Open to any postdoctoral fellow, clinical fellow, or PhD-level graduate student, this virtual event will run from May 11-13. The symposium will highlight the diversity of career choices available to the next generation of biomedical researchers. Registration opens April 15.

INFO FOR CAREER SYMPOSIUM

In 2022- the Career Symposium will be virtual. It will run from May 11 to May 13. The NIH Career Symposium highlights the diversity of career choices available to your generation of biomedical researchers.  Whether you are a new graduate student, postdoc, or clinical fellow just beginning to consider career options or a senior student/fellow ready to look for a job, the NIH Career Symposium is for you. Wondering what the Career Symposium is all about?  View the 2020 Virtual Career Symposium YouTube playlist.

Trainees in the NIH Intramural Research Program will be able to register for the conversations of their choice starting April 1. Any other trainee interested in attending will be able to register starting April 15.

In 2022 the focus is on understanding career options in Academic, Industry, Government and Non-profit sectors with networking opportunities. Every day we will host an introduction to a sector, what careers are available, how to be competitive in those fields, and resources to help you along the way. The in the afternoon we will host a series of “rooms” for career conversations with one or two speakers in a 45-minute time slot. Multiple rooms with speakers in similar career paths will run concurrently. For example, research positions in industry would have multiple rooms going at once. Our goal is that each room will have no more than 15 participants, giving every attendee ample time to connect with a professional. Participants will have the ability to move through the “rooms”, meeting a speaker, asking questions, or even just listening in to see if a particular career path looks enticing. NOTE: What is said in these rooms will NOT be recorded.

We will also have a two seminars, one on why this career process is so hard with concrete tips to help you through this process and a second on current hiring trends in all sectors.

WED-MAY-11 – ACADEMIC CAREERS

• 11:00am-11:50am – Seminar: Introduction to Academia (will be recorded)
• 12:00pm-1:00pm – Research Intensive Faculty
• 1:10pm 2:10pm – Teaching Intensive Faculty
• 2:20pm-3:20pm – Non-Faculty Research (Academics) (like core directors, staff scientists, etc)
• 3:30pm-4:30pm – Supporting Academic Science (postdoc office, grants, student services, admin
• 4:40pm -5:40pm- Seminar: Why Career Choices are so Hard: a practical guide for navigating the career process (will be recorded)

THU-MAY-12 – INDUSTRY CAREERS

• 11:00am-11:50am – Seminar: Industry overview (will be recorded)
• 12:00pm-1:00pm – Industry- Bench Careers
• 1:10pm 2:10pm – Industry: Nonbench Careers (MSL, FAS, sales, marketing, reg affairs, etc)
• 2:20pm-3:20pm – Business, Technology Transfer and Patent Careers (law, consulting, PTO, business Development, Tech Transfer)
• 3:30pm-4:30pm – Public Health/Clinical
• 4:40pm -5:40pm- Seminar: Current Hiring Trends (will be recorded)

FRI-MAY-13 – FOR THE LOVE OF SCIENCE CAREERS

• 11:00am-11:50am – Seminar: Introductions to Careers (will be recorded)
• 12:00pm-1:00pm – Science Policy
• 1:10pm 2:10pm – Careers in Science Communication (editors, science writing, etc)
• 2:20pm-3:20pm – Government Careers (mostly non-bench, all branches)
• 3:30pm-4:30pm – Science Education and Outreach Careers / Data Science / Non-Profits

If you would like to explore these career options on your own schedule, we have a plethora of panels, interviews and written synopses of previous events. Check out past events here.

We invite any postdoc, clinical fellow, or PhD-level graduate student to join us. You need not be at the NIH to participate. This event is free to attend. 

(updated 3/3/2022)