Career Service

Naturally, performing experiments, publishing papers and enjoying your science is the prime focus during your PhD or postdoc. However, your employment with SILS is only temporary and, sooner or later, you will have to make a choice about the next step in your career. Besides pursuing a scientific career in academia, there are plenty of other career options for someone with a PhD in Life Sciences. This is both exciting and frightening: You can virtually go 'anywhere' - but how should you decide which direction to take without knowing what to expect from a certain career path? This is why the first step of career development is to actively take charge! Take the time to analyse your skills and strengths, your ambition and wishes. The skill set you developed during your PhD is already very valuable to all kinds of employers. But which other core competencies are required for different type of careers and is there something you can already do to improve or develop them now? Because this process can be daunting and it is hard to get an overview of what 'is out there', we would like to support you in terms of career orientation and perspectives. We are aware that you might be too occupied or stressed with finishing your PhD / postdoc to think about the future right now. However, the first step does not have to be all that time consuming. There are career events organised at the Faculty and one-on-one coaching sessions are available for all PhD candidates and Postdocs at SILS. 

Need more information about the Faculty Career Service? Find Career Service on the Intranet. 

For every event, we invite 3-4 guests with a Life Science PhD to talk about their specific career choices and experiences. In small groups, you have the opportunity to ask questions about those choices, ranging from the decision-making process in the beginning to specific job requirements or simple descriptions of day-to-day tasks. All of that while enjoying a free lunch!

Joining a Career Lunch is not about finding your dream job right now.  But it will get you started with networking and provide you with more insights to make an informed decision in the future.

Where to find trainings and career events for PhDs

Will be announced via the PhD agenda on the Faculty website 

Other FNWI Institutes have similar career events where you are welcome as well. These are on the online PhD agenda.

Keep an eye out for the invitation emails with registration details! The SILS newsletter will also regularly highlight upcoming events.

Questions about the career lunches or suggestions for themes?

Contact careerservice-science@uva.nl