Career paths vary a great deal and choosing a scientific vocation can involve challenging and unanticipated decisions. In a new series from the Soapbox Science blog on nature.com, 13 guest bloggers share their stories of career transitions. From a UK politician who started out in biochemistry to a scientist who gave up a career in IT to do a PhD, the posts highlight some of the diverse routes into and out of a career in science. Have a read and let us know your thoughts, either here or in the posts below.
- From science to politics – Julian Huppert
- From scientist to combining science and novel writing – Professor Sunetra Gupta
- From PhD to scientific conference organizer – Amanda Ullman
- From chemist to company founder – Ed Marshall
- From PhD to patent attorney – Toby Thompson
- From a career in IT to a PhD – Charles Mire
- From academia to business entrepreneur – Alan Whitmore
- From journalism to science and back again – Asha Tanna
- From science degree to PhD to postdoc – Josh Witten
- From PhD to PR – Rebecca Caygill
- From a science degree to teaching and film-making – Alom Shaha
- Changing PhDs and exploring science writing – Paige Brown
- From (almost) PhD to product development – Ian Mulvany