Alma.Me

At Alma.Me, we help PhDs kick start their careers in industry through on-demand courses, online communities, networking, and resources to help them make the transition from academia to industry with confidence.

Co-Founder and CEO

Karolinska institutet

PhD candidate

Research Assistant

Founders Sunday

Founders Sunday serves as a non-profit educational platform and support for founders in all continents of the world (1300 + start-ups/scale-ups) 

The community meets up every Friday 1pm CET on zoom for lively discussions related to the founders journey (#founderscoffee☕️) 

For founders - by founders 💡

Manager

PhD Careers Beyond Academia Club at Karolinska Institutet

Organizer

Department of Immunology and Microbiology (ISIM), University of Copenhagen

Visiting PhD student 

Engel Apotheke

Pharmaceutical-technical assistant 

ratiopharm

Laboratory Technician

Help PhDs to kick-start careers in industry | Co-Founder and CEO @Alma.me | Building a bridge between academia and industry | Speaker | Scientist

Welcome to my profile!

I'm Elena, passionate about helping PhDs kickstart fulfilling careers outside of academia, and connect them with industry relevant positions. 

During my PhD journey, I realized that many PhDs face challenges transitioning from academia to industry. This difficulty often arises due to a lack of knowledge about potential positions, how to craft a resume for the industry, and prepare effectively for a job in that sector.

I've experienced this struggle firsthand. While pursuing my PhD, I felt lost. I knew that I no longer wanted to work in the lab; instead, I wanted to work with people, as that's where my passion lies. I went on my own discovery journey on "what is next".  I focused on the things I loved doing and thought of possible career options- after I identified what is next- I started working toward it by building a network in that area. 

Who am I, and how did I get here?

I recently graduated with a PhD in Medical Sciences from the Karolinska Institutet in beautiful Stockholm. 
As a Co-Founder and CEO of Alma.me my vision is to bridge the gap between academia and industry by providing information to help PhDs understand the array of opportunities after completing their studies and recognise the value of their skills beyond academia. 

If you are a PhD-student, Postdoc or tenure and you want to make the transition into industry follow me for more career advice.


Elena Hoffer, PhD

The world: PhDs are experts.

Reality: experts in managing chaos, solving impossible problems, communicating clearly, and Googling things very fast. (Yes… Googling is a skill.)

♻️ Share to help demystify what PhDs really bring to the table.

-------------
If you need support communicating your skills to non-academic employers, check out what we do at Alma.me - we’d love to help.

Happy Thursday 🥳

JSESSIONID

li_at

Help PhDs to kick-start careers outside of academia | CEO @Alma.me | Complementing universities services for PhDs & Postdocs to secure jobs outside academia | Speaker I Podcast Host @PostPhDirections

An academic CV  ≠ Industry Job 

If your CV is more than 2 pages, starts with Education, and lists Publications, Conferences, and Awards - and you keep hearing nothing back - this is why.

Industry hiring managers want a clear, focused resume that shows how you’ve used your skills to create impact.

Here’s what actually works 👇
✅ 1–2 pages max
✅ Professional Experience first, not Education 
✅ Skills and achievements, not publications
✅ Add a link to your papers instead of listing them
✅ Clean, one-column layout (no over-designed templates)

This is the CV format that landed our PhDs interviews at companies such as Sanofi, Apple, Fannie Mae, PayPal, and Duolingo.....

Get your free editable version. Download it via links in the comments👇

♻️  Share this with other PhDs 

Happy Wednesday 🙌

Resume template_PhD

If you're doing a PhD right now, the odds of building a long-term academic career are, unfortunately, stacked against you.

The truth is harsh: 
Only  4-5 % of PhDs will stay in academia long-term, and for many PhDs the future about their next career step feels uncertain
 
And this isn’t just a feeling. 
A Nature Magazine career survey showed that more than half of PhD students worry about their career path, and nearly half fear there aren’t enough research jobs. Years later, nothing has changed. The path after academic is still unpredictable and fragile for most. 

Leaving academia can feel like stepping into the unknown - like being pushed out of the only environment you’ve ever belonged to. It’s scary because for years, the path was laid out for you. 

Now suddenly… you’re supposed to navigate a new world without a map. 
But you don’t have to do it blindly. 

I put together a free 10-step guide to help you make that transition with confidence - the exact framework we use in our job accelerator program to help PhDs land roles at Sanofi, Fannie Mae, Siemens Healthineers, Shield Legal and more.

If you want stability, clarity, and a plan you can actually follow, this guide is your first step. 

You’re not alone in this. 
And you don’t have to figure it out in the dark. 

Download the guide to get an idea about how to approch the fist step into industry: https://lnkd.in/dwD-7nJ4

♻️  Share to help a friend 

Happy Monday 🥳

(4) Feed | LinkedIn

Today I got something fun in the mail - a Nature Magazine issue with an article I was interviewed for along other scientist: 'Scientist who have cracked LinkedIn'

Big thank you to Anne Marie Conlon for sending it over and writing such a wonderful piece! 

Holding it made me smile a little because… I actually started using LinkedIn during my PhD in 2022, at a time when absolutely no one around me was doing it. 

Back then, LinkedIn in my lab basically meant: 
 – a profile photo from 2014 
 – two connections  
 – a spares profile with some skills 

So yes - posting felt a bit uncomfortable simply because it wasn’t “a thing” scientists did. 

But it was a place where I could meet people who I would never meet inside academia: founders, PhDs talking about careers, PhDs creator who talked about other things related to the PhD journey…  
 
It became a small corner of the internet where I could talk about something I deeply cared about: PhD careers, and the messy, confusing, exciting process of figuring out what comes next

And honestly? 
Half the time I had no idea what I was doing but I loved writing and sharing content - so I kept going because I loved connecting with people who were also questioning, exploring, building. 

So seeing this Nature article today felt strangely full-circle. 
Not because “I cracked LinkedIn”.

But because it shows that scientists can show up in new spaces, start conversations, and build real networks beyond the lab. 

 If you're a PhD thinking "should I even be on LinkedIn?" -here's my honest tip (and I recommend reading the tips of the other scientist in the article -tons to learn from them)

Just spend 10 minutes a day and keep it simple stupid at this stage to see how it developed fro you: 
- Read one thing 
- Engage with some people through the comments this builds trust and network 
- Follow people who inspire you 
-  Post something small when you feel like it 

That’s it. 
No real strategy. 
No perfection. 
No “brand voice.” 
Just you being human. 

Happy Monday 💙

Dear PhDs - You are employable beyond academia.

You don’t need to become someone else to fit in industry. 
You don't need to become more of an expert - you are an expert.

You just need to learn how to translate the skills you got in industry relevant language.

You are not starting over -you are evolving.

♻️  Share with to help a friend

Dear PhDs - You're not starting from zero when moving into industry 

You’re starting from experience.  Years of research, problem-solving, teaching, writing, mentoring -  that all counts. 

You don't need to up-skill. You don't need to learn more. 

You need to learn to speak the language of industry.

Happy Sunday 💙

Dear PhDs - You’re not behind in life. 

You’ve spent years mastering critical thinking, independence, and resilience. 

You didn’t take a detour - you built depth and broadened your horizon. 

Now it’s about learning how to show it differently. 

Thank you for doing the hard work. 

Happy Sunday 💙

When I moved from academia into entrepreneurship, it wasn’t a single decision.
It was a process.

A long one - confusing, exciting, messy, and full of testing.

It actually started two years before I even graduated.
I didn’t wake up one day thinking, “I’ll be a founder.”

I simply followed the small signals:
- I took two entrepreneurship courses during my PhD.
-  I joined different organizations just to see what was out there.
- I met people completely outside my academic bubble.

And slowly, something clicked.
During that time, I realized I was naturally drawn to the topic of careers.
I started organizing career sessions for other PhDs - and it just felt right.

I’m a gut-decision person. I need to feel things.
And that feeling was unmistakable:
This is my thing.

I spoke with many of PhDs who transitioned into industry.

I learnt from each of them about things I want and don't want in a career.

But the more I talked to people, the more I realized:
Why build someone else’s dream when I could build my own?

So I made a decision:
I’m going to make this happen.
I talked to people who built companies.
I connected via LinkedIn with other founders.
I learned from every conversation.

And then something magical happened:
I met Angela Priest — my co-founder of Alma.Me — who lives in Denver, Colorado. What are the odds that we would ever meet in real life?

But here we are, building a company that changes PhDs’ lives.

And here’s the thing:
If you have a dream to move into industry after your PhD or Postdoc and don’t want to do this alone…

If you want a proven strategy that has helped PhDs land roles at Sanofi, PayPal, Fannie Mae, and so much more…

Then now is a very good moment.
Because until November 30th at 11:59 PM MST, we’re offering 26% off the initiation fee of our Job Accelerator Program ( you can start the program until the 26th of June).

Because we want more PhDs to transition with clarity instead of confusion.
With a roadmap instead of guessing.
With support instead of doing it alone.

👉 Apply to our Job Accelerator Program and book your intro call before 30th of November  11:59PM MST: Link in the comments 

You don’t need to figure this out by yourself 🙌

As a PhD, you’ve gained valuable skills.

You’ve learned to thrive in ambiguity, handle complexity, and approach problems analytically.

But none of this is seen by hiring manger if your resume doesn’t translate your value into industry language.

If you’ve ever thought:
 ❌ “Why am I getting no responses?”
 ❌ “I’ve made 20 revisions — what am I missing?”
 ❌ “How do I know what a hiring manager values?”

Then you need this:
🔴 Live Resume Review (Dec 2nd — 6 PM CET / 10 AM MST)
A real-time breakdown of a PhD resume from our Alma.Me community — reviewed by someone who has been on the other side of the hiring table for two decades.

Angela Priest (my co-founder) has:
 • 20+ years hiring across startups → big companies → tech → insurance
 • Built entire hiring processes and high-performing teams
 • Created for the PhDs in our job accelerator program a resumes that landed interviews at Amazon, Apple, Sanofi, Fannie Mae, Duolingo, and more

In 60 minutes, you’ll see:
 👉 Why your resume may not be getting responses
 👉 What hiring managers instantly notice
 👉 The 3 sections that usually need a complete rethink
 👉 How PhDs accidentally hide their strongest skills
 👉 How to communicate impact (not tasks!) in a way industry immediately understands

If you want clarity on what’s holding you back — you’ll get it here.

Join via the QR in the event image, or via the link in the comments.

And save the date:
Dec 17th — Live Mock Interview Session.

Because your transition deserves clarity, not guesswork 🙌 

♻️ Share to help other PhDs

Happy Tuesday 🥳

Wow - yesterday more than 220 PhDs joined our live resume review session.

Researchers from every corner of the world showed up, all with the same question:

“How do I turn my long academic CV into a strong industry resume?”

If you’ve ever stared at a job ad and thought “I have no idea how to present myself for this…” — this session was built for you.

Here’s what we covered:

✅ How to overcome academic bias in hiring — yes, it’s real
✅ The formula for a compelling professional summary
✅ How PhDs can translate research into industry-ready skills
✅ How to write impact-driven bullet points (What → How → Result)
✅ How to showcase publications, grants, and conferences without overwhelming your resume
 … and so much more.

If you missed it and want to rewatch the full session, it’s now on my YouTube channel.
 👉 https://lnkd.in/dArdRgXM

Next up: A live mock interview - December 17th

Most PhDs never get real feedback after an interview — just a generic “we’ve decided to move forward with someone else.” And that leaves you guessing.

When we work with PhDs in our program who’ve been through this, they often have true “wow” moments during mock interviews with us.

For the first time, they finally understand the actual reasons they didn’t move forward - and more importantly, how to fix them.

If interviews make you freeze, over-explain, or feel like you have to “pretend” to be the expert… this mock interview session will change everything.

Angela will run a real industry-style interview.

🎟️ Register here: https://lnkd.in/djGT7Wb9

Happy Wednesday 🙌

Most PhDs spend hours tailoring a resume…

Only to end up feeling unsure, overwhelmed, and still not confident they’re doing it “right.”

Inside our job accelerator program, we teach a system that takes less than 10 minutes - and it works because it’s based on how hiring managers (like my co-founder Angela) actually evaluate resumes.

Here’s the 5-step method our PhDs use to tailor their industry resume quickly and effectively 👇 

1. Research the Role
Look at 5–10 recent job postings for the same title.
Patterns only appear when you look across multiple ads - not one.

2. Identify Themes
Across those postings, pull out:
 • 6–7 common responsibilities
 • 3–4 repeated qualifications
 These become your resume’s “anchor points.”

3. Find the KPIs
How does industry measure success in this role?
Number of users? Timelines? Revenue? Efficiency?
These KPIs show you how to quantify your accomplishments.

4. Create a Template
Build one strong base version of your resume for that role. Then:
 • match your experiences to the themes
 • quantify using the KPIs
 This is where your academic work becomes industry-relevant.

5. Tailor Your Application
Tweak keywords → apply → done.
 Because when your template is strong, tailoring takes minutes.

Most PhDs were never taught this - and that’s exactly why it feels so hard.
But once you learn the system, everything clicks.

📌 Download your printable cheat sheet here for later : https://lnkd.in/gPXWAFUp

You don’t need more time.
You need a process — and our cheat sheet has teaches you exactly that

♻️  Share this to help other PhDs

The hidden curriculum of every PhD.
(Featuring: cleaning floors, stacking pipette tips, and solving problems no one warned you about 😂)

Thank you for the fun collaboration, Raul Peña.
Your PhD skills can take you anywhere - but somehow they also had you doing everything:

🧠 The intellectual stuff:
-designing experiments from scratch
-analysing complex data and turning chaos into clarity
-communicating science to any audience
-managing long-term projects with shifting timelines
-learning new tools and methods overnight
-thinking critically under pressure

🤡 And then the other stuff every PhD knows too well:

-refilling 70% ethanol bottles… over and over…sometimes even making it)
-pushing a cart of empty 50 ml tubes like you’re restocking a supermarket aisle
-hunting for missing reagents that somehow walked away
-fixing lab equipment with tape, hope, and YouTube tutorials
-reorganizing the −80°C freezer because no one respects labels
-collecting biohazard waste bags and dragging them down the hall
-defrosting freezers like you’re leading a polar expedition
-labeling tubes until your handwriting becomes its own scientific font

This blend - the intellectual + the absurd - is your real superpower in industry.
Because you can think deeply and get things done, no matter what chaos shows up. 

If you are doing a PhD or Postdoc - Don't forget you are amazing 🙌 

What am I missing?

♻️  Repost to make another PhD feel seen.

Happy Wednesday 🥳

She did it after her PhD - despite hearing that no one had ever done it before.

Kertu Tenso, PhD transitioned into data science after her PhD in global health - and she did it by being intentional, proactive, and incredibly strategic.

In this episode, we talk about how early clarity became her superpower:
🔹 She started exploring data science in her first year of her PhD
🔹 Checked job listings to understand what skills she’d need
🔹 Took extra math, stats, ML and Python courses
🔹 Built machine learning directly into her dissertation
🔹 Kertu shares many valuable tips how you can make that transition too

What stood out to me most is how she built the career she wanted while still doing her PhD, even when others told her it wasn’t possible.

Her story shows the power of knowing what’s next: when you have clarity, you can shape your PhD intentionally, develop applied skills, and create opportunities that align with your future - not just your present.

🎙️ If you're considering a transition into data science (or any industry role), this episode is a must-listen. It's so super inspiring - don't miss out on it. 

👉 Tune in to the full conversation here: https://lnkd.in/dw2a4W-D

Happy Tuesday 💙

It’s Thanksgiving today — and while we don’t typically celebrate it here in Europe, having an American co-founder means I get to borrow the tradition.
So here comes a gratitude post. ❤️

🙏 I’m deeply grateful for the impact we’ve made this year.
This month alone, five PhDs landed industry jobs through our program.
 Five people who some...
 ➡️ had been trying for months and felt their confidence slipping
 ➡️ were running out of money and needed stability now
 ➡️ didn’t want to go through this transition alone
 ➡️ needed structure, direction, and someone who genuinely understands their journey

Each story reminds me why Angela and I built Alma.Me - not just to help PhDs get jobs, but to help them rebuild confidence, self-worth, and clarity.

🙏 I’m grateful for our team.
Michael Orndoff - you believed in us from day one. We couldn’t be more grateful.

Jevin Lortie, Ph.D. & Emily Cohen, PhD - you are extraordinary coaches and human beings. I’m so glad we get to learn and grow together.

Sofija Sundmann & Chiara Tremolanti - thank you for jumping in headfirst. Startups can be messy, but the impact you’ve already made is huge.

🙏 And of course… Angela Priest.
My co-founder, friend, and business partner.
With 20+ years of hiring experience, she understands industry hiring like few do.
 
Together, we bridge what PhDs need most: real academic understanding + real hiring expertise.

💛 Giving back to the PhD community
We know that finances can be a real barrier for many PhDs who need support in their transition.

 So tomorrow, we’re doing something special.
👉 From tomorrow on, we’re offering 26% off the initiation fee for our Job Accelerator Program.

 If you want to know more, stay tuned.

Start 2026 knowing you don’t have to navigate your job search alone - and that you’re supported every step of the way.

🧡 Happy Thanksgiving to our American friends around the world.
And thank you to every PhD, postdoc, and professor who trusts us with their career journey.

We see you. We believe in you. And we’re here for you.

She finished her PhD in computational neuroscience and just accepted her first industry role as a Medical Writer — all in 41 days.

🔹 44 applications
🔹 2 interview rounds
🔹 1 offer she was excited about

What we worked on together:
 ✅ We rebuilt her resume from scratch - industry-ready, skills-forward, no academic jargon
 ✅ We coached her through interviews - how to be conversational, confident and clear

Why she succeeded (and what other PhDs can learn):
 1️⃣ She followed our process / protocol - no overthinking, just implementing.
 2️⃣ She was authentically herself in interviews - She gave concise, thoughtful answers, stayed human, and let her personality come through.
 3️⃣ She showcased her skills, not job titles - Even though she had never worked as a medical writer, she clearly communicated that she understood what this role was about and how she can contribute
 4️⃣ She didn’t chase perfection or feared mistakes - she trusted her instincts in interviews- after all it is a learning process

If you want to accelerate your job search, you can apply to our Job Accelerator Program here: https://www.alma.me/

Happy Friday 🥳

Most PhDs never get real feedback after an interview — just a generic
 “we’ve decided to move forward with someone else.”

That leaves you guessing:
Was it my answer?
My experience?
My “fit”?

When we work with PhDs who’ve been through this, they often have true “wow” moments during our mock interviews. 
For the first time, they finally understand the actual reasons they didn’t move forward - and, even more importantly, how to fix them.

When we run mock interviews with PhDs in our program, they often have real “wow” moments because, for the first time, they understand why they didn’t move forward - and how to fix it.

If interviews make you freeze, over-explain, or feel like you have to “pretend” to be the expert… this session is for you.

The top 3 interview struggles we see again and again:
- Rambling or giving overly long answers because you’re unsure what the interviewer really wants
- Being too stiff or formal instead of sounding like someone they’d genuinely want to work with
- Going too technical when the hiring manager actually wants clarity, not complexity

In this live mock interview, you’ll learn exactly how to turn these challenges into strengths - with practical strategies you can use immediately.

Live Mock Interview – PhD-to-Industry Ready Series
December 17th, 6 PM CET / 10 AM MST
Led by Angela Priest, hiring manager with 20+ years of experience who has helped our PhDs land jobs at Sanofi, Siemenes Healthineers, Fannie Mai, etc. 

Secure your spot via QR code or link in the comments 👇

Share to help a friend ♻️

Self-rejection limited her job opportunities.

I recently met with one of our PhDs who was feeling discouraged because her application rate had dropped.

When I asked why, she said:
“I just don’t see many positions I’m a good fit for.”

We went through a few openings together. Some made sense - not the right match.

But then we found one that fit her perfectly… every skill, every qualification - except one line.

“Must know how to operate machine X from company Y.”
She’d used the exact same type of machine - just from company A.
And she didn’t apply.

I encouraged her to go for it.
If you can master one version, you can learn another.

And that’s the thing - I see this all the time.

PhDs, postdocs, even tenured professors often look for a 100 % match before applying.
 But you’re not supposed to tick every box - you’re supposed to have room to grow.

👉 In our Job Accelerator, we work on this exact mindset shift — translating academic experience into language that shows industry readiness (even when you don’t meet every requirement).

If you’ve been holding back because you’re not “perfectly qualified,” join our job accelerator program: Apply here: https://www.alma.me/

Happy Monday 🥳

Let’s normalize a few things about the job search for PhDs. 

These are things I see every day with the PhDs in our program - and if any of them are happening to you, it's not you. 

Please don’t start questioning your value. 
✅ Yes, interview processes can move very slowly - sometimes 3+ months. 
✅ Yes, some companies have 4+ rounds of interviews. 
✅ Yes, some will ghost you completely. 
✅ Yes, it can take sometimes weeks before you hear back about next steps. 
✅ And yes - some PhDs get invited to interview more than 4 weeks  after applying. 

If these things are happening to you, you're not alone. 

The job search in industry isn’t a reflection of your worth - it’s a process that takes strategy, patience, and perspective. 

👉 If you’re tired of navigating it on your own and don't want to do it alone anymore join our job accelerator program 

We’ll help you build a clear strategy, keep your confidence high, and finally move through the process with support - not self-doubt. 

Apply here: https://www.alma.me/

Happy Tuesday 🌻

I just got back from speaking at Postdoc Day in Portugal - and being in that room reminded me exactly why I do this work.

A huge thank you to the Postdoc Union GIMM for the invitation and for creating such a thoughtful space for postdocs to explore their next steps.
It was an honour to be part of it.

Every time I talk to postdocs, many of the same things come up.

And if more PhDs knew them earlier, their career transition would feel a lot less overwhelming.

1️⃣ Your publications aren’t your greatest asset - your skills are.
Industry hires for what you can do, not what you’ve published.
You already use valuable skills every day - you just haven’t been taught to translate them.

2️⃣ Industry doesn’t hire the “most qualified” - it hires the best fit.
Recruiters skim your CV in seconds.
Hiring managers want someone curious, collaborative, and human - it's more than skills.

3️⃣ Impact beats description. Always.
“Conducted research…” doesn’t stand out.
“Improved, enabled, led, accelerated…” does.
Show what changed because of your work.

Portugal was a beautiful reminder:
Postdocs are far more prepared for industry than they think - they just need the right tools and language.

Thank you for making career development a priority: Miguel M. Santos, Tomás Gomes, Franziska Hildebrandt, PhD, Catarina Rosa, Christian Gnann, and David Anaguano from the PostDoc Union GIMM. 
Great job 🙌 

Hope to see you soon again beautiful Portugal 💙

“Should I just wait until next year to start your Job Accelerator Program?”
It seems to make sense at first - but the short answer is no.
Here’s why:

1️⃣ If you start thinking about getting your application ready in January, you’re already behind.

The biggest hiring wave of the year happens right at the start of January.

By starting now, you enter the new year with:
-an industry-ready resume aligned with employer needs
-a clear understanding of which roles you’re qualified for
-a job search strategy that gets you seen by employers and hiring managers
- momentum - not confusion - when hiring season opens
This positions you to compete immediately when January roles go live.

2️⃣ We are offering a Black Friday discount of 26% off the initiation fee.
This offer is only available until Sunday. the 31st of November 11:59PM MST.
Here’s what you need to do:
 ✔️ Apply + book your intro call before the deadline on Sunday
 ✔️ The call itself can take place later
 ✔️ If you qualify for the program, the discount applies

Simple and straightforward. 

Not sure if you're a fit?

Here are examples of PhDs we helped transition into industry roles:
-PhD in Economics → Quantitative Modeler at Fannie Mae
-PhD in Immunology → Scientist at Sanofi
-Postdoc in Psychology → Senior Decision Scientist at PayPal
-Tenured Professor in Theoretical Mathematics → Senior Advanced Analytics Analyst at Grainger
-PhD in Computational Neuroscience → Data Scientist I at Scribd

or reach out if you have questions.

If you want 2026 to be the year you transition into industry, the right time to start and invest in yourself is now - not in January.

📌 Apply and book your intro call before Sunday to secure the 26% Black Friday discount:

👉 Link to apply in the comments 

Happy Black Friday 🙌

Universität Wien

March 11th, 2021, almost exactly a year after my BSc thesis email, I come across a post on Facebook of all places.

Kalina Duszka was looking for students interested in a practical thesis project. Since I had two exams left in my BSc spread across 6 months due to COVID I thought to myself "Why not fill the time and do something useful" so I tried my luck.

After a lot of initial confusion, partly due to my ambiguous name and the fact I was still in my bachelor's, I would start as a voluntary intern, graduate and continue my MSc, and eventually start work on my master's thesis "The impact of restrictive diets on DSS-induced colitis". 

I spent about 3 years in the lab getting familiar with the basics but mainly learning to THINK like a scientist and actually EXPERIMENT as Kalina entrusted me with the project and I could call it my own.

The MSc thesis felt like a "lite" version of a PhD that would build my confidence and reassure me that this is what I want to do.

This allowed me to start working toward my new, primary interest in immunology, and use the experience to get into two new labs.

Two first-author publications were the cherry on top and Kalina will always remain a key figure in my life, one that I keep in touch with to this day.

Student Researcher

Coming from a family of teachers, it was a matter of time before I switched sides.

When the opportunity presented itself to become a tutor for Human Nutrition II, I took it. I put on my best impression of a serious person to stand alongside my colleagues in a different role.

While the lab exercise was highly analytical, it wasn't too complicated, so we had plenty of time to address things beyond the lab.

Topics such as; finding internships, jobs, the overall job market, tips and tricks, and everything else that was important but not covered by their academic training.

My goal was to give them that little bit extra and send them on their way in the hopes that my younger self was smiling at me.

Tutor

Medizinische Universität Wien

Alongside my tutoring role, I would enter the field of cancer research.

A genetic-heavy field where I would be faced with the challenge of using CRISPR, something I had dreamed about but now that the dream was reality I was scared but confident.

As part of the Mikulits group, I would become the dedicated biosafety level 2 lab tech and develop new liver cancer cell lines for our projects.

In the year I spent there; I connected with countless people from different fields, got into the exciting world of in-vitro and in-silico, and repeated a cloning experiment that was CRUCIAL for a project 27 TIMES just to find out that the problem was not me but the competent bacteria.

Stranger if you're reading this, here's a pro tip: if 50 people tell you "It can't be that" don't discard it because NO ONE thought it was due to the bacteria, but convincing my boss to drop a lot of money on a new line we finally got it to work.

When I wasn't busy troubleshooting (which I love) I was developing our tumor marker ELISAs and managing the lab.

My contract ran out and I went on my way with +20 new cell lines under my belt, a sharpened sense for troubleshooting, honed in perseverance, and ready to tackle a PhD.

It's the 19th of February 2020 and I am about to send an email that will change my life.

I write to my future BSc thesis supervisor, Patrick A. Zöhrer, and pick up a topic DAYS before the country and the world are put on hold due to COVID-19.

"Effects of endurance exercise on the microbiota intensity and age-dependent differences" was born and since I couldn't do anything else I started reading. 1615 papers later I was done and thanks to some clever thinking by our department I even got the chance to do some lab work analyzing fecal samples for inflammatory markers.

Little did I know that things would come full circle and that gut inflammation and the first method I did independently, ELISA would make a return.

Every kid has a superpower: ASKING WHY. It might annoy their parents, but if they manage to keep it, they'll likely end up in science asking the big WHYs. Luckily I kept my superpower.

Asking why may have gotten me in trouble, like when I was thrown out of kindergarten for "asking hard questions". I just wanted to know why we must sleep if we're not sleepy...anyway. 

Fast forward a few years, and I had my eyes set on studying nutrition science. It was a weird road that led me abroad, as everyone questioned my sanity given the field was unheard of in my country. 

That was back in 2015 when I moved to Vienna. 

If I had known that the worst five years of my life (so far) were just around the corner I would've been too scared to start the journey. Bureaucratic hell, struggling to find my path and just being confused, but those too passed and I flipped a page with a single email in 2020.

From there on out I would fall in love with research and science communication, work at two universities across three different labs on liver cancer, healthy aging, and mucosal inflammation, publish papers, talk science, get frustrated, develop methods, and realize that nutrition science was probably not the way to go...ups.

As I transition to mucosal immunology and try to be the person my younger self needed, I share my entire story. The good, the bad, and the ugly with the hopes that others can learn from my mistakes, and who knows they might even be inspired.

 ASK WHY & TRY!

Kajs Hadžić

What nobody tells you about looking for a PhD...


The unexpected lessons you’ll learn along the way.

Sure, you’ll learn to be more resilient, write better applications, and find positions more easily; all of that is obvious.

Here’s the not-so-obvious stuff I learned.

1. Good news reaches you slower than the “bad” ones

When you think of it, it’s obvious. Rejections can be instant. Reaching the point where you accept the position typically involves multiple rounds of interviews. I understand that both can feel like waiting a lifetime, especially when it’s the 100th application you've invested your heart and soul into, but just like good things take time, good news takes its time.

2. Don’t overshare, especially not your disappointment

Now this one might be on me, but I’m sure my fellow international students will understand. I always felt like I didn’t want to burden my support system too much, because they had their hands tied anyway. The last thing I wanted was to make them feel even more restricted by sharing my “true” disappointment. Brush it off, give them the lite version. It’ll also help you move forward without overthinking it.

3. Don’t get too excited

Accepting that position will feel amazing, but the job's not done yet. Not to be the one to ruin the party, but there are plenty of things that can still go wrong, and everything falls through; still many challenges ahead. Ask me how I know.

This might read like a mix between a pity party, self-sabotage, and a weird cautionary tale, but it’s the reality, or at least it was my reality. One that I am sharing with you.

PhD Student @ De Giovanni Lab | Mucosal immunology | BHFF Research Chair

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