Career Event: Options After Your PhD!
Figuring out a career path after your PhD (or any other point during your studies) is the hardest task every student has to face, especially approaching the end of their studies. And the unescapable question is always: “So, what should I do next?”
This encouraged Araceli Venegas Gomez and Chiara Trovatello on behalf of EPS Young Minds to organize the Career Event at the CLEO EU Conference in Munich, on June 23rd 2019.
In the form of a discussion panel, young physicists – master students, graduate students, and post-docs – had the opportunity to engage with six different invited speakers, both from Academia and Industry, through a Q&As session. This event presented a view on different professional profiles, such as:
- the head of Airbus Blue Sky department (Dr. Thierry Botter);
- a researcher in Attosecond Physics, Photonics and Ultrafast Laser Science (Dr. Hannieh Fattahi);
- the TOPTICA photonics company co-founder and president (Dr. Wilhelm Kaenders);
- the CEO of Applied Energetics, ex-chief scientist and president of the OSA (Dr. Gregory Quarles);
- a professor from Ruhr-University Bochum (Prof. Dr. Clara Saraceno);
- a consultant at M Squared Lasers (Dr. Gabrielle Thomas).
The speakers shared their experiences on different stages of their careers, such as the transition after their PhD, when they decided they wanted to stay/leave Academia, whether they really knew what they wanted to do, and how the transition process was. They also highlighted how important networking could be, and how skills acquired during the PhD can be relevant for future careers.
The room was completely full (look at the picture!), and the audience was impressively engaged. The speakers were asked questions, curiosities and advices until the very end of the event, when many young scientists attending this session came to thank us for organizing such a beautiful event that broadened their way of thinking life choices.
I truly believe we all learnt a lot from this event. In the end, life is plenty of choices. “Just choose what inspires you. Try. And if you don’t like, change! No choice is forever.”, as Dr. Gabrielle Thomas reminded us.
Good luck!
We are looking forward to meeting you at next Career Events!
http://www.cleoeurope.org/eps-young-minds-career-event/
