When it’s time to start thinking about a future career, one of the first questions that might come to mind is, “What am I good at?” This can often be a difficult question to address, and unfortunately, it may be easier to think of things we are not good at. Laura N. Schram, an academic program officer at the University of Michigan, along with humanities students learned five useful lessons for Ph.D. students interested in identifying their skill set, in an eight-week career exploration program. These five lessons are broad enough to be applied to almost any field, including STEM.

  The following is an article review of “The Core Traits of Success” by David G. Jensen. Dr. David G. Jensen is a writer, a world-wide speaker on career issues, and the founder of CareerTax Inc. He has written about the issues that scientists and engineers face when transitioning from an academic environment to the industrial employment. In his article, The Core Traits of Success, Dr.

By: Paulina Krzyszczyk Edited by: Eileen Oni Having spent several years within Rutgers’ campuses, I have had some time to learn about the university and reflect on my experiences here. Although there have been ups and downs throughout the progression of my Ph.D. (as expected!), I have identified a few things about Rutgers that have enhanced my graduate experience. First up: Diversity.

I cannot stress how important informational interviews are in helping you decide your career track. I first learned about regulatory medical writing at an informational interview session. I became so interested that now I am trying to learn more about the career track as a phase 2 iJOBS trainee. Informational interviews give you an opportunity to ask detailed and essential questions about a career and help you learn how to prepare for it.

By: Jennifer Casiano-Matos Edited by: Eileen Oni & Paulina Krzyszczyk Isolation, the nature of research, feelings of inadequacy, and lack of consistent achievements are several reasons why graduate students are at a greater risk for mental health issues than the general population.

By Tomas Kasza Unless you have been living under a rock, you have probably heard of the job title, data scientist.

The annual iJOBS/BioNJ career fair is the epitome of what you can do with a Ph.D. The iJOBS program stresses that Ph.D.’s can do much more than practice science in the traditional sense. The opportunities are essentially boundless.

Eileen Oni, Ph.D., is a Rutgers iJOBS alumnus and currently an American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) Science & Technology Fellow at the National Science Foundation.  Her role as a Fellow is to assist in the decision-making processes for programs that study the science of Broadening Participation in Engineering.

by Talia M. Planas-Fontánez

During the week of March 18th, the Myelin Gordon Research Conference (GRC) took place in Ventura, CA. This year, the Myelin GRC was focused on human biology throughout various ages of development, while also offering perspectives on age-related myelin dysfunction that lead to debilitating diseases, such as multiple sclerosis and leukodystrophies, which currently have no cure.

By: Huri Mücahit   The following blog post is a summary of, “Break or burn out” by Kendall Powell and “Burnout syndrome: five ways to keep it together” by Gaia Cantelli   PhD students and postdocs work in some of the most rewarding positions, with the potential to truly be at the very cusp of the newest discovery - but all of this can come at a high personal cost.