How to pursue an academic career
General context
Are you confused about your academic career? There is a solution.
- Are you struggling to get reliable and honest advice on how to pursue a successful academic career?
- Do you want to become part of the small group of scientists who know how to succeed in academia?
- Do you want to know the unspoken rules of a successful academic career?
- Do you want to know how to dramatically increase your chances to become a professor?
- Do you want to know how a selection committee screens for good candidates?
- Are you unsure whether you want to pay the price (a lot of effort, time and money) to become a professor?
During this training session, we want to give you pragmatic advice on how to become a professor in science.
Learn the open secrets of academia that nobody tells you!
Common questions young scientists ask are:
- What should I do after my PhD or Postdoc research?
- How do I get funding?
- How do I get published in high impact journals?
- Do I have to do research abroad? If so where should I go?
- How can I balance a career in science with a healthy and fulfilling family life?
During this training we will share the answers to these and many other questions that young scientists face as they make their first few career decisions.
After an interactive session with Prof. Sven Hendrix, young professors in the field of life sciences will share their experiences in their journey to become a professor.
PhD students, postdocs and staff scientists - especially in the life sciences and similar domains such as biology, biomedical sciences and medicine - who want to get the best advice on how to become a professor and how to pursue a scientific career with success.
- This training is only open for VIB participants and is free.
- Note that upon no show without valid justification a fee of € 100 will be charged and you will be blacklisted for the VIB training program for 1 year. Click here for more information.
Trainers
Sven Hendrix
Prof. Sven Hendrix is a Full Professor for Neuroanatomy and the Head of The Center for Academic Talent Development (CENE) at Medical School Hamburg, Germany. For more than a decade, he worked as a full professor for neuroanatomy and the Director of the Doctoral School for Medicine & Life Sciences at Hasselt University in Belgium. In partnership with other colleagues and universities, he organized local and international events to support young scientists in their careers.
In his current role, he has found a good career and life balance. However, like many scientists his career has been an emotional roller-coaster, jumping between many different jobs and countries.
He discovered his passion for science, studying medicine in Berlin (Germany). He did a lot of research there and was also very mobile. He studied in Parma (Italy) with ERASMUS and did short research stays in Hamamatsu (Japan), Harvard (USA) as well as a longer postdoc-like research project in London (UK). Eventually, he moved back to Germany to finish his MD degree. However, after getting his MD, I quickly realized that he didn’t enjoy being a doctor. His passion was in research and teaching.
As a result, he moved back to Berlin and worked for six years in the Department of Anatomy at the Charité Hospital. Then, after two tedious years of applying for a limited number of professor positions in Germany, he started looking internationally. He managed to secure three interesting offers, from Imperial College (UK), University of Southern Denmark (Denmark) and Hasselt University (Belgium). After negotiating for several weeks and weighing up the different options, he moved to Belgium in 2008.
Navigating his science career has been a long and challenging journey, so he's excited to help make it easier for young scientists. Through smartsciencecareer he want to share his experience, as well as bringing the best advice from other star and role model scientists.
Program
Log-in
Introduction
How to convince a selection committee and your future colleagues
How to plan an academic career
The best strategy to get funding for my profile
Lunch break
The best publication strategy for my profile
Teaching – Do I really need teaching skills?
Technical skills – When are technical skills relevant to become a professor?
Three types of professors – Which type am I?
International mobility – Do I really have to work abroad?
Intersectoral mobility – Should I have industry experience, and can I easily come back?
Coffee break
Network & international reputation & positioning
Define your niche – communicate your USP – Vision + leadership – How to develop scientific independence
What are my chances to become a professor?
Testimonials by young professors
- Lars Vereecke, Assistant Professor at Ghent University since October 2016
- Polina Novikova, Group Lead at MPIPZ - Max Planck Institute for Plant Breeding Research since September 2020
- Vanessa Vermeirssen, Professor at Ghent University since October 2019
- Heather Rice, Assistant Professor at University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center since Aug 2019