iJOBS Event Summary

The importance of networking has been emphasized at almost every iJOBS event thus far. While some people find themselves at ease in a room full of strangers, others feel so far out of their comfort zone that they need a map to find their way back. Luckily, it turns out networking is more learned skill than natural talent, and with enough practice most of us can become competent at it. Here is an overview of what a BioHUB networking event looks like and some of the things I learned from attending. The November 12^th BioHUB was my first official networking event.

On October 24^th I attended a Career Satisfaction workshop at the “What Can You Be With a PhD?” symposium, presented by Matthias Birk. The room was fully packed, I had to squeeze together with several people and sit on the floor. Mattias Birk was a passionate and inspiring speaker. I got good laughs from his humor, but I was also enlightened by his view of career satisfaction. The experience allowed me to realize it is critical to find the balancing point among strength, joy, and value for career satisfaction. First, we need to ask ourselves and/or other people (e.g.

There is a new Rutgers institute in town – and it is called the Brain Health Institute. Their mission seems to be primarily to bring neuroscience labs across all Rutgers campuses together to share findings, exchange ideas and find collaborators. The BHI hosted a symposium on Monday, October 26 (that is to become the first of many, on an annual basis).

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

Beyond the Tenure Track is a consulting firm that helps in strategic planning of careers for graduate students, post-docs and faculty to facilitate a fruitful career in science. The firm aids scientists at various stages of their careers to utilize their potentials and achieve their transitions into alternate and diverse career paths.

Research Opportunities at the FDA While we eagerly wait for the next round of iJOBS events and the start of the semester, let me give a brief summary of a career panel hosted last May, detailing excellent research careers at the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). I found out from this career panel that there are as many as around 3000 Ph.D. graduates employed in the FDA! When we consider places to apply to after graduation, we usually think of academia or industry, but somehow overlook the FDA and other government organizations.

We are a few short weeks away from the start of the academic year. For those of you who are new to the iJOBS program, here is a brief summary of the types of events offered that you should test the waters with. I’ve added links to related posts in each category in case you want to learn more about a specific talk. Don't hesitate to contact Dr.

We know iJOBS is here to expose us sheltered grad students/post docs to the opportunities outside of academia. However, for those committed to the academic track, iJOBS, together with the Postdoc Association, hosted our very own Dr. Samuel Bunting and his wife, Dr. Nina Peel to take us through their two different academic career paths and how they pulled it all off as a husband-and-wife team.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Institutes_of_Health#/media/File:NIH_Clinical_Research_Center_aerial.jpg The Rutgers iJOBS program recently had the pleasure of hosting two National Institutes of Health (NIH) representatives for a seminar on job opportunities at United States government organizations.

Last 29^th of May 2015, iJOBS hosted a seminar entitled “The Art of Scientific Storytelling” with guest speaker Dr. Rafael Luna from Luna Scientific Storytelling LLC and Harvard Medical School. He began his talk by asking us to define “story” without using the word “narrative”. You’d think it was a simple question, but I found I couldn’t define it properly. Dr.