graduate education student flyer
Building Skills That Transfer to
the Job Market
You Want to Teach
1. Try to get experience constructing chemistry curricula
and experiments for undergraduates
2. Challenge yourself to explain concepts in diferent
ways to reach diverse groups of students
3. Mentor undergraduate students
4. Work on developing research ideas independently
5. Volunteer to write the irst drafts of scientiic papers
to gain practice at communicating complex topics
clearly,
6. Hone your public speaking skills by presenting posters
and giving talks
7. Ask your advisor for opportunities to review proposals
or articles
You Want to Direct a Research Group
1. Work on developing research ideas independently
2. Write as many research proposals as you can to get
experience developing research ideas, communicating
them clearly, and defending them
3. Identify opportunities for collaboration, particularly
across disciplines
4. Learn about funding agencies and how to manage
the inances of a research team
Part of being a PhD is being able to come up
with your own ideas and not just simple
extensions of what your advisor told you to do.
—Rajiv Dhawan, Talent Acquisition Manager, DuPont
5. Write and publish scientiic papers
6. Mentor undergraduate students to get experience
advising, motivating students, and managing multiple
research projects at once
You Want to Work in the Lab
1. Get into the habit of recording, interpreting, and
storing your data responsibly
2. Take a professional, disciplined approach to
managing your time in the laboratory and in your
communications with your colleagues
3. Become familiar with safety procedures
You Want to Work in Industry
1. Look for internship opportunities to gain experience
working outside academia and make contacts in
industry
2. Demonstrate your ability to adapt and learn new skills
quickly since new hires often have more than one
focus within a company
We don’t want folks who are very focused
and narrow. We want folks who are broad
thinking, looking to contribute not only to
their work, but to support their colleagues.
—David Kronenthal, Bristol-Myers Squibb
3. Take advantage of your University’s career services to
get interview practice
4. Look for ways to showcase problem-solving and
communication skills, teamwork and a strong work
ethic. Standout applicants have more than just
technical know-how.
5. If your thesis project was conducted within a larger
research group, become accustomed to explaining
exactly what you contributed to the team.
6. Network with recent graduates who have gone on
to careers in industry to learn more about the skills
you need.
how to
make your
Chemistry
Graduate
Education
Work for You
You Want to Start Your Own Company
1. Learn from other entrepreneurs about how to
transform science ideas into business plans
2. Understand how to sell and market your products
3. Interact with technology transfer oices and
intellectual property lawyers
This pamphlet is based on Challenges in Chemistry Graduate
Education: A Workshop Summary, which records the presentations made and ideas exchanged at a 2012 Board on Chemical
Sciences and Technology workshop. This material is based upon
work supported by the National Science Foundation under
award number CHE-1147410 and by the National Institutes of
Health under award number N01-OD-4-2139, TO#273. Unlike the
Academies’ expert consensus reports, workshop summaries do
not contain indings or recommendations, and don’t necessarily
represent the views of the National Research Council.
To learn more, please visit:
http://bit.ly/chemistry-graduate-education
Graduate education ofers a
multitude of opportunities
to gain new skills that will help you
in your chosen career—be it in
academia, industry, or beyond.
Establish a Strong Advisor-Student
Relationship
Students and their faculty advisors can have difering
expectations for graduate school life—which could
lead to conlict. Consider doing rotations in several
diferent laboratories to select a research advisor and
explore diferent research areas. Once you’ve found a
good it, talk with your advisor and consider writing
a short manual outlining each other’s expectations.
Questions to think about include:
✦ How much time should I spend in the lab?
✦ How often should I expect feedback from you?
✦ Looking for opportunities to collaborate on interdisciplinary research projects
✦ Volunteering for extra tasks such as mentoring
undergraduate students or organizing student
seminars
✦ What steps do I take to report a mistake in my
research?
✦ Will I get the opportunity to work with students
and faculty in other disciplines?
Depth, breadth, and communication could
be three anchors around which graduate
education could be transformed.
—Wilfredo Colon, Renesselaer Polytechnic Institute
4. Being adaptable and acquiring new skills
5. Creative and critical thinking
6. Leadership skills
7. Approaching problems from a broad-based
perspective
With a graduate degree in Chemistry, the sky’s the limit. Reach out
to former students from your department to learn how they made
the transition to any one of these professions.
Science Policy ~ Work
with a government or
private agency to
shape public policy
✦ Taking classes in other subjects
✦ Attending presentations from faculty in other
ields
3. Managing other people
Academia ~ Work at a
university or college
teaching, directing
a research group, or as
a laboratory researcher
Consider both Depth and Breadth
in Your Education
Many PhD programs are narrowly focused, a model
that has worked well to advance science, but may be
less efective for creating well-rounded graduates.
Making the most of opportunities to learn about other
disciplines could boost your thesis project, while also
giving you skills for the next steps of your career. Build
depth and breadth into your graduate education by:
2. Strong communication skills, both orally and in
writing for scientiic and lay audiences
You may not know exactly where your career path
will lead yet, but now is the time to start investigating career opportunities—and the skills you’d
need for each one.
Where Can I Work?
Graduate education can help you build skills that
are applicable to almost any career, including:
1. Efective time management
Start Thinking About Your
Career Early
✦ How will we set goals for progress?
Skills for Any Career
Government Lab ~ Engage
in cutting-edge research
at a government facility
Places
Chemistry
Graduates
Can Work
Industry ~ Work for a private
company that produces
industrial chemicals or
pharmaceuticals, specialty
materials or other products
Scientiic Publishing ~ Work
for any number of companies
that need trained scientists to
translate, produce, and review
scientiic literature
Entrepreneurship ~ Use your
scientiic skills to identify
opportunities for innovation
in sciences and help bring
new ideas to market
the Job Market
You Want to Teach
1. Try to get experience constructing chemistry curricula
and experiments for undergraduates
2. Challenge yourself to explain concepts in diferent
ways to reach diverse groups of students
3. Mentor undergraduate students
4. Work on developing research ideas independently
5. Volunteer to write the irst drafts of scientiic papers
to gain practice at communicating complex topics
clearly,
6. Hone your public speaking skills by presenting posters
and giving talks
7. Ask your advisor for opportunities to review proposals
or articles
You Want to Direct a Research Group
1. Work on developing research ideas independently
2. Write as many research proposals as you can to get
experience developing research ideas, communicating
them clearly, and defending them
3. Identify opportunities for collaboration, particularly
across disciplines
4. Learn about funding agencies and how to manage
the inances of a research team
Part of being a PhD is being able to come up
with your own ideas and not just simple
extensions of what your advisor told you to do.
—Rajiv Dhawan, Talent Acquisition Manager, DuPont
5. Write and publish scientiic papers
6. Mentor undergraduate students to get experience
advising, motivating students, and managing multiple
research projects at once
You Want to Work in the Lab
1. Get into the habit of recording, interpreting, and
storing your data responsibly
2. Take a professional, disciplined approach to
managing your time in the laboratory and in your
communications with your colleagues
3. Become familiar with safety procedures
You Want to Work in Industry
1. Look for internship opportunities to gain experience
working outside academia and make contacts in
industry
2. Demonstrate your ability to adapt and learn new skills
quickly since new hires often have more than one
focus within a company
We don’t want folks who are very focused
and narrow. We want folks who are broad
thinking, looking to contribute not only to
their work, but to support their colleagues.
—David Kronenthal, Bristol-Myers Squibb
3. Take advantage of your University’s career services to
get interview practice
4. Look for ways to showcase problem-solving and
communication skills, teamwork and a strong work
ethic. Standout applicants have more than just
technical know-how.
5. If your thesis project was conducted within a larger
research group, become accustomed to explaining
exactly what you contributed to the team.
6. Network with recent graduates who have gone on
to careers in industry to learn more about the skills
you need.
how to
make your
Chemistry
Graduate
Education
Work for You
You Want to Start Your Own Company
1. Learn from other entrepreneurs about how to
transform science ideas into business plans
2. Understand how to sell and market your products
3. Interact with technology transfer oices and
intellectual property lawyers
This pamphlet is based on Challenges in Chemistry Graduate
Education: A Workshop Summary, which records the presentations made and ideas exchanged at a 2012 Board on Chemical
Sciences and Technology workshop. This material is based upon
work supported by the National Science Foundation under
award number CHE-1147410 and by the National Institutes of
Health under award number N01-OD-4-2139, TO#273. Unlike the
Academies’ expert consensus reports, workshop summaries do
not contain indings or recommendations, and don’t necessarily
represent the views of the National Research Council.
To learn more, please visit:
http://bit.ly/chemistry-graduate-education
Graduate education ofers a
multitude of opportunities
to gain new skills that will help you
in your chosen career—be it in
academia, industry, or beyond.
Establish a Strong Advisor-Student
Relationship
Students and their faculty advisors can have difering
expectations for graduate school life—which could
lead to conlict. Consider doing rotations in several
diferent laboratories to select a research advisor and
explore diferent research areas. Once you’ve found a
good it, talk with your advisor and consider writing
a short manual outlining each other’s expectations.
Questions to think about include:
✦ How much time should I spend in the lab?
✦ How often should I expect feedback from you?
✦ Looking for opportunities to collaborate on interdisciplinary research projects
✦ Volunteering for extra tasks such as mentoring
undergraduate students or organizing student
seminars
✦ What steps do I take to report a mistake in my
research?
✦ Will I get the opportunity to work with students
and faculty in other disciplines?
Depth, breadth, and communication could
be three anchors around which graduate
education could be transformed.
—Wilfredo Colon, Renesselaer Polytechnic Institute
4. Being adaptable and acquiring new skills
5. Creative and critical thinking
6. Leadership skills
7. Approaching problems from a broad-based
perspective
With a graduate degree in Chemistry, the sky’s the limit. Reach out
to former students from your department to learn how they made
the transition to any one of these professions.
Science Policy ~ Work
with a government or
private agency to
shape public policy
✦ Taking classes in other subjects
✦ Attending presentations from faculty in other
ields
3. Managing other people
Academia ~ Work at a
university or college
teaching, directing
a research group, or as
a laboratory researcher
Consider both Depth and Breadth
in Your Education
Many PhD programs are narrowly focused, a model
that has worked well to advance science, but may be
less efective for creating well-rounded graduates.
Making the most of opportunities to learn about other
disciplines could boost your thesis project, while also
giving you skills for the next steps of your career. Build
depth and breadth into your graduate education by:
2. Strong communication skills, both orally and in
writing for scientiic and lay audiences
You may not know exactly where your career path
will lead yet, but now is the time to start investigating career opportunities—and the skills you’d
need for each one.
Where Can I Work?
Graduate education can help you build skills that
are applicable to almost any career, including:
1. Efective time management
Start Thinking About Your
Career Early
✦ How will we set goals for progress?
Skills for Any Career
Government Lab ~ Engage
in cutting-edge research
at a government facility
Places
Chemistry
Graduates
Can Work
Industry ~ Work for a private
company that produces
industrial chemicals or
pharmaceuticals, specialty
materials or other products
Scientiic Publishing ~ Work
for any number of companies
that need trained scientists to
translate, produce, and review
scientiic literature
Entrepreneurship ~ Use your
scientiic skills to identify
opportunities for innovation
in sciences and help bring
new ideas to market