Successful LSR Day - alternative career pathways for Master and PhD graduates in the industry

This event took place on July 05, 2017 and was organized by the  “Verband der Diagnostica-Industrie e.V. (VDGH)” in cooperation with “BioRiver - Life Science im Rheinland e.V.” and the Cologne PhD Programs Molecular Medicine and Health Sciences.
 
 We welcomed over 90 Master and PhD students from Aachen, Bonn, Düsseldorf, Jülich, Duisburg and Cologne. The invited speakers, professionals of the different industrial partners, presented their field of work and highlighted the transferrable skills required for the positions as well as the prospective career developments.

The speakers, who have made the successful transition from academic research either after their Master or PhDs, or at a later stage of their academic career path, were highly engaged to provide information and to answer all questions of the participants.

While academic research is still the preferred career destination for PhD graduates, over 80% of them are aware that it will be highly challenging to get a secure lifelong position in academia. “I know that nowadays, Life Science PhD graduates are working in different areas ranging from industry to public sectors. To learn more about the different job profiles was very interesting. Moreover, I was impressed about possibilities of the career development programs at the different companies”, commented a PhD student. 

Professionals from following companies were present:
AYOXXA, Eppendorf, Miltenyi Biotec, QIAGEN, Thermo Fisher Scientific

We are thankful for the outstanding cooperation with the "Verband der Diagnostica -Industrie e.V. (VDGH e.V.)" and "BioRiver NRW" and looking forward to upcoming joined activities in the future.