Careers for scientists
Between 2010 and 2014 we ran a series focused on alternative careers for scientists, hearing from specialists in publishing, law, journalism, ethics and more. Now, in 2024, we have reinvigorated this series – but instead of focusing on other careers after academia, we want to highlight that many valid career paths exist, and there is no such thing as a standard career path.
My journey from bench scientist to clinical ethicist
Posted by Michael Szego, on 1 June 2011
Four and a half years ago I was introduced to the field of clinical ethics while nearing the end of my Doctorate in Molecular Genetics at the University of Toronto. …My journey to scientific editing
Posted by kara_cerveny, on 24 May 2011
Although I’m no longer working at the bench, I still think of myself as a scientist. During grad school and much of my post-doc, I assumed that I would follow …My transition to patent law
Posted by Michael Belliveau, on 22 May 2011
I am now a Patent Attorney at Clark & Elbing, a Boston boutique patent law firm specializing in biotechnology and pharmaceuticals. I have been at Clark & Elbing since 1998, …A career as editor
Posted by Vivian Siegel, on 19 May 2011
I was a PhD student with Peter Walter, studying protein translocation across the endoplasmic reticulum. I did very well as a student, publishing six research papers during that time. After …From the bench to the science centre
Posted by sarahgibb, on 15 February 2011
During the first year of my PhD, I undertook a small rotation project in the lab of Dr Kim Dale, doing some work with the chick embryo. I did this …Educational game designer: where biology, games, and technology meet
Posted by Nicole Husain, on 15 February 2011
When Eva approached me about contributing to this series about how one goes from a PhD in developmental biology and ends up in a non traditional academic career path, I …
In this new career interview series, we chatted to several developmental biologists who have had vastly different career trajectories.
Do you have a career story you’d like to share with the community?
Jobs board
Our jobs board often contains positions away from the bench
Our full archive going back to 2010 is filterable by category, tag and date.