iJOBS Blog

We’ve all heard that Ph.D. graduates who work in industry make more money than those in academia. So one would assume that this is based on studies that track Ph.D. graduates when they select a career, right? Not necessarily. Surprisingly, there is not much data on where graduates go, and therefore even less on the types of places they go and the salaries they earn.

As PhDs we are capable of achieving anything we put our minds to; we have years of training and a multitude of transferable skills, and yet somehow we don’t always feel particularly qualified within academia or even beyond it. When it comes down to seeing how valuable we are as PhDs, our fears, insecurities, and not fully knowing the world of opportunities waiting for us, make it hard to realize our potential. It is shocking to hear that 80% of life sciences PhDs are unemployed at the time of graduation, especially when we put a lot of time and hard work in getting a PhD.

    This November, Rutgers’ iJOBS program hosted three representatives hailing from Celgene, Merck and Enzo Life Sciences, to speak at a career panel on research positions in pharma and industry. Since R&D is one of the largest sectors outside of academia that will take PhD-trained scientists, this panel was both informative and encouraging to all of us who will be starting a job hunt soon.

For many graduate and post-graduate students in scientific fields, a career at the bench seems to be the only option.  From our earliest exposures to science, we have been taught the scientific method of identifying a problem, developing a hypothesis, designing an experiment to test that hypothesis, and finally examining and interpreting our results.  To many, science is synonymous with experimentation.  This can range from exploratory science in academia to the development of pharmaceuticals in industry and clinical settings.  What we often overlook, however, is that behind the hours and h

My name is Yang Chen. I cannot forget the excitement the first time that I put my eyes close to a microscope to look into a single cell; I was 14 and in 8th grade Biology class. From that moment, I fell in love with biological sciences and have continued to view the world through the lens of biology ever since. Over the past 20 years, I have eagerly pursued advanced training in biological sciences to enhance my own personal understanding of science. After completing a Bachelor’s degree in Bioengineering in China, I moved to Hokkaido University in Japan to continue my Master’s studies.

Hello everyone! My name is Fatu Badiane Markey and I am very excited about blogging for iJOBS at Rutgers University. Before we get into the more serious articles, let me tell you a little bit about myself. As an undergraduate, I majored in Biology with a concentration in Neural and Behavioral studies at Bryn Mawr College. At that time, I was interested in pursuing a career in medicine. My goal at that point was to become a neurologist, or neurosurgeon. I took pre-med classes as part of my course work and even prepared to take the MCAT.

My name is Sarah Misenko and I am a 4^th year PhD candidate in the Biochemistry department at Rutgers University. My broad research interest lies in precision medicine for the oncology field. Ultimately, I hope to work as a project manager in the pharmaceutical industry or as a clinical trial manager.

Here’s a list of a few of the things that I said I wanted to be ‘when I grow up’: an astronaut, a doctor, a lawyer, a dolphin trainer, or a marine biologist.  As it turns out, I’m none of these things, and I’m not meant to be any of these things.

This past spring, my advisor informed me that I would be graduating in the coming year.  Most graduate students would be ecstatic to hear this news, but I was nervous.  After the conversation, I was left wondering whether I have enough data to graduate, if my committee would agree that I am ready, and what on earth I am going to do next.

My name is Chris Lowe and I’m a 5th year PhD student in the Biomedical Engineering department. I’m advised by Dr. David Shreiber and my work is focused on developing novel biomaterials for nervous system regeneration and repair.