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

64% of scientists in industry feel good about their careers. Only 42% in academia do

A 2021 Nature survey put a number on something many of us already felt - and the findings are still just as relevant today (Link to full article in the comments)

In a survey of over 3,200 working scientists:
📊 64% of researchers in industry feel positive about their careers.
📊 Only 42% of those in academia say the same.

That's not a small gap.

And it gets more stark:
30% of academics reported experiencing discrimination, harassment or bullying at work.

In industry? 
That number drops to 15%.

This isn't anti-academia. It's pro-PhD and Postdocs.

The PhD journey is genuinely tough - and the structure around it doesn't always make it easier.

But I share this data because I talk to PhDs every single week who feel guilty for wanting to leave.

Who think wanting better pay, more stability, or a healthier work environment makes them somehow less serious about science.

It doesn't!
Wanting those things makes you human.

And the data shows - most people who make the move don't regret it.

Your curiosity, your skills, your love of solving hard problems - none of that disappears when you leave the lab.

It just finds a new place to live.

Want to hear real stories from PhDs who made the move?

🎙️ Listen to my podcast PostPhDirections - on YouTube or Spotify. 
Link in the comments 👇

♻️  Share to help a friend 

Happy Thursday  💙

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

Nobody talked about money during my PhD.

Wanting a good salary and a stable life felt like something you weren't supposed to admit.

As if wanting financial stability somehow made you less committed to science.

I've met senior academics who had never negotiated a salary in their entire career. And I've met researchers who couldn't afford to live near their own lab.
This is a problem - and it's one that follows PhDs into their industry job search.

Most PhDs I work with significantly underestimate their market value.
So here's a reality check, based on Glassdoor data (US market):

📊  Median PhD salaries by sector:
Information Technology: $193K
Transportation & Logistics: $183K
Pharma / Biotech: $139K
Consulting: $138K

These are not outliers. 
These are medians.

A few things worth knowing before you walk into a salary conversation:

1. Your PhD counts as work experience. 3–5 years of independent research, project management, and communication. Don't let anyone tell you otherwise.

2. The first number you say anchors the negotiation. Research your market range on Glassdoor and LinkedIn Salary before any conversation.

3. Asking for more is expected. Most companies build negotiation into their offers. Not negotiating is often leaving money on the table.

4. If they ask what you want - let them go first. Try: "I'd love to understand the budgeted range for this role first." You'll either confirm your number is in range - or avoid anchoring too low before you even know what's on the table.

5. If you don't know the salary range - ask. It's completely professional to say: "Could you share the salary range for this position?" Most companies know it. And it saves both sides a lot of time.

Your PhD is worth more than you think.

♻️ Repost to help a PhD friend

Happy Friday 💛

Salary data source: Glassdoor, June 2024, based on 13,327 submitted salaries (US market)

Dear PhDs,
You're allowed to change your mind.

About your field.
 About academia. 
About what success looks like for you.

The path you chose at 22 doesn't have to be the path you walk at 32. Or 42.

Look at me - I built my entire career towards being a scientist. 
A girl from a village of 500 people who worked her way to a PhD at Karolinska Institutet. That was the dream.

And then at 33, I started a company to help other PhDs find their next step.
Nobody saw that coming. 
Least of all me.

Changing direction isn't giving up. 
It's growing up.
It's evolving.

And it takes more courage than staying put.

Happy Sunday 💙

Most PhDs have a LinkedIn profile.
Almost none of them know how to use the platform.

I know - because I was one of them.
I had a profile and a photo. 

And I thought that was enough.
It wasn't.

LinkedIn helped me build my entire career beyond academia. 

My company. 
My community. 
A following of 140K people.

All of it started with learning how to actually use this platform.

An during the career's week by Proteintech Group in collaboration with Alma.Me I'm sharing some of my best tips - for free.

As part of Proteintech's Careers Week 2026 I'll be covering: 
🟣 How to build a profile that makes recruiters come to you 
🟣 How to network on LinkedIn without it feeling awkward or transactional 
🟣 How to use it actively in your job search - not just passively

And there's a full week of other sessions too - resume and interviewing in industry (by Angela Priest) grant writing and more.

Free. 
Daily. 
One week.

📅 March 23–27 - I'm on Wednesday March 25 
🕘 9 am CST / 2 pm GMT / 3 pm CEST

Register your free spot at ptglab.com - link in the comments 👇

♻️ Repost to help a PhD friend who needs this

Happy Tuesday 💛

It was a Monday evening during my PhD. Late in the lab. I was taking skin biopsies.

And I thought to myself:
I don't want to do this anymore. Lab work felt so isolating to me.

And I was at my best when I could be creative and brainstorm with others in meetings.

And immediately after that thought came another one, even scarier:
But what can I do?

I didn't wait for the answer to come to me.
I went looking for it.

I started reaching out to PhDs who did their PhD at Karolinska Institutet - just like me - and who had moved into all kinds of different directions.

Research equity analysis. 
Management consulting. 
Marketing. 
Sales.

And what struck me wasn't just that they had made it work -it was how many different paths were out there.

That's the thing nobody tells you when you're still inside the lab:
The world outside academia is not a narrow corridor.
It's more like a city you've never explored.

And the best way to navigate it is to find the people who already know the streets.

I wish someone had told me this earlier.
So here's what I'd go back and say to myself:
🟣 Your PhD is not a job title. It's a toolkit. 
🟣 "Leaving bench work" does not mean leaving science. It means finding a different way to use it. 
🟣 The skills you built matter far more than the specific techniques you used. 🟣 You are not starting over. You are redirecting. 
🟣 The confusion you feel right now is not a sign you're lost - it's a sign you're growing.

If you're in that in-between place right now - where you know you want something different but can't quite see what yet just know that feeling is valid.

And it won't last forever. 

Happy Monday 🩷

One of the most powerful tools for landing your first industry job after your PhD is completely free.

It takes 30 minutes a week or every second week.

And most PhDs either don't use it - or they use it wrong.
I'm talking about coffee chats aka informational interviews.

Not cold emails asking for a job. Not transactional networking that makes your skin crawl. 
Just… a real conversation with someone who has already made the jump.

Here's what I learned from doing many of them myself (and watching PhDs use them to completely change their job search):

- They show you what's actually out there — beyond R&D 
- They give you information no job description ever will 
- They build your network before you desperately need one 
- And sometimes? They lead to things you never expected

One PhD we worked with came back to me after a coffee chat and said:
"Elena, you won't believe it. They offered to refer me."

Was that the goal? No. 
But it's what happens when you show up with genuine curiosity instead of an agenda.

I just dropped a full YouTube video on this 
- how to find people to talk to
- how to reach out (without getting ignored)
- what questions to ask
- and how to stay connected after.

If you're during your PhD or Postdoc and wondering what's next - this one's for you.

👉 Link in the comments 

Happy Saturday 🩷

undefined undefined

Dr. Elena Hoffer. Still figuring it out.

When I started my bachelor's - figuring it out. 
When I did my master's - still figuring it out. 
When I started my PhD - figuring it out. 
When I finished my PhD and became Dr. Elena Hoffer - still figuring it out. When I stepped into marketing, content, LinkedIn - figuring it all out in real time. 
When I started my own company Alma.Me at 33 - absolutely figuring it out. When we hired our first team members - figuring that out too.

And honestly? 
I'm still figuring it out every single day.

I'll never forget working in the pharmacy after finishing my degree.

We had customers with doctor titles. PhDs. 
And I would look at them with pure awe - "What must one accomplish to get that title?"

Growing up in Germany, titles carry real weight. Prestige. You've made it.
I looked up to those people.

15 years later I got my own degree - Dr. Elena Hoffer - I felt so proud. I felt so many things at once. But I also felt something I didn't expect.
I still felt like I was figuring it out.

And that's when something slowly clicked for me:
We spend our whole lives chasing the next thing - the degree, the title, the job, the promotion - telling ourselves that will be the moment we finally feel like we've arrived.

But the destination was never the point.
It's always been about the journey. 
About who you become along the way.

Titles don't change that inner feeling as much as we think they will.
What changes us is the growth, the people, the experiences we collect.

If you're in the middle of something hard right now - a PhD, a career transition, building something from scratch - you don't have to have it all figured out.

None of us do.

Happy Monday 🩷

Most PhDs don't talk openly about not wanting to stay in academia.

Not to their supervisor. 
Not to their colleagues. 
Sometimes not even to their closest friends in the lab.

Nature Magazine just released a podcast episode on exactly this - why leaving academia is still a taboo topic, even now.

And one thing from it resonated deeply with what I see every day working with PhDs.

Josh, a neuroscience director who left academia in 2020, said:
"I felt much more comfortable talking to people who had already left. I was more scared about having those conversations with my colleagues than I was about the transition itself."

I hear this often in my work with PhDs.

Some are just starting to explore opportunities beyond academia. 
Some have already made up their mind.

But both carry that decision quietly - alone, for months - because saying it out loud in the lab still feels like admitting failure.

This is a culture problem. 
Not a personal one.

I didn't leave academia because I stopped loving science. 
I left because the system no longer aligned with my values. 
I wanted a different lifestyle. 
A different working environment.

And those are good enough reasons to leave - even if you love science deeply.
And wanting that - wanting stability, wanting a life that fits you - is not something you should ever feel ashamed of.

♻️  Share to help a friend 

Happy Wednesday 💙

Two women. 
Different continents. 
One shared belief:
PhDs and Postdocs deserve better career support than what currently exists.

That's how Alma.Me started.

Angela brings 20+ years of hiring experience - she's sat in the rooms where the decisions are made. 
I bring the PhD journey - the uncertainty, the identity shift, the figuring-it-out-as-you-go.
Together, we built something neither of us could have built alone.

But here's what I want to share today - When we first started building Alma.Me, imposter syndrome hit me hard.

Who am I to do this? 
I thought I needed to know everything before I could build anything.

Then Angela said something that changed how I saw it all.
She's sat in rooms with CEOs and senior executives most of her career - and she told me: nobody has it fully figured out. Everyone is trying their best with what they have. Everyone is winging it a little.

That was the moment something clicked.
Being in a role - whether it's a job, a business, or a new career - doesn't mean knowing everything.

It means:
Being open to learning. 
Willing to fail. 
Humble enough to let the data guide you. 
And resilient enough to keep going anyway.

Honestly? 
It's not that different from science.

In research, you don't know the answer before you run the experiment. 
You follow the data. 
You adjust. 
You try again.

Business is the same. 
Life is the same. 

Nobody truly knows. 
Most of the time, we're all figuring it out as we go.
And that's not a weakness. That's how growth works.

And an important thing I've learned - Sometimes it's the naive ones who bring the freshest perspective.

Not knowing "how things are supposed to be done" means you're not limited by how they've always been done.

Some of the boldest moves come from people who didn't know they "couldn't" do it.

So to every woman reading this today - If you're waiting until you feel ready: you won't. Start anyway. Start now!

If imposter syndrome is telling you "who are you to do this?": everyone in that room is asking the same question. 
You belong there.

If you feel like you don't know enough yet: that's not a gap. 
That's your edge. 
Fresh eyes see what experience sometimes misses.

You don't need to have it all figured out.
You need to be open. 
Curious. 
Willing to learn, fail, and keep going.

That's not just what building a business taught me.

That's what I see in every single woman who dares to take the next step - in her career, her job search, her life.

You are more ready than you think. 💜

Angela has been my biggest supporter - and my biggest challenger when I needed it most. She accepts me for exactly who I am. And pushes me to grow beyond who I thought I could be.

Today I celebrate her. 💜

Who is a woman that has inspired you to keep going? Who is your Angela?

Drop her name in the comments - let's celebrate them today. 👇

Happy International Women's Day to every woman daring to build something - a career, a company, a life - on her own terms. 💜

3 PhDs. All of them had sent over 200 applications.
All of them had heard back from almost no one.

And all three came to us at Alma.Me saying the same thing.
"I don't know what I am doing wrong."

Here's what was going on - and what changed for each of them:

PhD #1 was an Economics PhD who got feedback during an interview that her communication style wasn't landing with the hiring team.

That stung.
But instead of ignoring it, she reached out to us.

We worked on how she told her story - how she interacted and enageed in the interview conversation.

She landed her next offer with what the hiring manager called a "sweetheart deal." And she was specifically complimented on her communication.

PhD #2 too academia and did not receive any interview invitation after +200 applications.
We revamped the resume and taught her how to reach out to hiring managers directly.

Her response rate went from basically 0% to over 10%.

PhD #3 was getting interviews. But losing them.
He knew his research inside out.

What he hadn't learned was how to talk about it in a language that made a hiring manager lean forward.

We worked on how he framed his story.

He landed his role within 33 days of joining our program.

Here's the thing:
The problem was never the PhD.
The missing link was learning how to market themselves to an industry audience.

If you're stuck in the same loop - we take two PhDs a week into our program.

Link in the comments 👇

♻️ Repost to help a PhD friend

Happy Tuesday 💛

Everyone who thinks LinkedIn is a waste of time hasn't used it to its fullest.

I say this as someone who once during my PhD scrolled past it thinking - what's the point?

And then LinkedIn gave me:
A co-founder (thankful everyday for Angela Priest) 
A team. 
A podcast full of incredible humans. 
And friendships I didn't see coming.

One of those is Philipp Baaske.
Fellow PhD. 
Fellow founder. 
And honestly - my kind of people.

Successful, kind, and humble. 
That combination is rarer than it should be.
I read his book - The Honorable Entrepreneur - and I really loved it.
Not the kind of book that makes you feel like everyone else has it figured out except you.
Raw, honest, real. 

He writes about building a business the way it actually feels - the highs, the 
lows, the moments where you genuinely don't know if it's going to work out.

If you're a founder, a PhD, or just someone looking for an inspiring story told without the filter - read it.

Yesterday, I finally got to meet Philipp in Munich for dinner.

Great conversation. 
And yes - I finally got my signed copy. 

None of this happens without LinkedIn.
Was it uncomfortable in the beginning and a ton of work (and still is ;))? 
Absolutely.

Would I do it again every single day? 
Yes - without question. 

Philipp has been on my podcast PostPhDirections sharing his journey from PhD to founder. If you haven't listened yet, go find it.

And if you're ready to start your own LinkedIn journey -I'm sharing my best tips on LinkedIn networking and job searching at Proteintech Group's Career Week, in collaboration with Alma.Me.

It's free. Join us. 🎉

Registration link in the comments 👇 

You genuinely don't know who is one connection away. 

Happy Wednesday 🩷

Most PhDs I talk to have the same reaction when I mention networking:
"I'm not good at that." 
"It feels fake." 
"I wouldn't even know where to start."

Academia does not necessarily train you on this. 
You're trained to let your work speak for itself. 
To publish. 
To present data. 
To be rigorous.

Not to send a message to a stranger on LinkedIn and start a conversation.

But here's the truth:

The job market doesn't work the way academia does.

Many roles are filled through networks. Through people who know people. Through a conversation that happened months before a job was even posted.

Networking isn't about being loud or salesy.
It's about being visible, being human, and building real  relationships.

One of the PhDs in our program landed 3 interviews in a single day.

Not from applying to 3 jobs.
From 1 referral from a friend. 
From 1 referral from a new connection he'd met online. 
From 1 cold application - followed up with a direct message to the hiring manager.

That's what increasing your "luck surface area" actually looks like.
And the crazy part of my own story (most don't know) ?

Alma.Me only exists because I networked on LinkedIn.

Angela Priest - my co-founder, with 20+ years of hiring experience - I met her here. One conversation that literally changed the trajectory of my entire professional life.

If you're a PhD who thinks networking isn't for you (btw, it's outside most peoples  comfort zone - you are not alone) -  I'd invite you to reconsider.

Not because it's easy.
But because it works.

🎙️ I talked about this in the very first episode of my podcast PostPhDirections - with Angela herself. How we met, why networking matters, and what it really looks like in practice.

Listen here: https://lnkd.in/dPHrxGVv

Happy Thursday  🩷

This photo was taken at the networking session I organised as part of the PhD course I ran at Karolinska Institutet. By the way, we are running it again - registration opens tomorrow. 
Best part? 
You get ECTS points and it counts towards your PhD degree 😉
Stay tuned if you are a PhD student at KI, or another Swedish or European university (open to all -but limited slots).

I used to think leaving academia meant starting over from zero.
That's what it felt like.

Years of training. Papers. A PhD thesis I was genuinely proud of. 
And then the thought of leaving felt like throwing it all in the bin. 

Like: "If I leave, was it even worth it?"

I've spoken with so many PhDs who feel exactly this. The sunk cost. The guilt. 

But here's what I've learned since leaving:
You don't start over. 
You start differently.

Everything you built in academia – the rigor, the resilience, the ability to sit with uncertainty for years and still push forward – that goes with you.

It doesn't disappear when you leave the lab.
It shows up in how you approach problems. 
In how you learn fast in new environments. 
In the way you think.

I didn't start over when I left.
I started Alma.Me.

And I built it from exactly the skills I thought were "only academic."

If you're in that place right now – wondering if leaving means losing everything you worked for – I promise you. It doesn't.

If you're at a point where you're questioning whether your path is still yours - listen to my podcast episode with Armando Cázares-Körner.

He left academia with a Science paper. Science! He had every credential to build a successful academic career - and he still chose something different.

It's one of the most inspiring conversations I've had. 

🎙️ Listen to the full episode: Link in the comments 👇 

Happy Monday 🩷

Dear PhDs 

Every conversation you have is building your network.

Every application teaches you something about what you want.

Every interview makes you better at the next one.

Even when it feels like nothing is happening, you're moving forward.

Trust the process.

Happy Sunday 💙

Most PhDs spend months sending applications into the void.

No feedback. No idea what's going wrong. And they often experience just silence or rejection.

Here's is the things the resume is often the first thing that kills your chances.
Not your skills. 
Not your experience. 
Your resume.

And the frustrating part?
You don't know what a hiring manager actually sees when they open it.
That's exactly why Angela Priest and I created the Resume Review - Live session.

Angela has 20+ years of hiring experience.
She has been on the other side of the table - literally deciding who moves forward and who doesn't.

On March 12th at 6PM CET / 10AM MST, she's going to show you:

🔍 What hiring managers look for in the first 10 seconds 
❌ The most common mistakes PhDs make (and don't even realize) 
✅ How to fix them - live, in real time

This is part of our PhD-to-Industry Ready Series - free live events designed to give you the information you actually need to make your transition work.

No fluff. No "just believe in yourself" advice. Real feedback. Real fixes.

👉 Sign up link in the comments or scan the QR code 

♻️  Share to help a friend 

Happy Friday 🩷

Your academic CV is costing you interviews.

Most PhDs don't realise this until they've sent 100+ applications and heard almost nothing back.

And the frustrating part?

It's not your skills. 
It's not your experience. 
It's how you're presenting them.

A 4-page academic CV that leads with publications and conference talks tells a recruiter almost nothing about what you can actually do for them.

Here's what I see again and again: 
🟣 PhDs describing what they studied - not the outcomes they created 
🟣 Resumes written for an academic audience - not a hiring manager 
🟣 Brilliant candidates getting filtered out before anyone even reads their story

That's why I'm so glad my co-founder of Alma.Me -  Angela Priest is speaking at Proteintech Group's Careers Week 2026.

Angela has 20+ years of hiring experience. She has sat on the other side of the table hundreds of times. She knows exactly what makes a resume get read - and what makes it get ignored.

On Tuesday she's running a live Industry Resume Writing Workshop - for free.
🟣 What hiring managers actually look for 
🟣 How to translate your research into business language 
🟣 How to go from academic CV to industry resume that gets responses

📅 Tuesday March 24 
🕘 9 am CST / 2 pm GMT / 3 pm CEST

Register your free spot: https://lnkd.in/d5-DaDnN

♻️ Repost to help a PhD friend in need

Happy Saturday 💛

Dear PhDs,

Rest is not the enemy of progress.

It just feels that way when you’ve been trained to measure your worth in output.

More papers. 
More experiments. 

But some of the best ideas - the clearest thinking, the boldest decisions -  don’t come from pushing harder.

They come from stepping back.

Give yourself permission to rest this Sunday.

It’s not time wasted.
It’s time invested.

Happy Sunday 🩷

The job market in 2026 is shifting. Here's why that might actually be good news for PhDs --> learn here how to position yourself best

Angela Priest has 25+ years of industry experience (20 in hiring )- she's seen market shifts come and go.

And she sat down with me to break down exactly what's happening right now.
Because there are real shifts - and some of them are actually working in your favour as a PhD.

In our latest episode of PostPhDirections we talked about:
🟣 What's actually happening in hiring right now (and why uncertainty is becoming "the new normal" for companies)
🟣 Why entry-level jobs aren't disappearing - they're just changing shape
🟣 The roles with the highest demand for PhDs right now (hint: data fluency is your secret weapon)
🟣 The one skill listed in 85% of all job ads - and what companies actually mean by it (it's not what most PhDs think)
🟣 The one unspoken hiring criteria that almost no article will tell you about

And my personal favourite part of the conversation?
Angela said something that I think every PhD needs to hear:
"PhDs assume that the people they're competing against have the same level of skill. They don't."

You have more than you think.
You just have to learn how to say it.

🎙️ New episode is out now - link in the comments 👇

Happy Sunday 💛

59 - Learning German and getting a driver's licence.

I love this so much.

Because we spend so much time thinking we've missed our window. 
Too late to switch. 
Too senior to start over. 
Too established to take a risk.

But this post is proof that there is no such thing as too late.
I left academia at 33 and built a company from scratch. 
First in my family to do it. 
No roadmap. 
No guarantee.
Just a decision.

If you're a PhD sitting on the fence about making your move into industry - let this be your sign.

The window is open. 
It always is.

Dare to take the step. 

Happy Monday 🩷

Academic leadership training I Professor of NeuroImmunotherapy l Dean of Doctoral Education l Empowering professional leadership and shaping PhD education l Have trained 8000+ PhD supervisors l #MADBob

At age:
18 - I left home for University
21 - I finished my B.Sc
24 - I finished my PhD
27 - I moved to Sweden
28 - I learnt to speak Swedish
31 - I became an Associate Professor
33 - I became a research group leader
39 - I became Study Director in my department
42 - I became Central Study Director at the university
47 - I became a Professor
48 - I won the KI prize for pedagogy
53 - I became Dean of Doctoral Education
58 - I won the FEBS Education award
59 - I learnt to speak German
59 - I got my driver’s licence
 
What is my view on all this?
 
·     LIFELONG learning means learning throughout your life – there is always something new to learn.
·     Some things you wait longer for than you think you should.
·     Some things happen when you think they should, or even faster.
·     Some things surprise you.
·     Each step is a step forward, a new experience.
 
Don’t spend time looking back with regret – your history is already written forever.

Don’t only focus on where you are today – it won’t get you anywhere long-term.

Don’t look to the future with fear of the unknown, but rather with peaceful anticipation.
 
Follow this discussion of doctoral education via #MADBob
If you are interested in personal or group leadership training for academic supervisors/leaders, check out my website. I have taught over 8000 supervisors to date.

#MADBob #PhDsupervision #AcademicLeadership #DoctoralEducation #ResearchLeadership

A Psychology Postdoc we worked with expected $70-80K for her first industry job and she landed one for $150K.

She had two years of postdoc experience. She came to us knowing she wanted industry.

She just had no idea what she was actually worth.

Her number in her head?
$70–80K 

That felt "realistic" to her.

That felt like what a postdoc jumping into industry could ask for. 
We see this so often. During a Postdoc you often make around 60K, and 80K feels like a realistic increase in salary. 

PhDs who have spent years in an environment where salaries are fixed, low, and non-negotiable:

They  carry that ceiling into their industry job search.
They don't know what the market actually pays.
They  don't know how to negotiate.
They don't know that their skills are genuinely scarce and genuinely valuable.

So they undersell themselves before they've even started.
What changed for her:
- We showed her what roles at her level were actually paying 
- We worked on how she positioned her experience in interviews 
- We helped her to get confident that her skillset is worth more than 80K

She landed a Senior Data Scientist offer for $150K (US salary).
Nearly double what she thought she could ask for.

This is what happens when you finally operate with the right information.

We take two PhDs a week into the Alma.Me Job Accelerator Program.
If you're ready, apply here: https://lnkd.in/dwhAW8xQ

♻️ Repost to help a postdoc know their worth

Happy Friday 💙

Professor of NeuroImmunotherapy l Dean of Doctoral Education l Empowering professional leadership and shaping PhD education l Have trained 8000+ PhD supervisors l #MADBob

ORCID:
0000-0003-4990-509X

Born and educated in the UK, conducted a PhD at University College London in the field of parasitology. Moved to Karolinska Institutet in Stockholm, Sweden in 1994 and became Professor of Immunotherapy in Neurological diseases there in 2013. Leads a research group focusing on immunotherapy in ALS, Alzheimer’s disease and Multiple Sclerosis. Currently Academic Vice President of Doctoral Education. Past Chair of the International Council at Karolinska Institutet. Past president of the international doctoral education organisation ORPHEUS. Honorary Doctorate from the Iuliu Hatieganu University of Medicine and Pharmacy (UMF) Cluj-Napoca, Romania (2023).

2008-09 – 2018-12 Karolinska Institutet (KI); Central Director of Doctoral Education (Quality Assurance (QA); Doctoral education programmes; PhD supervisor training 

2005-10 – 2018-12 KI; Dept of Clinical Neuroscience Director of  Doctoral Education (Selection of new and monitoring of 286 PhD students)

2015-2022 ORPHEUS President

1999-05 – present 	KI; Centre for Molecular Medicine (CMM) Independent Research Group Leader (Research in autoimmunity/cell biology)

1997-01 – present	Diamyd Medical AB	Scientific advisor; 
Consultant/Part-time employment (QA; Preclinical studies; Vaccine formulation)

1997-01 – 1999-04	KI; CMM	Kung Gustav V:s 80års jubileumsfond Post-doctoral fellow (Research in autoimmunity)

1996-01 – 1997-01	KI; CMM	Dept of Medicine Post-doctoral fellow (Research in autoimmunity)

1994-04 – 1995-12	KI; Microbiology & Tumor Biology Centre (MTC) KI Guest Researcher (Research in parasite immunology)

1994-04 – 1996-04	KI; MTC	Wellcome Trust Travel Fellow	(Research in parasite immunology)

1991-06 – 1994-04	London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine	Medical Research Council (MRC) Post-doctoral fellow (Research in parasite immunology)

1990-01 – 1991-06	University College London (UCL) MRC Post-doctoral fellow	 (Research in neurochemistry)

Specialties: Scientific research - neuroimmunology, cell biology, protein chemistry, vaccinology
Doctoral education - pedagogy, teaching, administration

Robert Harris

PhD students just need to toughen up


This argument appears in my comments regularly. And I want to engage with it properly.

Yes, the world is demanding. Yes, research involves difficulty, rejection and sustained uncertainty. Yes, a PhD should develop people who can navigate all of that.

But there is a fundamental difference between challenge and abandonment.

We do not train surgeons by putting them in an operating theatre alone and waiting to see if they figure it out. We do not train pilots by telling them to find resilience at 30,000 feet.

We expose them to increasing difficulty within a scaffolded structure, with support nearby, with feedback that helps them understand what is happening and why.

That is how competence is built. Not by removing support, but instead by making support available while gradually increasing independence.

When PhD students struggle under current conditions, too many people interpret it as evidence of insufficient resilience. I interpret it as evidence of insufficient scaffolding.

Preparing people for complexity means teaching them how to navigate it. Not placing them in it and calling their difficulty a character flaw.

Toughness built on a foundation of support is durable. Toughness built on survival of neglect is brittle, and usually has a cost that we never see.

Follow this discussion of doctoral education via #MADBob

If you are interested in personal or group leadership training for academic supervisors/leaders, check out my website.

I have taught over 8000 supervisors to date.

Universities spend a LOT of money recruiting PhD students


Advertising. Outreach. Open days. Scholarship packages.

And then, once the student is enrolled, the investment in their experience drops sharply.

There is no systematic check on whether supervision is working. There is no structured mid-point review of the relationship. There is no real consequence for a supervisor who is routinely absent or harmful to their PhD student

We recruit with great care and then manage with almost none.

It is the equivalent of a company investing heavily in hiring and then doing nothing about keeping employees.

The talent arrives. The conditions drive it away.

And we act surprised when dropout rates are high, or when students finish their PhDs without wanting to remain in academia.

The question universities need to ask is not only: how do we attract the best students?

It is: what kind of experience are we actually them providing once they arrive?
These are very different questions.

And in my experience, only one of them is being asked seriously.

'MAD' means 'Making A Difference,' and nothing else. PhD supervisors have both the professional responsibility and the wonderful possibility to empower their PhD students to be MAD themselves in society. 

Follow this discussion of doctoral education via #MADBob If you are interested in personal or group coaching for academic supervisors/leaders, write me a DM. I have taught over 8000 supervisors to date.

#MADBob #PhDsupervision #HigherEducation #DoctoralEducation #AcademicLeadership

You are lowering PhD standards!


How many times have I heard this:
“If we structure things more, support students more, or treat them like professionals, the standard of the PhD will drop.”

Let me be clear.

Training is not lowering standards.
Clarity is not spoiling students.
Support is not a sign of weakness.

High standards without guidance do not necessarily produce excellence.
But I think they may induce anxiety and silence instead.

True rigor should not be about how hard things feel.

I think it is rather about whether mutual expectations are clear, skills are taught and if critical judgment develops over time.

If a system only works when people are confused, unsupported and exhausted, then I do not think the problem is with the student.

It is rather the system that needs fixing.

Follow this discussion of doctoral education via #MADBob

If you are interested in personal or group leadership training for academic supervisors/leaders, check out my website. I have taught over 8000 supervisors to date.

#MADBob #PhDsupervision #DoctoralEducation #AcademicLeadership #HigherEducation

MAD vs BAD PhD supervisors


A BAD supervisor sets expectations once at the beginning and never revisits them. A MAD supervisor knows that expectations need to evolve as the student does.

A BAD supervisor gives the same supervision to every student. A MAD supervisor adapts their approach to the person in front of them.

A BAD supervisor sees a missed deadline as a discipline issue. A MAD supervisor sees it as a signal worth investigating.

A BAD supervisor is always the expert in the room. A MAD supervisor knows when to step back and let the student lead.

A BAD supervisor's students graduate despite the supervision. A MAD supervisor's students graduate because of it.

A BAD supervisor does not think about legacy. A MAD supervisor understands that their students are their most important contribution to their field.

More important than any published paper. More important than any won grant. More important than any received award.

The people you develop will outlast everything else you do.

That is worth taking seriously.

'MAD' means 'Making A Difference,' and nothing else. PhD supervisors have both the professional responsibility and the wonderful possibility to empower their PhD students to be MAD themselves in society. 

Follow this discussion of doctoral education via #MADBob

If you are interested in personal or group coaching for academic supervisors/leaders, write me a DM. I have taught over 8000 supervisors to date.

#MADBob #PhDsupervision #DoctoralEducation #AcademicLeadership #ResearchLeadership

Why aren’t we training PhDs to be leaders?


We already start developing the skills that shape our careers in kindergarten.
That is where we first learn to collaborate. To communicate. To solve problems together.

These are the so-called 5C skills of the 21st century:
·     Critical thinking
·     Collaboration
·     Communication
·     Creativity
·     Character

I don’t think that these skills are ‘nice-to-have.’
I prefer to see them instead as necessary career-defining skills.

But it seems to me that somewhere along the academic pathway, we stop intentionally teaching them.

Undergraduates are not systematically trained in leadership.
Master’s students rarely are.
PhDs? Almost never.
Postdocs and junior faculty? They are expected to ‘figure it out’ for themselves.

But I think that this is the reality:
The higher you move up in the academic hierarchy, the more leadership responsibility you will have:
·     You lead research groups
·     You manage budgets
·     You supervise students
·     You shape institutional culture
·     You influence strategy and direction
·     You head a Department
·     You lead a University

And too often, leaders are appointed based on criteria such as:
·     Strong publication records
·     ‘It’s your turn’
·     Administrative necessity
·     Metrics unrelated to leadership competence
 
But I don’t think that research excellence automatically equals leadership excellence.

Leadership is a skill set.

Just like any skill set, leadership can be taught, practiced and refined, again and again.

Imagine if leadership development were embedded early in doctoral training.
By the time someone became a Professor, Departmental Chair, or Dean, they would have already spent years developing their self-awareness, communication skills, conflict management abilities and strategic thinking.

The stakes get higher as careers progress.
Should this preparation not grow accordingly?

Leadership programs still represent a relatively small investment in most universities.

If we want better academic cultures, healthier research environments and stronger institutions, I think that perhaps it is time we stop assuming leadership is developing organically, and start teaching it deliberately.

Follow this discussion of doctoral education via #MADBob

If you are interested in personal or group leadership training for academic supervisors/leaders, check out my website. I have taught over 8000 supervisors to date.

The lasting impact of a spontaneous conversation with a PhD in the corridor
 

I was walking between buildings at a university where I had been running a PhD supervisor training workshop.

A PhD student stopped me.

She had not been in the workshop, but she had seen my name on a poster outside the room.

She asked me: "Are you the person doing the supervision training?"
I said yes.

She said: "Do the supervisors actually change? Or do they just go back and act the same as before?"

I did not give her a reassuring answer. I told her the truth.

Some change significantly. 
Some change a little. 
Some do not change at all.

But the ones who change do so because something in the training made them see their student differently.

Not as a project to be completed. 
But instead as a person whose experience they are responsible for.

She nodded slowly.
Then she said: "I hope my supervisor was in the room."

I did not know if they were.
But I thought about her for the rest of the day.

And I thought about all the students standing in corridors hoping that someone, somewhere, is helping the person who holds their future to understand what that responsibility actually means.

This is why supervisor training matters.
 
'MAD' means 'Making A Difference,' and nothing else. PhD supervisors have both the professional responsibility and the wonderful possibility to empower their PhD students to be MAD themselves in society.
 
Follow this discussion of doctoral education via #MADBob If you are interested in personal or group coaching for academic supervisors/leaders, write me a DM. I have taught over 8000 supervisors to date.
 
#MADBob #PhDsupervision #DoctoralEducation #HigherEducation #AcademicLeadership

The PhD supervisor who changed
 

I ran a training workshop in Portugal several years ago.

On the second day, a professor in his late fifties came up to me during the break.

He had barely spoken during the sessions. I had assumed he was sceptical.

He said: "Can I show you something?"

He pulled out his phone and showed me a message from a former student. Sent that morning.

He had texted her after the first day of the workshop to ask how she was.

They had not spoken in two years.

Her reply was long. She described how the final year of her PhD had been the hardest period of her life. How she had felt completely alone. How she had never told him at the time because she did not think he would want to know.

He stood there holding his phone and he said:
"I thought I was a good supervisor. I was present. I gave feedback. I came to her defence."

He paused.
"But I never asked her how she was. Not once. Not really."

He came back the second day, and he asked more questions than anyone else in the room.

It is never too late to become a better supervisor.

But the students who needed it from you yesterday cannot wait.
 
'MAD' means 'Making A Difference,' and nothing else. PhD supervisors have both the professional responsibility and the wonderful possibility to empower their PhD students to be MAD themselves in society.
 
Follow this discussion of doctoral education via #MADBob If you are interested in personal or group coaching for academic supervisors/leaders, write me a DM. I have taught over 8000 supervisors to date.
 
#MADBob #PhDsupervision #AcademicLeadership #DoctoralEducation #ResearchLeadership

How to build a research culture in which doing wrong and owning up in a safe space is the key to repair.

I came across this nice reflection by a group leader at Karolinska Institutet. (Elena Raffetti).

There are 2 key messages I focus on:
Allowing people to make mistakes without shame, and that independence does not mean abandonment.

Great inspiration for us all.

https://lnkd.in/djTmNqDh

Why the EU should care about Neurotechnology

In a recent 'Science Business viewpoint' (see comments for link) a case is made for the need for investment in Neurotechnology within Europe, and 3 major points are made:

1. Europe should maximise pre-competitive collaboration to ensure that synergies are created across research efforts and that innovation opportunities are fully realised further downstream. 
2. A dedicated neurotechnology funding board should be established to better coordinate, adapt and optimise funding instruments. 
3. Europe must develop neurotechnology-specific healthcare reimbursement models and enable willing member states to pool resources.

When we founded NeurotechEU, the European University of Brain and Technology, 7 years ago, these were some of the foundational principles - to promote the development of education, innovation and research collaboration between European Universities within the field of neurotechnology. 

With a Masters program, a doctoral network and an extensive network of neurotechnology biotechnology companies soon all in place, NeurotechEU is poised to address the important issues raised in this article.

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