March Your Own Science Path

Career Story by Alex Huang, Ph.D., Associate Director & Senior Scientist, Genentech

My career path, though not academic, is hardly “alternative”. With constant soul-searching along the way, I have managed to stick with science and marched in the space of drug discovery and development in pharmaceutical industry.  It is definitely not a straightforward path, contrary to what people often perceive.  There were numerous moments of uncertainties. Nevertheless, it has been a rewarding journey so far.

Inaugural Meet Up of UR’s Thinkers and Drinkers

News Article by Heather Natola, PhD Candidate

If science happens at a bench, and no one ever hears about it, did it really happen? The students in Thinkers and Drinkers, don’t think so, and they embarked on a journey to tell the people of Rochester what kind of science is happening in their backyard.  With stylish, matching T-shirts, these scientists put themselves on the frontline to defend science and add the human angle that is often missing from articles published about science.

Science Communication Day with URBEST

News Article by Tracey Baas, Executive Director of URBEST

On Friday March 10, University of Rochester’s Broadening Experiences in Scientific Training (URBEST) brought together seven Science Communicators from University of Rochester, Rochester Institute of Technology, University of Washington, and National Public Radio (NPR). Maddie Sofia, assistant producer at NPR and recent alumna (’16), returned to UR to share her triumphs and tribulations with PhD graduate students and postdocs at the URBEST Career Story. The real fun, however, happened at a morning and afternoon session of Better Science Communication Through Impov.

Adjuncting: Yes You Can

News Article by Zachary Murphy, PhD Candidate and "Roving Educator"

Those of us that want to be college educators, yet are still in our PhD training, face the problem of experience. As is the case with any job graduate students and post-docs will be applying for, you need experience. The gold standard for experience in order to be a faculty member at a primarily undergraduate institution is teaching in the classroom. Previously I have shared a collaborative approach that I took to achieve experience in the classroom through an American Society of Cell Biology’s program. These types of opportunities, however, can be few in number and hard to find. When looking for teaching at the college level, this commonly leads to the adjunct position. This is working on a semester-by-semester basis to teach one or more courses at a college or university.

A Path to Data Science

News Article by Adam Danz, PhD Candidate

Several recent alumni from the department of Brain and Cognitive Science have gone into the field of data science, which is an increasingly popular alternative to academia for people in our field. It is said that 90% of the world's data has been generated in the past 2 years, and it is a reasonable assumption that the same proportion of the world’s data scientists have entered the field in the same amount of time.  Here’s a summary I put together of the initial steps others have taken in preparation for getting a job in data science following graduation.