Next Gen PhD


Book Description

For decades, top scientists in colleges and universities pursued a clear path to success: enroll in a prestigious graduate program, conduct research, publish papers, complete the PhD, pursue postdoctoral work. With perseverance and a bit of luck, a tenure-track professorship awaited at the end. In today’s academic job market, this scenario represents the exception. As the number of newly conferred science PhDs keeps rising, the number of tenured professorships remains stubbornly stagnant. “Next Gen PhD: A Guide to Career Paths in Science is a practical and thorough manual for the entire career transition process, from defining personal interests and deciding on a career path all the way to day one of a new job. Written by experienced career counselor Melanie Sinche, it is geared toward postdocs and graduate students who may not have access to effective career counseling or mentorship or are not satisfied with what they have received thus far.” —Teegan A. Dellibovi-Ragheb, Science “With its focus on PhD level scientists, this book fills a gap in job search and career information literature. It’s a must-read for those contemplating or actively pursuing studies in the subject area, as well as those who provide guidance to undergraduates, graduate students, and postdoctoral scholars.” —Alan Farber, Library Journal (starred review)




You've Got Your PhD: Now What?


Book Description




Leaving Academia


Book Description

A guide for grad students and academics who want to find fulfilling careers outside higher education. With the academic job market in crisis, 'Leaving Academia' helps grad students and academics in any scholarly field find satisfying careers beyond higher education. The book offers invaluable advice to visiting and adjunct instructors ready to seek new opportunities, to scholars caught in "tenure-trap" jobs, to grad students interested in nonacademic work, and to committed academics who want to support their students and contingent colleagues more effectively. Providing clear, concrete ways to move forward at each stage of your career change, even when the going gets tough, 'Leaving Academia' is both realistic and hopeful.




Turning Science Into Things People Need


Book Description

Ten respected scientists who have built successful careers in industry reveal how they made the transition from research scientist to industrial scientist or successful entrepreneur and discuss what kind of jobs scientists hold in the private sector.




What Is Out There for Me? the Landscape of Post-PhD Career Tracks


Book Description

What is out there? Do you believe in life outside academia? For researchers who consider a career switch, the open job market often feels as remote and uncertain as dark wood, or as outer space. To be happy at work, you need to find a job that is aligned with your values, gives you a feeling of belonging, purpose, appreciation, and some level of both safety and excitement. There are so many conditions that need to be met to develop a sense of job satisfaction! How to make the transition, preferably at a minimal level of stress and as smoothly as possible?The purpose of this book is to give you an overview of what you are capable of after completing a PhD (and might not even think of!), and which directions you might consider to develop a happy, fulfilling professional life. This book does not only explore the scope of professions in which PhDs usually excel but it also gives an overview of the tribes that formed on the job market and provides the description of their tribal behaviors. Do you fit the tribe of corporate rats? Or perhaps, the tribe of entrepreneurs? The book contains open questions and self-discovery exercises which will help you in digging into your mind to find the right tribe. You might be up to something really beautiful! Natalia Bielczyk is an entrepreneur, researcher, author, and philanthropist. After graduating from Physics, Mathematics and Psychology at the College of Inter-Faculty Individual Studies in Mathematics and Natural Sciences at the University of Warsaw, Poland, and then went through a PhD program in Computational Neuroscience at the Donders Institute for Brain, Cognition, and Behavior in Nijmegen, the Netherlands. In 2018, she launched a public foundation, Stichting Solaris Onderzoek en Ontwikkeling, aiming to help early career researchers in finding new careers in the industry. Even though she chose for working in the open market, she is still a researcher in free time--and, she has a strong belief that science and entrepreneurship can get along.




The Professor Is In


Book Description

The definitive career guide for grad students, adjuncts, post-docs and anyone else eager to get tenure or turn their Ph.D. into their ideal job Each year tens of thousands of students will, after years of hard work and enormous amounts of money, earn their Ph.D. And each year only a small percentage of them will land a job that justifies and rewards their investment. For every comfortably tenured professor or well-paid former academic, there are countless underpaid and overworked adjuncts, and many more who simply give up in frustration. Those who do make it share an important asset that separates them from the pack: they have a plan. They understand exactly what they need to do to set themselves up for success. They know what really moves the needle in academic job searches, how to avoid the all-too-common mistakes that sink so many of their peers, and how to decide when to point their Ph.D. toward other, non-academic options. Karen Kelsky has made it her mission to help readers join the select few who get the most out of their Ph.D. As a former tenured professor and department head who oversaw numerous academic job searches, she knows from experience exactly what gets an academic applicant a job. And as the creator of the popular and widely respected advice site The Professor is In, she has helped countless Ph.D.’s turn themselves into stronger applicants and land their dream careers. Now, for the first time ever, Karen has poured all her best advice into a single handy guide that addresses the most important issues facing any Ph.D., including: -When, where, and what to publish -Writing a foolproof grant application -Cultivating references and crafting the perfect CV -Acing the job talk and campus interview -Avoiding the adjunct trap -Making the leap to nonacademic work, when the time is right The Professor Is In addresses all of these issues, and many more.




How to Complete and Survive a Doctoral Dissertation


Book Description

How to Complete and Survive a Doctoral Dissertation by David Sternberg Mastering these skills spells the difference between "A.B.D." and "Ph.D." -refuting the magnum opus myth -coping with the dissertation as obsession (magnificent or otherwise) -the fine art of selecting a topic -writing the dissertation with publication in mind -when to stand your ground and when to prudently retreat if the committee's conception of your thesis differs substantially from your own -dealing with obstructive committee members, and keeping the fences mended -how to reconsider "negative" findings as useful data -reviewing your progress, and getting out of the "dissertation dumps" -defending your paper successfully--distinguishing between mere formalities and a serious substantive challenge -exploiting the career potential of your dissertation -and much, much more




Getting Your PhD


Book Description

How to get your Ph.D is an original study guide aimed at prospective and current postgraduate students, covering the process of accessing, undertaking and completing doctoral research in the social sciences and the humanities. The content is unique in incorporating discussion of the less recognised personal, emotional and organisational demands of independent study. Drawing on a variety of student experiences, the authors apply a case study approach to examine the dilemmas and complexities of postgraduate study. The book is organised into four parts covering the research process; writing, publishing and networking; shifting identities and institutions and relationships of support. Each chapter includes an easy to use format including real-life accounts, tips and strategies for problem solving and guidance for additional resources. The guide includes accessible advice and guidance across a spectrum of methodological, personal, emotional, practical and institutional issues. SAGE Study Skills are essential study guides for students of all levels. From how to write great essays and succeeding at university, to writing your undergraduate dissertation and doing postgraduate research, SAGE Study Skills help you get the best from your time at university. Visit the SAGE Study Skills hub for tips, resources and videos on study success!




The Science of Intelligent Achievement


Book Description

Smart strategies for pragmatic, science-based growth and sustainable achievement. The Science of Intelligent Achievement teaches you the scientific process of finding success through your most valuable assets: · Selective focus – how selective are you with who and what you let into your life? · Creative ownership – how dependent are you on others for your happiness and success? · Pragmatic growth – how consistently and practically are you growing daily? First, this book will show you how to develop your focus by being very selective with where you spend your mental energy. If you've failed to reach an important goal because you were distracted, misinformed, or overcommitted, then you know the role focus and selectivity play in achievement. Second, you will learn how to stop allowing your happiness and success to be dependent on other people and instead, start taking ownership over your life through creative work. Finally, you will learn the art of changing your life through pragmatic decisions and actions. Self-improvement is not the result of dramatic changes. Instead, science has shown that personal and professional change is initiated and sustained by consistent, practical changes. To grow, you must leverage the power of micro-decisions, personality responsibility, and mini-habits. Your own biology will not let you improve your life in any other way. What do you currently value? What are working to attain? Have you been taught to value your job title or your relationship with some other person above all else? Have you been convinced that the most valuable things in life are your paycheck, the number of people who say 'hello' to you at the office, and the number of people who say 'I need you' at home? Or, have you become so passive in what you value that you let anyone and anything into your life, as long as whatever you let in allows you to stay disconnected from the cold hard truth that when things really go wrong in your life, the only person who will be able to fix it and the only person will be responsible for it is you. If so…welcome to fake success. Passivity, dependence, and the sacrifice of practical thinking and personal responsibility to fuzzy, grandiose ideals and temporary feelings — these are markers of fake success. Intelligent Achievement, on the other hand, is not a moving target. It's not empty either. Instead, it's sturdy, full, and immovable. It's not something that's just handed to you. It's not something you're nudged to chase or coerced into wanting. Intelligent Achievement comes from within you. It's a collection of values that are aligned with who you are—values you have to protect and nurture. These values do not increase your dependence on other people and things. Instead, they relieve you of dependence. This kind of achievement is something that you have a part in building from the ground up—you know what's in it—you chose it, someone else didn't choose it for you. Achieving real success means you must focus, create, and grow daily. The Science of Intelligent Achievement will show you how.




Black Hole Focus


Book Description

"...an absurdly motivating book." –A.J. Jacobs, New York Times bestselling author Don’t get stuck on a career path you have no passion for. Don’t waste your intelligence on something that doesn’t really mean anything more to you than a paycheck. Let Isaiah Hankel help you define a focus so powerful that everything in your life will be pulled towards it. Create your purpose and change your life. Be focused. Be fulfilled. Be successful. Black Hole Focus has been endorsed by top names in business, entrepreneurship, and academia, including 4 times New York Times bestseller AJ Jacobs and Harvard Medical School Postdoc Director Dr. Jim Gould. The book is broken up into 3 different sections; the first section shows you why you need a purpose in life, the second section shows you how to find your new purpose, and the third section shows you how to achieve your goals when facing adversity. In this book, you will learn: How to understand what you really want in life and how to get it Why people with a powerful purpose live to 100 How to rapidly improve focus and change your life using the secret techniques of an international memory champion How people like Jim Carrey, Oprah Winfrey, and J.K. Rowling transformed pain into purpose How to start a business by avoiding willpower depletion and the life hack lie Black Hole Focus includes exclusive case studies from medical practitioners, research scientists, lawyers, corporate executives and small business owners who have used the techniques described in this book to achieve massive success in their own lives. About the Author: Dr. Hankel is an internationally recognized expert in the biotechnology industry and prolific public speaker. He's given over 250 seminars in 22 different countries while working with many of the world's most respected companies and institutions, including Harvard University, Oxford University, Roche Pharmaceuticals, Eli Lilly & Company, Baxter International and Pfizer. Dr. Hankel uses the science of purpose and the principles of entrepreneurship to help people achieve their biggest goals.