Adam Gault
Naturejobs podcast: A fresh start
Tag Archives: job satisfaction
Balancing act
How do you find work-life balance as an early-career scientist?
You can barely keep up with your own research programme, let alone grantwriting obligations, publishing and staying abreast of literature, news and other information. Is there such a thing as a 40-hour week, or is it as extinct as an 8-track tape?
Can scientists really have work/life balance?
To be a top performer you need to be happy – something academics tend to forget.
Naturejobs journalism competition winner Elisa Lazzari
Scientists spend a lot of time trouble-shooting. Every day we work on our protocols, and if something doesn’t work, we try again and again, until we fix it. We keep track of all the factors and accurately measure all variables, to find the perfect combination of parameters that work. If there is one thing we can claim after getting a PhD, we’re definitely great at problem-solving. Can we also trouble-shoot our way out of the everlasting dilemma on how to find work/life balance?
Elisa Lazzari
Finding job satisfaction in technology transfer
As a business development officer at STEMCELL Technologies in Vancouver, Canada, Ben Thiede evaluates new technologies and negotiates deals that bring scientific advances to market. He describes his move from graduate studies toward law and into his current position.
What do you do?
It’s a very diverse role; I’m writing and drafting a lot of agreements – like license agreements and supply agreements. I’m helping the company evaluate the patents we have; I’m evaluating technologies that other companies are bringing to us. I’m always scouring publications; I have Google Alerts set for certain types of technologies. I feel that I am reading more scientific journals than when I was in grad school.
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Finding job satisfaction in research development
After finishing a PhD and postdoc in cardiovascular biology, Christina Papke found job satisfaction as a research development officer.
Now, she works at Texas A&M University in College Station, where she helps professors put together grant applications, form collaborations, and identify funding opportunities.
Tell me about your job.
It’s hard to say what a typical day is like, which I kind of like. On any given day, I might consult with an investigator about a research grant or edit a proposal.
Our goal is also to help promote collaboration among faculty. For example, we help to facilitate the formation of research interest groups, on, say, imaging or healthy ageing. We might organize a meeting where faculty get two minutes to present an overview of what they are doing, and we make program books and plan meetings to help make ideas happen.
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