Happenings in Science Careers

By: Deepshikha Mishra Junior Editor: Shekerah Primus Senior Editor: Helena Mello Fatu Badiane Markey graduated from Rutgers University in 2018 with a PhD in Microbiology, Biochemistry, and Molecular Genetics. The focus of her thesis was to study the molecular interactions of a fusion protein in pediatric Ewing’s sarcoma, a type of cancer affecting the bones and surrounding tissue. Additionally, she was a lead blogger for the iJOBS blog and actively participated in the program as well.

By Huri Mücahit In the proposed budget for the 2020 fiscal year, President Trump has pushed for budget cuts to several science agencies, including the National Institute of Health (NIH), National Science Foundation (NSF), and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), as well as cuts to Medicaid and Medicare. The cuts proposed within “A Budget For A Greater America” are aimed to reduce the national deficit of $608 million (Budget of the U.S.

By Tomas Kasza You might have heard that the first rule of contract research organizations (CROs) is you don’t talk about contract research organizations (CROs). THAT’S A LIE! It turns out that employees of CROs are excited to discuss their career knowledge with PhD and post-doctoral level academic researchers. CROs represent a great opportunity for PhD level scientists to transition from academia to industry. CROs provide essential support, generate fantastic science, and create quality products for the large biotechnology and corporate agencies that they contract with.

It is the dream of every young scientist; after many agonizing years filled with hard work and perseverance, you are at the finish line. Everything falls into place and you receive the most satisfying email you may ever receive: “We are pleased to announce that your manuscript has been accepted for publication in Nature”. This is the ultimate reward for all the long hours spent in the lab and undoubtedly a sign that your work matters.

Edited by: Aminat Saliu Musah You approach the office of your program director with sweaty palms and little scientific progress. You have been dreading this progress meeting since your graduate program assistant asked you to fill out a doodle poll a month ago. As you enter their cluttered office you wonder about how you compare your progress to other graduate students and your own personal career and skills development. When will I graduate? What, if anything in science, am I good at? When will I be ready for the next step in my career progression?

By: Huri Mücahit Edited by: Manjula Mummadisetti and Aminat Saliu Musah   The following blog post is a summary of “Biology needs more staff scientists” by Steven Hyman, “Staff scientists find satisfaction in playing the support role” by Maggie Kuo, and “Wanted: staff-scientist positions for postdocs” by Ke

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.

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.

By: Tomas Kasza On March 16^th iJOBS hosted a career panel of four Rutgers PhD alumni, all of whom have secured impressive positions following completion of their graduate school education. If you have not had a chance to attend one of these Alumni career panels I would highly recommend it because these alumni may be able to direct you toward opportunities available at Rutgers for your desired post-graduate career. One of the panel members was Dr. Abigail Harris, an Assistant Professor at Bloomsburg University located in Bloomsburg, Pennsylvania, and graduated in 2013.

In September 2017, Michael Roach and Henry Sauermann examined the declining interest in academic careers; published in PLOS ONE . One might assume that this decline is due to a difficult job market, however, the authors found that the majority of graduate students who lost interest in academia had other reasons. The question was examined using a longitudinal survey that followed 854 Ph.D. students, in the natural sciences and engineering, from 39 U.S. research universities.