For various reasons, ranging from imposter syndrome to
burnout, I’ve thought a lot (but mostly in vague terms) about “alternative
careers.” During my PhD third year slump I was even convinced, much to the
chagrin of my advisor, I was going to join the Peace Corp. But a few months
later, research picked up, leading to my first publication. I again felt the
thrill of discovery and decided to pursue the next rung in the academic ladder:
a postdoc.
Still, nowadays drive and interest in research are often not
enough as less than 20% of PhD graduates are in tenure-track positions five
years later. And so it is important to keep other careers in mind. For me at
least, the only apparent “alternatives” were teaching or industry. But after
years of attending discussion panels, talking to former colleagues, and delving
into (somewhat unhelpful) books, such as “Alternative Careers in Science:
Leaving the Ivory Tower” I realized there are a lot more options available.
Therefore I thought it would be valuable to share what I learned and hopefully
get other suggestions, anecdotes, or comments in return. The sections presented
below include Science Policy, Teaching on various levels, Consulting, Writing
and Communication, etc.
Science Policy
The realm of public policy that involves science, including
funding of science and research, promoting technological innovation, monitoring
environmental issues, and of course health care policy. As someone with no experience in politics I didn't know what
a career in science policy looks like. Luckily, there is an article in ASBMB
today titled “What Is Science Policy?” The author describes the field thus: “Science policy experts thus serve as the bridge between
researchers and the public, using their talents to find ways to translate
esoteric, often highly technical scientific issues into something that can be
sold as good policy.” Policymakers can work either for legislators or for
scientific societies.
Paths for entry:
There is a wealth of fellowships, offered by different
organizations. Most are through government agencies and most offer stipends.
Many will want writing samples to demonstrate that you can explain scientific
concepts to the general public. One possibility is to volunteer writing for
department or university newsletters.
OSTP
Internship Program: 3-month
unpaid internship with Office of Science and Technology Policy, which advises
the President on the effects of these issues on domestic and international affairs.
Phoebe S.
Leboy Public Policy Fellowship: 2-year paid fellowship with the Association
for Women in Science in D.C. Work includes analyzing policy issues related to
gender and science, working with advocacy agencies, preparing advocacy
documents, and attending conferences.
American
Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology: 1-2-year paid fellowship for recent PhD
graduates with public affairs office of ASBMB.
FDA ORISE Fellowship: Paid (no benefits), gives recent graduates “opportunities to
participate in project-specific FDA research and developmental activities.” This
is rather vague but from a former colleague is in the program I learned that the
duties and experience is very specific to position so that some fellows do lab
work while others do not. Non-lab work includes reading scientific papers, data
organizing and analysis.
FDA Commissioner’sFellowship Program: receive regulatory science training and work on
science, regulatory, and policy issues. Specifically for those with a PhD.
NIH/NHGRI Geneticsand Public Policy Fellowship: "Designed as a bridge for genetics professionals wishing to
transition to a policy career.” 16 month, paid with benefits with 3 rotations:
NIH, Legislative Branch, nonprofit science advocacy sector.
Christine MirzayanScience & Technology Policy Graduate Fellowship Program: 12-week ($8,500 stipend) at National Academy of Sciences
working with a mentor to learn about science and technology policy through an
immersive (ie intense) experience.
AAAS Science &Technology Policy Fellowship: 1-year. “Fellows engage their knowledge and analytical
skills while learning first-hand about policymaking and implementation at the
federal level.”
Science Writing/Communication
Science writer:
A science writer can write for either the general public in
a newspaper or magazine, distilling the science, or to other scientists, for
example, writing the “Perspectives” column in peer-reviewed science journals. Clearly journalism as a whole has come on hard times and so not surprisingly, most jobs are freelance. Though salaried positions are to be found. Part of the job of a science writer
is to decide which discoveries are important for the public to know about.
Point of entry: There are Master’s programs for
science writing and communication as well as some fellowships, including the
AAAS Mass Media internship. A good resource for those interested is the
National Association of Science Writers.
Medical writing:
This broad category includes writing reviews or practice
guidelines for medical societies and writing the manuscript for publishing
results from clinical trials. The former means communicating and coordinating
with the doctor’s actual conducting the studies. Often times, this writing is contracted
out to companies by the hospital. Finally, medical writing can include writing
the labels that go on drugs.
Editor at a Scientific Journal:
I saw job postings for assistant editors open to recent PhD
graduates, but postdoctoral experience seemed to be preferred. Generally,
strong communication and interpersonal skills, ability to meet deadlines, and
multitasking is required. Some positions include travelling to conferences to
promote the journal. Here is a good anecdote of someone who transitioned from apostdoc to editor.
Freelance Editor:
Edit content, form, style, and language for research groups
submitting their papers for peer-reviewed publication. Have to check for both
language and scientific mistakes (figures match up with text). The speaker on
the panel said she gets a lot of non-English-speaking clients. She said that in
order to break into this field as a freelancer, she volunteered to edit many
papers for free and then depended on word of mouth.
Consulting
Okay, if someone has a concrete description of this job,
other than strategic problem solving for clients, please tell me. I became
aware of this job only because of recruiters coming to school from various
consulting firms, including McKinsey and the Boston Consulting Group. Another
popular one is Booz-Allen & Hamilton. From what I heard you are generally
assigned a specific project and may have more than one project at a time. Often
travel is required, but there is some job flexibility. Oh yeah, and the
possibility for a pretty good paycheck. Additionally consultants can work for
themselves or with a firm and may or may not be permanent employees. I had a
pretty good idea this wasn’t for me, but for more information, check out http://biocareers.com/resource/getting-started-consulting.
Marketing
This involves marketing products from different scientific companies like Eppendorf, to laboratories. No offense but this job is a bit too schmoozey for me. But I met
someone at a discussion panel who seemed to genuinely enjoy her job. She said
it involves travelling to different universities companies and talking to
people (the amount of travel depends on whether you live in a city or more
rural) and learn about new products than can help the client. She enjoyed
gaining sales experience. The hours seemed pretty good with only a bit of work
required from home to give clients a quote or set up an account.
Tech Transfer
When a lab in a university develops a technology, such as a
drug or vaccine, they first check with the university’s technology transfer
agency to assess the possibility for a copyright, patent, or trademark. The job
requires basic science knowledge as well as patent law, business, and marketing
skills because the transfer specialist has to determine the potential for
intellectual development, identify companies to approach, and even pitch the
product and negotiate contracts. The job is fairly varied from day to day and
was described as “moderately stressful.”
Teaching
At the college-level:
If you only want to teach without maintaining your own lab
at the college-level, you are most likely looking at either a full-time
position at a liberal arts school or community college (which usually don’t
conduct research) or a part-time/adjunct position. Many science courses have a
laboratory component, which you as the instructor would be responsible for.
Additionally certain universities may want faculty to run a small lab to
support undergraduate research projects.
What to expect when applying: The university/college
will most likely request a teaching statement and possibly a teaching
portfolio. It seems that many colleges/universities hiring full-time faculty
require 1-2 years of teaching experience preferably at a similar institutional
level (i.e. community college if you’re applying to a community college). I was
told that postdoctoral experience is preferred, even for teaching-only
positions. There are increasingly more “teaching postdocs” available and many
universities have either classes or certification programs to expose scientists
to pedagogy.
Where to look: Sites such as Chronicle of Higher Education, Higher
Ed Jobs, Inside Higher Jobs
At the high school level:
Admittedly, I don’t know too much about this. Most states
will require a certification or licensing, an exam to test competency,
background check (obviously), and possibly “student teaching” experience. It
appears that the bureaucracy is a lot less for private school, but so is the
pay. I came upon an interesting looking online teaching certification program
called TeachNow.
Nonprofit/Science Outreach
Society for Science and the Public: – publishes Science News and organizes education programs such as the Intel
International Science and Engineering Fair (of which I am a 2002 alumnus ;))
and the Broadcom MASTERS. They have internships and jobs as science writers and
editors.
One panel member was a science
historian for the Chemical Heritage Foundation in Philadelphia. Her job
entailed conducting oral history interviews with scientists as well as
contributing to the foundation blog, writing a monthly feature for the
foundation newsletter. The CHF also does outreach programs to get women in
chemistry.
Other nonprofit
organizations:
Alfred P. Sloan
Foundation
AAAS (see science
communication and policy sections)
Patent Law
Work for a law firm, which is hired by drug companies to do
searches for claims on patents and litigation support. Often, the firm will pay
for you to go to law school, although the panel speaker I heard did not have or
want to get a law degree.
Point of entry: Panel member emailed law firms to
find position.
