Changing career from academia to industry or to other organisations in the private or public sector is a challenging step for many researchers. Numerous uncertainties are connected to it – will I regret leaving academia? How can I find a job I really like? Do I have the necessary skills?

In this expert talk, we will discuss common doubts and challenges for researchers considering leaving academia. We will present some important facts about life after academia, discuss what we can learn from individuals who moved successfully to the private sector and explore what everyone can do by themselves in order to move step-by-step towards a successful transition. The talk will be complemented by the experiences of an alumni of the LBG Expert Internships, Lisa Bierbaumer, sharing her insights about working in industry.

Our Experts

Yasmin Dolak-Struss is trainer and systemic coach for researchers. She studied technical physics and holds a doctorate in biomathematics. After several years in research, she switched careers to a large research funding organization, where she was advising and training international researchers on European funding programmes and career development for more than 16 years. As certified systemic coach, she offers support for work-related challenges, such as guiding researchers through difficult career decisions and assisting them in finding a successful and happy career path

Lisa Bierbaumer is a Molecular Biologist, who holds a PhD in “Malignant Diseases” from the Medical University of Vienna. During her academic career, she has worked on several experimental research projects in Oncology and Rare Diseases. For her last research positions, she worked as a PhD student and later Post-Doc at the St.Anna Kinderkrebsforschung. After her Expert Internship at Novartis, she became a Medical Manager at CAKE – a Communication and Marketing Agency specialized on the pharma- and healthcare sector. In addition, she voluntarily works as Community Outreach & Marketing personnel at the podcast “PhD Career Stories”.