Wed Oct 14 // Dr. Sylva Donaldson Ilchyna // Centre for the Analysis of Genome Evolution and Function, University of Toronto

Dr. Sylva Donaldson Ilchyna
​Centre for the Analysis of Genome Evolution and Function, University of Toronto

Alternative Academic Career Trajectory

When you’re in graduate school, it often feels like the default career path is to become a professor. You’re trained to manage your own research program, teach courses and supervise others. What do you do if you stayed in your postgraduate training because you love research but don’t see yourself in a tenure track position in the future? Congratulations! You are opening the door to an alternative academic career! What does that mean? … anything you want, really. I think of it as a career for someone with a postgraduate degree that is not a tenure-track position. It’s a pretty open definition ¯\_(ツ)_/¯. But that doesn’t mean that you have to jump from one short-term contract to another. There is plenty of opportunity for job security! I’ll be talking about my path to a long-term and stable alternative academic career. I will present a number of my own failures (#normalizefailure) and successes. I will also reassure you that it is possible to have a rewarding scientific alternative academic career and a fulfilling life outside your career.