com/PhDCareerStories www.twitter.com/PhDCareerPod www.instagram.com/phdcareerstories www.linkedin.com/company/phd-career-stories  

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. Don't miss out on any of our PhD Career Stories podcasts. Subscribe to the show in a way that suits you and say hello to us on social media! www.phdcareerstories.com www.facebook.com/PhDCareerStories www.twitter.com/PhDCareerPod www.instagram.com/phdcareerstories www.linkedin.com/company/phd-career-stories  

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).