For graduate students and postdocs, successfully navigating a career move often requires looking beyond the lab bench to leverage connections in both industry and academia. This was the impetus behind BACTER’s (Biotechnologists’ Association for Career Training Events and NetwoRking) recent panel series on St. Paul campus. The BioTechnology Institute graduate student- and postdoc-led committee hosted a two-part panel discussion with alumni working at start ups and large companies to come share their experiences this spring.
“We wanted to provide graduate students and postdocs interested in industry careers with insight into navigating today’s particularly challenging job market,” says Francois Gaascht, a BACTER member and postdoc in the Schmidt-Dannert lab. “Our hope in planning these discussions was to provide practical advice and new tips from alumni who have recently navigated career transitions themselves to students and postdocs on campus.”
The April 27 panel focused on small companies and start ups included alumni Aman Imani (Assay Development), Freddie Miller (Miromatrix) and Bryan Jones (Luminary Therapeutics). Kathryn Crone (Surmodics IVD), Suzie Hsu (Boston Scientific), Kristin Grande (Thermo Fisher Scientific), Chris Flynn (Ecolab I Life Sciences) and Parker Stoddard (Maud Borup) joined the panel discussion on May 7 focused on experiences with larger companies.
“We hope that the attendees who are still uncertain about whether they want to work in a small or large company could gain insight into what it is like to work in both environments and develop an understanding of how the work can be different or similar,” Gaascht says. “Through this discussion series, we hoped to create opportunities for current graduate students, postdocs, and alumni to connect, reconnect, and maintain an active and supportive BTI network.”-Lance Janssen