Table Of ContentChristopher R. Madan Editor
Academia
and the World
Beyond
Navigating Life after a PhD
Academia and the World Beyond
Christopher R. Madan
Editor
Academia and the World
Beyond
Navigating Life after a PhD
Editor
Christopher R. Madan
School of Psychology
University of Nottingham
Nottingham, UK
ISBN 978-3-030-82605-5 ISBN 978-3-030-82606-2 (eBook)
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-82606-2
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For the PhD students unsure how to answer
“What will you do after?” and the
supervisors struggling to support those
considering non-academic careers.
Acknowledgments
First and foremost, I need to wholeheartedly thank all of the contributors (again) for
agreeing to be interviewed and sharing their experiences with us in this volume.
Without their interest and support, there truly would not be a book for you to read
now. It has also been a delight to get to know them better through their respective
interviews, and I particularly appreciate their willingness to share personal chal-
lenges and realizations. Progress was slowed by the COVID-19 pandemic and
related changes to teaching and caring responsibilities, but this book attests to the
dedication of all contributors to share their hard-earned insights for the benefit
of others.
Next, I would like to thank my friends and colleagues, as their encouragement
was critical in motivating me to follow through with this project. The more I talked
to people about this project, the more I was told that it was a much-needed resource.
vii
Contents
A PhD Is a Journey, But Where Will It Lead? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
Christopher R. Madan
“A Career Path in Open Science Has Been a Great Fit” . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
Ana E. Van Gulick
“Technical Skills Are Always Useful, No Matter What You’re Actually
Working On” . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23
Matthew B. Wall
“Align Your Mission and Vision with Your Next Steps After Your PhD” . 31
Maira Quintanilha
“I Might Have More of a Knack for Science Communication Than
for Doing Actual Science”. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39
Jens Foell
“You Should Create a Job That You’ll Never Need a Vacation from
and Turn It into a Career” . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53
Alice S. N. Kim
“A PhD Has Helped Me Learn How to Think Through Problems” . . . . . . 61
Aaron Moss
“A PhD in Industry Is a Revered Qualification” . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 69
Joseph M. Moran
“No Matter How Specific Your Interests, There Are Options Out There” 79
Alison Caldwell
“I Am Pretty Interested in Coding, Technology, and Infrastructure” . . . . 91
Arfon M. Smith
“There Is an Enormous Market for PhDs in Technical Sales Positions” 101
Cleyde V. Helena
ix
x Contents
“I Had No Idea That the Option to Pursue a Career as a Professional
Scientific Editor Even Existed” . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 111
Stavroula Kousta
“Having a PhD Is Seen as a Strong Asset When Being Considered
for Hire as an Intellectual Property Attorney” . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 119
Anastasia Greenberg
“I Advocate on Behalf of Psychological Science Before the US
Congress” . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 129
K. Andrew DeSoto
“Finding Your Passion and Staying Authentic” . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 137
Muireann Irish
“To Thrive at an Undergraduate Institution, One Must Love
Teaching and Advising” . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 151
Jessica M. Karanian
“I Really Enjoy the Hectic Multitude of Jobs I Get to Complete
in Any One Day” . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 161
Gavin Buckingham
“Find a Mentor, Someone Who Loves to Teach and Who Is Good
at It” . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 171
Kelly J. Arbeau
“Be Bold and Go for Opportunities Outside Your Comfort Zone” . . . . . . 183
Elliot A. Ludvig
“I Get to Travel a Lot and Talk to Many Really Smart and Thoughtful
People” . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 195
Eiko I. Fried
“Your Skills Are Valuable and You Likely Have Many Options
After Your PhD” . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 203
Simine Vazire
“Running a Research Lab Is Like Running a Small Business
with a Highly Uncertain, Constantly Fluctuating Budget” . . . . . . . . . . . . . 217
Lucina Q. Uddin
“There Are Many Reasons That People Succeed in Academia” . . . . . . . . . 229
Jamie L. Hanson
Index . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 237
Editor and Contributors
Editor
Christopher R. Madan School of Psychology, University of Nottingham,
Nottingham, UK
Contributors
Kelly J. Arbeau Department of Psychology, Trinity Western University, Langley,
BC, Canada
Gavin Buckingham Department of Sport and Health Sciences, University of
Exeter, Exeter, UK
Alison Caldwell University of Chicago Medicine, Chicago, IL, USA
Neuro Transmissions, Chicago, IL, USA
K. Andrew DeSoto Association for Psychological Science, Washington, DC, USA
Jens Foell Department of Psychology, Florida State University, Tallahassee, FL, USA
maiLab, Heidelberg, Germany
Eiko I. Fried Department Clinical Psychology, Leiden University, Leiden, The
Netherlands
Anastasia Greenberg Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale and Dorr LLP,
Boston, MA, USA
Jamie L. Hanson Department of Psychology, University of Pittsburgh,
Pittsburgh, PA, USA
Learning Research & Development Center, University of Pittsburgh,
Pittsburgh, PA, USA
Cleyde V. Helena ASC Group LLC, Centerton, AR, USA
xi
xii Editor and Contributors
Muireann Irish School of Psychology, The University of Sydney, Camperdown,
New South Wales, Australia
Brain and Mind Centre, The University of Sydney, Camperdown, New South Wales,
Australia
Jessica M. Karanian Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences, Fairfield
University, Fairfield, CO, USA
Alice S. N. Kim Teaching and Learning Research in Action, Toronto, ON, Canada
Stavroula Kousta Nature Human Behaviour, Springer Nature, Nature Portfolio,
London, UK
Elliot A. Ludvig Department of Psychology, University of Warwick, Coventry, UK
Joseph M. Moran Rapid7, Boston, MA, USA
Google, Cambridge, MA, USA
Aaron Moss CloudResearch, Queens, NY, USA
Maira Quintanilha Quali Q Inc., Edmonton, AB, Canada
Arfon M. Smith Space Telescope Science Institute, Baltimore, MD, USA
GitHub Inc., Edinburgh, UK
Lucina Q. Uddin Psychiatry and Biobehavioral Sciences, University of California
Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, USA
Ana E. Van Gulick Figshare, London, UK
Simine Vazire Melbourne School of Psychological Science, University of
Melbourne, Melbourne, Australia
Matthew B. Wall MRI Applications, Invicro London, London, UK
Faculty of Medicine, Imperial College London, London, UK
Clinical Psychopharmacology Unit, University College London, London, UK
