PhD & Postdoc Neuroscientists - Nonacademic Career Paths

I’M LOOKING FOR CAREER TALK SPEAKERS! One thing I see again and again in career counselling: people often think they need to have a clear career plan after their PhD. In reality, most biographies look very different. That’s why I organise several online Career Talks each year for people at different stages of their academic careers (& anyone interested) with a neuroscience background – and for those interested in what comes next. As a career development and counselling professional and biographical researcher, I want to make different career paths visible. Not just the polished version, but the real one: decisions, detours, setbacks, doubts, opportunities and changes along the way. For the Career Talks, I’m looking for people with a PhD or postdoc in neuroscience or a related field who have moved outside academic research. Possible topics could be: “FROM (LIN) PHD TO SCIENTIFIC MANAGEMENT TO INDUSTRY” “FROM (LIN) POSTDOC TO DATA SCIENTIST” “PATHWAYS TO THE PHARMACEUTICAL INDUSTRY” “FROM WORKING-CLASS BACKGROUND TO PROFESSOR” “BEYOND THE LAB: TRANSFERABLE SKILLS & GLOBAL CAREER TRANSITIONS” Or something completely different. That’s actually the point. The talks are in English, online and take about one hour. The format is deliberately personal: * 20–40 minutes on your career journey, key decisions, transitions, detours and lessons learned. * Followed by an open Q&A with participants. I also want to normalise the ups and downs of career biographies. Careers are rarely straight lines. There are periods when things work out, and others when they don’t. There can be wrong turns, uncertainty, rejection, unexpected opportunities or simply a change of mind. I think these stories matter. Especially for people who are still trying to figure out what comes next. You don’t need a perfect career story. You don’t need to have “made it”. I’m interested in different paths and in what people actually experienced along the way. And you don’t have to be a former LIN PhD or postdoc. I’m happy to connect with people from other (research) institutions and from different parts of the world. If you’ve moved from neuroscience into a career outside academia and would like to share your experience, please get in touch. I’m happy to send you the details by email or have a short call/Zoom. And if you know someone whose career path could be worth hearing about, I’d be grateful for an introduction. The more different career stories we make visible, the easier it becomes to see that there is no single “right” way forward. Best, Verena