Successful Careers beyond the Lab

This book provides first-hand accounts of the many career opportunities open to graduates and postgraduates in the sciences and engineering beyond academic research.

David J. Bennett (Edited by), Richard C. Jennings (Edited by)

9781107161054, Cambridge University Press

Hardback, published 15 June 2017

366 pages, 4 b/w illus. 1 table
23.5 x 15.6 x 2.4 cm, 0.65 kg

'If there's one valuable message here it's 'know thyself - but don't dismiss serendipity'. While the advice of careers professionals to analyse skills and preferences is important, the personal stories show just how important it is to keep an open mind and that even the most successful career isn't really planned but relies on a willingness to grasp opportunities. For women, as a minority in the UK STEM workforce, these personal case studies offer reassurance that it's good to take risks and great careers await us all.' Averil Macdonald, OBE, University of Reading

There is a major demand for people with scientific training in a wide range of professions based on and maintaining relations with science. However, there is a lack of good first-hand information about alternative career paths to research. From entrepreneurship, industry and the media to government, public relations, activism and teaching, this is a readable guide to science based skills, lifestyles and career paths. The ever-narrowing pyramid of opportunities within an academic career structure, or the prospect of a life in the laboratory losing its attraction, mean that many who trained in science and engineering now look for alternative careers. Thirty role models who began by studying many different disciplines give personal guidance for graduates, postgraduates and early-career scientists in the life sciences, physical sciences and engineering. This book is an entertaining resource for ideas about, and directions into, the many fields which they may not be aware of or may not have considered.

Foreword Sir Tom Blundell
Part I. Career Services', Recruiters' and Students' Viewpoints: 1. What type of scientist are you? Nalayini Thambar and Clare Jones
2. Researching my career: from science to career education Lori Conlan
3. Career enlightenment for the twenty-first century Stephen Isherwood
4. Doctoral graduates in policy and advocacy Adam Wright
Part II. Industry and Related Occupations: 5. Opportunities for entrepreneurial scientists and engineers in the post-genomic era Darrin M. Disley
6. From monkeys to medicines and beyond - navigating careers in industry and academia Jackie Hunter
7. Lessons from evolution on how to build a business Jonathan Milner
8. Entrepreneurship, management, public relations and consulting Nick Scott-Ram
9. From science to engineering and business: the converging stories of three friends Ermeena Malik
10. From lab bench to board room: the patent attorney's tale Robert Stephen
11. From molecular biology to GMO regulation and policy Delphine Carron
12. Rebel with a cause? From physics to activism Philip Webber
13. Science public relations - it needs to be in your genes Richard Hayhurst
Part III. The Public Sector: 14. From rock pools to Whitehall Miles Parker
15. Science for global good - a polymath's approach Jasdeep Sandhu
16. Skills, networks and luck David Cleevely
17. Politics and policy Julian Huppert
Part IV. Journalism and the Media: 18. The wonderful world of reporting, or the marsupial mole revisited Tim Radford
19. Reflections of a thinking pinball: the surprises, challenges and rewards of a career in radio Peter Evans
20. From science to storytelling Madhumita Murgia
21. Propelled by science: a life on camera Vivienne Parry OBE
22. A career in science radio and podcasting Chris Smith and Kat Arney
Part V. Science Communication, Teaching and Ethics: 23. What to do when you don't know what you're doing
or, my first twenty-five years in science communication John Durant
24. A butterfly career in science and beyond to public engagement Nicola Buckley
25. A lifetime's fun and interest with teaching and allied matters Ian Harvey
26. In search of the ethical path Stuart Parkinson
27. Environmental policy, politics and science - not always an easy ride Julie Hill
Further sources of information.

Subject Areas: Engineering: general [TBC], Developmental biology [PSC], Life sciences: general issues [PSA], Biology, life sciences [PS]