PhACE - Career tracks

There is often a great deal of uncertainty in the early stages of an academic career before a permanent position is achieves - which may take five year or more.  With this in mind, those interested in pursuing an academic career will benefit from the following:

• a dedication to their subject

• resilience in the face of a tough job market

• confidence to deal with criticism

• and stamina in the face of heavy demands especially in the early stages of a career.

At PhACE we help you to make your choice about an academic career by inviting speakers who are successful in this field and are willing to share their experiences with our students. They are not exemplary paths to an academic career, but rather demonstrate how people with different personalities, priorities and attitudes have negotiated the academic job market with varying degrees of success. These lectures will also help you think about what is involved in working towards an academic career and whether or not this is the path you want to take after your PhD.

As a PhD researcher one is grilled and trained to solve the numerous scientific problems that he or she comes across during her research. The answers to these problems are the results of tremendous brainstorming sessions with your supervisor, which involves analytical and critical thinking.

Problem-solving skills based on analytical and logical reasoning can be of great use in other fields as well and one such field is the field of consulting. Consulting is a field where firms help business houses solve their problems by renting out their expertise to them. Your problem solving skills and a mind that strives on asking WHY is always an asset in such business. We invite consultants from one the big consulting firms to share their experiences and journeys from being a PhD to a consultant and show you the opportunities waiting for you in this career track.

Governmental departments have plenty of opportunities for individuals who are interested in working for a cause. A job in the government gives you insight in politics, lobbies, media etc. With a diversity of issues and tasks present you as PhD can have an important role to play. Along with being a part of the government you also have tremendous learning opportunities and career perspective. 

At PHACE you can meet and speak to our guest to get more insight about a field that many doctoral degree holders do not consider as a career track even though it holds large number of opportunities and at the same needs your mind that is trained to think creatively.

The time period for getting a doctoral thesis ready on an average is four years. During these four years the administration and management skills of most PhD candidates are honed to an extent that alongside being researchers they also end up being excellent managers in their own accord. As a PhD candidate one learns to manage human resource in terms of students, technicians and other people such as research collaborators.

Record keeping is one important aspect of research and during the four-year tenure a candidate performs numerous experiments and the data of which needs to be immaculately maintained. Along with these examples there are many tasks that a candidate carries out and gains immense experience and knowledge of managerial and administrational skills. Academic institutions are in need of excellent managers who are acquainted with the working of an educational institution and hence are able to manage certain departments with ease and expertise at the same time. PHD's are the ultimate candidates with their in-depth knowledge of the scientific world. Join PHACE and listen to our guest from the management in academia field and look at the opportunities that you can choose from this track.

Any kind of private organization that is independent from government control can be termed an 'NGO', provided it is not-profit, non-criminal and not simply an opposition political party. The orientation of these organizations refers to the kind of activities they are involved in. NGO activities range from human and animal rights protection, environmental activities, developmental work, health care, food and nutrition etc. These are organizations that strive to work for a better world.

If you are person who is willing utilize your education and research experience for a cause then an NGO is also a career track that offers you an opportunity to do so. An NGO can provide you with tremendous learning and growth opportunities both on the personal and professional front. Our invited guest working in a famous NGO can you help you understand the working of an organization like this in more depth and also at the same time help you realize if working for an NGO is something you wish to do and how your PhD degree can be helpful to you in this regard?

Working on a PhD in the medical, life/natural sciences field allows a PhD candidate to do research the findings of which, can be used for the good of mankind. But seldom does this research reach the masses. PhD candidates that are inclined towards the idea of doing research that will result in having an end use and not just exist as reference material in the archives of a journal will be interested in R&D. R&D in the industry is one such area, which allows you to do research that will result in the production of a product. 

A career path in R&D allows one to explore new frontiers in science similar to academic research and at the same be a part of value creation. Though R&D can be strenuous due to presence of competition in monetary terms in the corporate world, it is an experience that is vastly different from academic research. At PHACE we invite doctorate holders who have been successful in industrial research to shed more light on how to succeed in this corporate environment.

As researchers, we are trained to generate new knowledge and uncover complex mechanisms that shape our world. But how can this knowledge influence the way society works — the decisions cities make, or the policies that guide them?

The field of science policy connects research and governance, ensuring that evidence and academic insight inform real-world action. Professionals in this area work to bridge universities, governments, and civic organizations, turning research into strategies that address societal challenges.

In this session, speakers working at the interface of science and policy will share how they translate scientific knowledge into practice and build collaborations that make cities smarter, fairer, and more sustainable.

People who have completed a PhD are generally seeking research/teaching positions at universities/colleges or positions in the industrial R&D areas. One of the career paths that remains less chosen is becoming a high school teacher or as a teacher/researcher at a polytechnic. Competition for teaching positions can be fierce, particularly in tight economic times when many learning institutions are cutting their budgets on the other hand schools are always looking for inspiring new teachers. 

Your likelihood of success in a job search depends largely on what field you are in. In a competitive world like today teaching jobs are mainly associated with poor remuneration and slow growth. However, like all career paths teaching also has its positive sides and we at PHACE work to show you these positive sides and help you make a decision about teaching a career option for you after your PHD.