Industry vs Academia: where is your next step after PhD?
Time: Day 2, 10:00-11:30
Room: Auditorium B, Level 02
Facilitator: Robin Henderson
Panel Members: Polly Purvis (CEO, ScotlandIS), Alan Feighery (Enterprise Campus, University of Aberdeen), Tim Storer (University of Glasgow), David Harper (Google)
Co-ordinators: Maria Evangelopoulou, Rui Li, Tayyaba Nafees, Gideon Bamidele Ogunniye
RDF Domain: B
Abstract
One of the biggest decisions that a PhD student will have to take is answering the question: “What to do next?”. Doing a PhD is a significant achievement but ensuring that you maximise the opportunities which result from the PhD is important as the job market, both inside and outside of academia, is very competitive. This workshop will help delegates gain more insight into possible career paths in both the industrial and the academia sector, as well as identifying opportunities for PhD candidates to differentiate themselves in the job market from other researchers through developing their transferable skills and gaining additional accreditations. The panel members invited from both industry and academia will share their experiences and views on the different career paths to inspire and aid the delegates to consider the wide range of career paths available and how to steps to controlling their career direction.
Research Development Framework (RDF)
The main objective of this workshop follows the Domain B of the RDF, particularly in Career Managements, Responsiveness to Opportunities and Networking of the sub-domain B2 Professional and Career Development, and B3 Self-management. Successful outcomes of the session would possibly have a boarder impact among the RDF spectrum on items such as Policy (D3) in Domain D Engagement and Impact, and Domain C, Research Governance and Organization.
Structure:
- Presentation by the main facilitator (30 min)
- Panel session by a number of experts from industry and academia (30 min)
- Interactive Q&A between the audience and panel members (30 min)
Learning Outcomes:
- The delegates should have an improved understanding of a range of opportunities that would strengthen and evidence their skills and knowledge during their study as PhD candidates
- The delegates should have a more strategic vision of personal development and a more thoughtful plan for their future career
- The delegates should be more proactive in career related decision making and better prepared for employment seeking process in the future.