Career wisdom and alumni connections
What career paths are available to current researchers? And what does it really mean to be a mentor? These were the questions at the heart of this year’s Alumni Day on July 5th at the Berlin Institute for Medical Systems Biology of the Max Delbrück Center (MDC-BIMSB).
The event was combined with the PhD graduation ceremony, creating a festive occasion where alumni could relive cherished memories and connect with new graduates. The 115 participants, including alumni, staff and students, had the opportunity to engage in a mentoring workshop, a tour of the MDC-BIMSB building, and a career pathways session featuring alumni who shared their post-PhD career journeys.
“You are alumni from day one at the institute,” said Dr. Jean-Yves Tano, scientific coordinator of the ASPIRE career training program at the Max Delbrück Center and one of the event’s organizers. He emphasized the benefits of the alumni community which include connecting with former colleagues, accessing workshops and training, and giving back through mentoring.
Exploring diverse career pathways
The career pathways session was a highlight, with five distinguished alumni sharing insights into their current roles and offering advice. Introducing the session, Jean-Yves Tano explained: “The idea is that people who are joining these career pathways can understand what the job of that person is and how they can be in a good position for certain jobs going forward.”
Dr. Laura Corradi, now an Editor at “Nature Communications”, highlighted the importance of enjoying daily tasks in a job. “We read a lot, like eight hours a day, so you really need to like reading papers,” she said. Laura recounted her intense interview process including a five-and-a-half-hour conversation with the Chief Editor covering a wide range of scientific fields.
Principal Scientist at Immatics Biotechnologies, Dr. Alper Kursunel, made the audience chuckle with a photo of a defining memory from his time at the Max Delbrück Center – the Buch S-Bahn station. His postdoc research on transposon technology in cancer was key to getting his first job in Biotech where he used this technique.
F.l.t.r.: Arvind Mer, Tatjana Gust, Jeremy Morgan, Alper Kursunel, Laura Corradi and Jean-Yves Tano
After starting in clinical operations at Bayer, Dr. Tatjana Gust transitioned to a more people-centered role as Associate Director Science Programs at the Bayer Foundation. Her role aims “to support people. For example, we have fellowships for students … and a mentoring program.”
Dr. Arvind Mer, Assistant Professor at the University of Ottowa, advised aspiring group leaders to “get involved in teaching and mentoring.” He also emphasized the role of persistence in career success.
Dr. Jeremy Morgan described the different stages of drug development and his experience at Boehringer Ingelheim as Scientist/Analytical Project Lead. He said that outside academia “the number of routes you can take are varied and vast and you’re encouraged to move around and gain different expertise.”
What does it mean to be a mentor?
Many alumni want to give back to the community and help others grow professionally. “Though many of us want to be mentors, we don’t always know what the expectations are,” said Arvind Mer. The mentoring workshop, led by career coach Dr. Christiane Kasack, clarified the differences between mentoring, coaching and sponsorship. Participants discussed expectations and strategies for successful mentor-mentee relationships. “She described mentorship as a sharing of experience with no promise of solution. It’s more, the mentee sets the agenda, you supply your experience, and they can hopefully get something from this that helps solve the problem,” said Jeremy Morgan after the workshop.
As the day concluded, participants were encouraged to join the MDC Connect platform to stay connected to members, share stories and directly contact alumni who have volunteered to mentor. Laura Corradi praised the platform as “a really nice initiative. In my case, I applied for the job after I met and talked to a Scientific Editor. It’s important if you have somebody that can tell you how the job is going to look like.”
One recent PhD graduate, Dr. Saif Mohd, joined the platform last year and stressed the value of learning from experienced mentors. “Some things come from experience. Either you learn it yourself by making mistakes, or you learn from someone who has travelled that path to tell you.”
Text: Zoé Valbret
