There have been many discussions within the research community on how to best ‘rescue’ the research enterprise from itself; from dissatisfied students, to limited academic positions, to endless post-doc appointments, to abysmal financial prospects for academics (both grants and pay). The problem is that PhD training hasn’t changed all that much.  At its essence, a PhD is like a medieval apprenticeship where you are the trainee of your mentor.

By: Urmimala Basu

This post is first seen on the Atlanta BEST Magazine Summer 2016

The common notion of “Industry or Academia” echoed by millions of graduate students and post-docs when quizzed on their career aspirations might very soon turn into the apparent paradoxical concept of “Industry and Academia”. A recent article in SCIENCE magazine talks about this morphing concept!

By: Ina Nikolaeva

One career that science PhD’s have only recently been made aware of is the Medical Writer. I myself only found out about this entire career path about a year before I graduated, even though I quickly realized it was word-for-word my dream job description. If you want a more in-depth summary of how I ended up deciding that MW was for me, please read the short paragraph at the end of this post, titled, “My Personal Decision-Making Process”

Who should you be to be happy as an MW?

From Academic PhD to Clinical Research – How to Take the Leap

By: Sarah Misenko

In late April, Rudy Bellani, founder and CEO of Oystir, came to Rutgers and gave career advice and information about his company. For more about Rudy, see Myka Ababon’s interview here.

By: Chris Lowe

The advice to keep unprofessional or embarrassing pictures from Facebook and Instagram has long been impressed on all of us. But why not take it one step further?

By: Yaa Haber

For better or for worse, in America, talking about how much money you make is taboo.  If you find the subject distasteful, look away now!

By Jennifer Casiano-Matos It is very common in the Ph.D. and post-doc community to call ourselves specialists. Moving beyond the “specialist” or “graduate student” label is something that we ought to do if we are interested in a job outside academia. We often commit the mistake of not realizing the qualifications and skills that can make us stand out from others.

Hello All! My name is Jennifer. I am a first year Ph.D. student in the Microbiology and Molecular Genetics program at Rutgers University.  I am from Cabo Rojo, Puerto Rico: a town on the west coast with beautiful beaches and sun every day. I have a bachelor’s degree in Industrial Microbiology and a master’s degree in Biology from the University of Puerto Rico at Mayaguez (UPRM).