PhD Career Stories

In episode 30 of PhD Career Stories, Åsa Burman returns for a tips & tricks-themed podcast. In this episode, we learn more on why shifting focus from what you are working with to how you are working will increase your productivity. In addition, we are presented with different productivity tools and how you can apply them to your own work situation. Dr Åsa Burman has a broad background and professi...

Professor Alfred Orina Isaac is a Pharmaceutical Scientist with a specific interest in Neuroscience. His research is focused in neurotoxicology and neuroprotection mechanisms in the brain. Currently, he is studying the neurotoxicity of Khat in a mouse model; and also the neuroprotection capability of naturally found compounds against neurotoxic drugs e.g. Melarsoprol. His long term goal is to star...

We are joined by Dr Åsa Burman who has a broad background and professional experience from business, academia, and social entrepreneurship. Amongst other things, Åsa is the Founder and CEO of Finish On Time - a company that helps graduate students, postdocs, and other academics to finish their academic work on time and feel well during the process. So far, over 1000 PhD students, supervisors, prof...

A year ago, [Tina] talked to Michele. At that time, he was a PhD student looking for a job in industry. […] "I have a feeling that you have a lot of energy; would you like to share what you have learned with other people so that you will make life easier for them? Because, you see, I have a dream and a vision to start a podcast." And Michele said, "Why not? I would love to! I don't know how to do...

Michael Gralla is a PhD student at the Karolinska Institutet in Stockholm, Sweden and also a Leadership Consultant and Career Coach who has just started his own company: fby – find the best in you . During his career, Michael has never followed the given path. With a Master in Nutrition, he switched fields to get a PhD in Molecular Biology. During his PhD studies, Michael repeatedly guided fellow...

Sara Borniquel started her career as a scientist in Spain, before moving to Sweden in 2008. At Karolinska Institute she combined a postdoc position -leading a pre-clinical study about immune-inflammatory diseases- with two internships at KI Innovations AB and Stockholm-Uppsala Life Science . Since 2014, Sara has held several positions in industry including project management, marketing, and busine...

Sam Dupont is a Researcher and an Associate Professor in Marine Eco-Physiologist at the University of Gothenburg and an Honorary Assistant Professor at the School of Biological Sciences, Hong Kong University. His main research topic is on the effect of global changes on marine species and ecosystems. He currently has about 150 publications in journals including Nature, PNAS and TREE. His work aims...

Thomas Thestrup was born in New Jersey (USA) and has lived and worked in the USA, Australia, Germany and Denmark. He holds a MSc in Biology and Biotechnology from the University of Copenhagen and a PhD in Neurobiology from the Max-Planck Institute of Neurobiology and Ludwig Maximilian University in Munich. Today, Thomas is an Associate at Sunstone Capital, an early-stage Life Science and Technolog...

Dr Amanda González-Bengtsson is a Public Relations Manager at Stockholm University and her passion is to promote science and make it known in society and to stakeholders. In episode 22 of PhD Career Stories, Amanda returns for a tips & tricks-themed podcast. In this episode, we learn more on how we can start preparing for a career after a PhD already in graduate school. "You have only failed if yo...

Dr Filippo Guarnieri earned his PhD in theoretical physics in 2014. He is currently working as a postdoc in theoretical physics at NORDITA in Stockholm, Sweden and is the chair of the Max Planck Alumni Association . In this episode, Filippo will share his story about his transition from academia to entrepreneurship, which he is presently undertaking. "Many PhDs aim to transition outside of academi...

Dr Dennis Fink changed his career path in 2011 after his PhD in Marine Microbiology at the Max Planck Institute for Marine Microbiology in Bremen. In this "PhD Career Story" Dennis tells about his path from scientist to science communicator and which skills you can use from your PhD if you would like to become self-employed. "You can use a lot of your PhD skills, even if you leave academia. Networ...

Gunes Ozhan earned her Bachelor's degree from the Department of Molecular Biology and Genetics at Middle East Technical University in 2003. Shortly after, she was admitted to the Molecular Biology Program of International Max Planck Research School in Göttingen, Germany. She received her PhD in 2009, with her thesis on the molecular evolution of embryonic development in arthropods, which was condu...

In episode 18 of PhD Career Stories, Dr Umesh Gangishetti  describes his transition from a PhD student working on Drosophila Embryogenesis to become a senior scientist conducting clinical studies on Alzheimer's disease.

In episode 17 we have Dr Amanda González-Bengtsson who is a Public Relations Manager at Stockholm University and her passion is to promote science and make it known in society and for stake holders.   She tells the story of how she managed to get a lot of job offers after the PhD just by actually doing all those things that career advisors tells us to do. She hopes that all of you can benefit from...

In episode 16 of PhD Career Stories, Fatma Guettou shares the story of her transition from academia to industry and gives us a few tips and tricks on how to successfully complete the journy.   Fatma is a structural biologist with a PhD in X-ray crystallography from Karolinska Institutet. After completing her PhD, Fatma moved to Munich for a postdoc position in the field of cryo-electron microscopy...

In episode 15 of PhD Career Stories, Jo Havemann returns for a "tips & tricks"-themed podcast on why it is crucial to be aware of your audience when writing about your research. Dr Johanna Havemann works as a trainer and consultant in Science Communication for Universities and research institutions in Europe and Africa ( access2perspectives.com ). Follow her tweets about #scicomm and other topics...

In episode 14, the PhD Career Stories founder Tina Persson returns for another "tips & tricks"-themed episode. In this podcast, Tina shares her experiences on how to get started with self-assessments and why it is important to grow your understanding about who you are and what you want and expect from your professional life to land your dream job.

Dr Johanna Havemann works as a Trainer and Consultant in Science Communication for Universities and research institutions in Europe and Africa ( access2perspectives.com ). She obtained her PhD in 2009 from the Max-Planck Institute for Developmental Biology in Tübingen, Germany. Her working experience covers NGOs, Science startups and international institutions including UNEP. Follow her tweets abo...

In PhD Career Stories episode 12, we welcome our special guest Sarah Blackford , Academic and Science Career Consultant and author of Career planning for research bioscientists. In her "tips & tricks"-themed episode, we learn more on how we can get started with career planning. Sarah Blackford is an academic career consultant with over 15 years' experience of delivering career support to PhD stude...

In this episode, Tina Persson and Maria Sjögren look back at the first 10 episodes of the show and talk about some of the highlights during 2016 as well as what's in store for 2017.   We also announce our special guest for the last episode during 2016 to be published on December 23. Our Christmas gift to all of you listeners out there!   Please visit our site phdcareerstories.com to subscribe to o...

In episode ten of "PhD Career Stories", Tina Persson returns for a another "tips & tricks"-themed episode. In this podcast, we learn more on how we can prepare ourselves for our next interview. 

Dr Ania Gruszczynska completed a PhD in sociology at Aston University in Birmingham, UK in 2009 and has since worked in a variety of project management roles in higher education sector. She is currently working as an IT project manager at Birmingham City University where she is responsible for software projects and developing good project management standards. In addition, she is a qualified coach...

Paulius Mikulskis is a Computational Chemist with a PhD in Theoretical Chemistry from Lund University, now working as a Research Fellow at the University of Nottingham. In this "tips & tricks"-themed episode, Paulius shares two tips which he found useful in his job search.

Samer Yammine has a PhD in Cancer Epigenomics from Karolinska Institutet. He is professionally passionate about design, user experience, innovation and business development and has extensive experience in problem-solving and creative solutions within the biotech sector. Nowadays, Samer have one foot in academia as a project leader at the Unit for Bioentrepreneurship at Karolinska Institutet with t...

In episode six, Philipp Gramlich  will show you that there are many more jobs out there for you to put Tina Persson's inventory from episode four to best use. He will bring in his experiences from industry, academia and as co-founder of NaturalScience. Careers along to enrich the "landscape" of jobs you will see in front of you.