Many of us, Post Docs and PhD students in biological sciences are faced with this question at some point of our lives. what to chose, work in a company? create a company? be a professor? work as scientist staff in academia? what to do? What are the considerations that you take to make this tough decision?
I think for me independence in doing research would be a high priority. Job security and income levels would also be of concern.
I would make my final decision considering the above mentioned parameters.
after some years spent in Academy I started this month in a company..and until now I like it...but my novel position needs to be in touch with universities and research institutions, so I will be not out totally from academy but have another look at it...
Adding lines with Lal, Academia for Independence and industry for paycheck. Again the double edjed weapon here : Job security. But finally its a best option for a researcher to go with his/her interests than pre-conceived notions. Money could also be made in academia by innovations. :))
Its a million dollar question? What one should do after getting adequate degrees in India. We are primarily facing this problem because our degrees and diploma are not adequate to train the Human Resources. They do not learn during the course of training what they are expected to do. However, we are having scarcity of the adequate staff with proper training and knowledge to train the students and research scholars. We have to work it out else it will remain a core issue for forever.
There are many pro's and con's in both the academic and industrial worlds. I've worked in both and suffered serious job insecurity in both, although perhaps the flexibility of academic institutions have proved marginally more secure. The biggest negative in academic institutions (purely my experience!) is that the research often gradually gets replaced by so many management and teaching responsibilities that it can suffer, whereas in industry I've found it much more efficient and targeted, but perhaps too restrictive. One very good thing in academia is the ability to continue research through PhD and other students and to get inspiration from them.
Since this question belongs to biological science, I think its always better to do some initial research may be as professor or researcher in industry.
If you want to dedicate yourself in research there are lots of opportunity as well as funding available in academics.. If you wont develop interest in professorship then you can shift to industry & Vice versa...
Yes, most of time i think income is a big problem a professor and we always have to spend too much time and energy, but with low salary.
Thank you guys for your interesting comments. some of you brought up two interesting points:
1- research independence is higher in academia .
2- financial stability: Incomes are higher in industry and stability is not great in academia in a stumbling funding situation.
There is a third point I would like to address: making an impact.
it seems to me that in academia you can make a bigger impact in scientific innovation if you come up with cutting edge discoveries however in industry you can make a bigger impact in scientific application, as for example in developing new diagnosis devices, medical treatments or products desirable by the scientific community. After many years in academia (as a student and postdoc) I feel like I would transition to industry and work on more applied problems, however is kind of scary to go out there and loose the chance to be an independent researcher.
Why don't you look for a Tenure track? Have you looked for jobs in the academia???
What's the job market like?
it's very hard to get a position in academia, and once you get one it is hard to get tenure. I'm curious on what other people are thinking
It is better to start your career with industry (after your Ph.D). learning the requirement of industry on your own, developing your practical skill, time oriented, analytical, secondary thoughts, application these will be sharpened in Industry. With that background you get into academics, I am sure, you will do wonders for the society you have especially to young generations a lot. And am sure, there is lot of difference between you and the people who stay on only with Academics.
i'm still a PhD student, but I'm planning what to do next. First, I was thinking that staying in academia would be great, although only 1 in 200 PhD becomes a professor.. I attended a course helping students like me to identify useful skills gained during PhD, tat are useful outside academia. It's not like there is academia and industry only. There are others area where skills gained during PhD might me useful. here are some notes https://goo.gl/G0hy3Z
They both are dependent on each other. An industry needs the scientific knowledge of scientiscts in a university/research institute and universities are looking for new problems which industry is facing. Therefore there is no golden rule which can say that working in a university is better or in industry. It depends only on your vision/ attitude where you see yourself after some years. People who see themselves as technical experts in a very special area should choose their way towards universities. Industry is a way for people who are looking for an allrounder job.
- Badges
- Science topic
- Similar topics
- Biology