Graduate school, and academia to a larger extent, is perhaps one of the most unorganized jobs there is. I received no list of expectations, no rubric for what to get done each day or any real grading to gauge my progress. I knew I needed to, at some point, publish papers and defend my thesis.
Graduate Women in Science (GWIS) is a smaller professional society of ~800 women in science around the United States. Once a year, they host a conference to bring women from across the STEM disciplines together, learn from and connect with each other!
2022’s GWIS conference was at my Alma Mater, University of Wisconsin-Madison, so of course I had to go! There’s something a little different about going back to a place where you’ve already spent a big part of your life. It makes the experience feel more familiar, but also a bit reflective, like you’re seeing the same place from a different stage of your career.
The conference itself was structured in a way that felt manageable. Day 1 focused on meetings for local and grand chapters, which gave insight into how the organization operates behind the scenes. Day 2 was more centered around networking and socialization, which felt more relaxed and conversational. Then Day 3 was the main day for scientific research, where most of the talks and sessions took place.
Compared to larger conferences, the pace felt more balanced. There wasn’t the same pressure to constantly move from one session to another or worry about missing multiple talks happening at the same time. Instead, it felt more intentional, like you could actually engage with what was happening rather than just trying to keep up.
While I was there, I reminisced in how my undergrad days, stopping at the Memorial Union Terrace for beer, and walking along State Street for dinner or coffee. (What else you can do in Madison, WI.)
Being back in Madison added a different layer to the experience. It wasn’t just about attending the conference, it was also about revisiting places that had been part of my daily routine before. That combination made the trip feel less rushed and more enjoyable overall.
There’s something about conference travel that can sometimes feel very structured, sessions, schedules, and timelines. But having familiar spots to go to in between made it feel more relaxed. It also gave space to actually process what I was learning during the day instead of immediately moving on to the next thing.
For the conference itself, I stayed professional with a dress shirt and pants, but tried to wear more lightweight clothes since it is the middle of summer!
Comfort ended up being just as important as professionalism. Conferences often involve more walking and longer days than expected, so finding something that feels appropriate but still practical makes a difference.
I also packed lightweight summer dresses for the dinners and (of course) my trusty supergas for walking & exploring.
Having options for different parts of the day helped, something more structured for sessions, and something more relaxed for evenings. It’s a small detail, but it makes the overall experience feel easier to manage, especially when you’re balancing both professional and social parts of the conference.
One of the biggest differences between this GWIS conference and the Exploring Biology Conference I attended earlier in 2022 was how much the size of the conference impacts what you get out of the conference. Now this isn’t to say at larger or smaller conferences you learn more, but there is a difference in what I learned.
Bigger conferences focus on cramming as much science as possible in as short amount of time.
That often means multiple sessions happening at once, packed schedules, and a constant feeling of needing to choose between equally interesting talks. There’s a lot of information, but it can sometimes feel like you’re only getting brief exposure to each topic.
Smaller conferences focus more on the interpersonal connections and career information you gather.
This was probably the biggest difference I noticed. With fewer people, conversations felt more natural and less rushed. You’re more likely to see the same people multiple times, which makes it easier to build connections beyond just a quick introduction.
At this conference, which is much smaller than Exploring Biology (thousands+) at around ~100 people, I got to make much stronger connections with women doing things I really care about. And the sessions were much more interactive.
There was more space to ask questions, participate in discussions, and actually engage with the content. One of my favorite sessions was turning your research into a story, something that felt very different from traditional lecture-style presentations.
Overall, the experience felt less about trying to absorb as much information as possible, and more about understanding, connecting, and reflecting. It highlighted how the size of a conference doesn’t necessarily determine its value, it just changes what you take away from it.
Keeping up with scientific literature, career development, experiments, and everything else going on can feel like a lot, especially during graduate school. It’s very easy for things like reading papers or staying updated on career paths to fall behind when you’re focused on day-to-day work.
What’s helped me is finding ways to make this information easier to access and more consistent. Instead of trying to sit down and search for updates, I rely on tools that bring information directly to me, usually in smaller, manageable pieces. A lot of this comes in the form of emails, apps, or quick updates that fit into small gaps in the day rather than requiring dedicated time.
Over time, this approach has made it easier to stay informed without feeling like it’s something extra I have to schedule in.
Every Friday, you can sign up to get the latest issue of Science sent directly to your email. It’s a simple way to stay connected to current research without having to actively go looking for it each week.
What I like about this is that it creates a routine. You start to associate a certain time of the week with catching up on what’s new, even if it’s just scanning headlines or reading one article that stands out.
At the same time, it’s worth knowing that access to full articles typically requires a subscription. So depending on your access through a university or institution, your experience with it might vary. Even then, just seeing the topics being discussed can help you stay aware of trends in science.
Another easy way to keep up with research is the Nature daily briefing. This gets sent to your inbox each afternoon and highlights recent developments across different areas of science.
What makes this useful is that it doesn’t require a lot of time. You can quickly scan through it and decide what’s worth looking into further. It’s also free, which makes it accessible regardless of where you are in your career.
Beyond the research updates, I also like their career section. They often include articles from people sharing how they moved into different roles, which can be helpful if you’re trying to understand what options exist outside of a traditional academic path.
One thing that’s easy to overlook is how important it is to stay informed about general news as well. Science doesn’t exist separately from everything else, it’s connected to policy, global events, and broader societal changes.
The New York Times Morning email is one of the ways I keep up with this. It usually focuses on one topic in depth and then includes summaries of other major stories.
What I find helpful is that it gives enough context to understand what’s happening without needing to read multiple articles. Even if you don’t go into every story, you still get a sense of what’s going on more broadly.
While the full articles may require a subscription, the email itself still provides a useful overview.
For more science-specific news, especially related to biotech and pharma, Endpoints News is a good resource. Their Early Edition emails focus on developments in the industry, from startups to larger companies.
This is slightly different from academic journals because it gives insight into the business and application side of science. If you’re interested in careers outside academia, this kind of information becomes really valuable.
It also helps you start recognizing names of companies, trends, and how different parts of the industry connect, which isn’t always obvious when you’re only focused on research.
Since a lot of the news I come across tends to be US-focused, I try to balance that by following more international sources as well. The BBC daily email is one way to do that.
It provides a broader perspective on global events, which can be helpful for understanding how science and policy are developing in different parts of the world.
Having multiple viewpoints also helps avoid getting a very narrow view of what’s happening, especially when it comes to topics that have global impact.
Signing up for newsletters from professional societies is one of the more direct ways to stay connected to your specific field.
These emails often include information about conferences, webinars, and networking opportunities. They also tend to highlight developments that are more relevant to your area of research compared to general science news.
Another benefit is exposure to events or opportunities you might not have actively searched for. Sometimes just seeing what’s available can help you decide what to get involved in next.
One of the ongoing challenges in academia is keeping up with scientific literature. It’s easy for reading papers to get pushed aside when other responsibilities take priority.
Using an app like Researcher makes this a bit easier. It allows you to follow specific topics and journals, creating a feed of newly published papers that match your interests.
What I find helpful is being able to quickly scan through papers and decide what’s worth reading in more detail later. Having access on your phone also makes it easier to use small pockets of time more effectively.
Social media is probably one of the most overlooked tools for staying updated in science. Platforms like LinkedIn, Twitter, and Instagram can be useful for both networking and learning about new research.
A lot of scientists share their work, discuss papers, or highlight trends in real time. This creates a different kind of exposure compared to traditional sources, it’s faster, more informal, and often more accessible.
At the same time, it depends on how you use it. Following the right people and accounts makes a big difference in what you see. When used intentionally, it can become a consistent source of information rather than just a distraction.
Informational interview: speaking with someone about their knowledge for insights on their career path & areas of interest. This is not a request for a job or an interview!
They can feel intimidating at first. Reaching out to someone you don’t know, asking for their time, and trying to figure out what to say can feel like a lot, especially if you’re early in your career. There’s often that hesitation of wondering whether they’ll respond at all, or if you’re asking for too much.
At the same time, they’re one of the most useful ways to actually understand what a career looks like beyond job descriptions. It’s one thing to read about a role online, and another to hear directly from someone who is doing it day-to-day. Those conversations tend to give you a much clearer picture of what the work is actually like, what skills matter, and what paths people took to get there.
They also become easier with practice. The first one can take a lot of time, thinking through what to say, rewriting emails, second guessing everything. Over time, it becomes more natural. You get more comfortable reaching out, and the process feels less like a big step and more like a normal part of exploring careers.
LinkedIn is usually one of the easiest places to start. Looking through second-degree connections can give you a list of people who are already somewhat within your network. You can reach out directly, or if you’re more comfortable, ask your mutual connection to introduce you.
Starting this way can make the process feel less overwhelming. There’s already some level of connection, even if it’s indirect, which can make reaching out feel more natural. Over time, as you build confidence, it becomes easier to expand beyond just mutual connections.
Professional organizations and societies are often full of people at different stages in their careers. Conferences, events, and outreach programs create opportunities to meet people in a more natural setting before reaching out again later.
These environments can make the first interaction feel more organic. Instead of a completely cold message, you’re following up after a conversation or shared experience. That small difference can make it easier to start building a connection.
This is often one of the most effective approaches. Advisors and mentors usually have networks of people they trust, and their recommendations can give you a strong starting point.
A helpful habit is to ask at the end of each informational interview if there’s someone else they recommend speaking with. Over time, this creates a chain of conversations that naturally expands your network without needing to start from scratch each time.
Writing the message is often the part that feels the most difficult. There’s a tendency to overthink it, trying to make it perfect or worrying about how it will be received. In reality, keeping it simple is usually more effective.
The goal isn’t to explain everything about yourself, but to give enough context so the person understands why you’re reaching out. Being clear about your interest in their career path and respectful of their time goes a long way.
It also helps to remember that not everyone will respond, and that’s normal. Response rates can vary, and it’s not necessarily a reflection of your message. Keeping the email concise and specific makes it easier for someone to quickly read and decide whether they’re available to chat.
An example: Dear Dr. X, I hope you are doing well! I am reaching out because [a bit about you/your interests] and am eager to learn about what a career path in [X] looks like. I noticed [mention mutual connection/organization/how you found them] and I’d love to learn a some insight from you if you would be willing to chat!
Preparation doesn’t need to be complicated, but having a general idea of who you’re speaking with makes the conversation smoother. Looking at their background helps you ask more relevant questions and shows that you’ve taken the time to understand their experience.
Having a few questions prepared also helps avoid awkward pauses. The conversation doesn’t need to be overly structured, but having a starting point makes it easier to keep things flowing.
It’s also helpful to treat the conversation with a level of professionalism, even though it’s informal. Being on time, prepared, and respectful of their schedule makes a good impression and sets the tone for future interactions.
These types of questions are useful because they open up the conversation rather than leading to simple yes or no answers. They give the person space to share their experience, which is usually where the most valuable insights come from.
You can also adjust these questions depending on who you’re speaking with. The more specific you can be to their background, the more detailed and relevant their answers tend to be.
There’s a whole category of careers that keep the scientific community running, and most PhD programs never mention them once. Scientific society administration is one of them. And for scientists who care about the health of their field, want to work with people, and are ready to step out of the lab without stepping away from science altogether, it’s worth paying serious attention to.
Scientific societies are the organisations that exist to serve a scientific community, think the American Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology (ASBMB), the American Chemical Society (ACS), the Society for Neuroscience, or the American Physiological Society. They run conferences, publish journals, advocate for science funding, support early-career scientists, and shape the culture and direction of their fields.
Behind all of that work are professionals who manage it. Scientific society administrators are the people responsible for keeping these organisations functioning, developing programmes, managing memberships, coordinating publications, organising meetings, handling communications, and executing the strategic priorities of the society.
It’s operational, relational, and mission-driven work. And it runs entirely on science credibility.
💡 Care about the scientific community beyond your own lab or department
💡 Enjoy working with people across all career stages, students, postdocs, senior faculty
💡 Are a strong communicator who can translate science for different audiences
💡 Like variety, no two days look the same in this role
💡 Want work-life balance that research careers rarely offer
💡 Are motivated by mission and impact over publications and grants
💡 Are ready to be the person who builds the infrastructure others rely on
🏛️ Programme Officer / Programme Manager
Designs and runs the society’s member-facing programmes, early career initiatives, mentoring schemes, diversity efforts, training workshops, and grant competitions . Heavily relationship-based, and deeply meaningful if you care about supporting scientists at critical career moments.
🏛️ Meetings and Events Manager
Runs the annual conference and any other society events from end to end, logistics, speaker coordination, abstract management, sponsorship, and on-site execution. It’s demanding, deadline-driven work that requires meticulous organisation and calm under pressure.
🏛️ Communications and Publications Manager
Oversees how the society communicates with its members and the public, managing newsletters, social media, press releases, and sometimes editorial oversight of society publications. For scientists who have already gravitated toward communication, this is a natural fit .
🏛️ Membership and Community Manager
Manages member recruitment, retention, and engagement. Knows the membership inside out, understands what different segments of the community need, and designs experiences that make membership feel valuable.
🏛️ Policy and Advocacy Officer
Represents the society’s scientific interests to government bodies, funding agencies, and policymakers. Requires deep understanding of both the science and the policy landscape. This is one of the most intellectually demanding roles in a scientific society, and one of the most impactful.
🏛️ Executive Director / CEO
The leadership track. Oversees the entire organisation, strategy, finances, staff, governance, and stakeholder relationships. Usually requires significant experience across multiple areas of society administration first.
It depends on the role and the time of year. A programme officer might spend one week reviewing fellowship applications and the next developing a new mentoring initiative. A meetings manager is largely calm for months, then in full sprint mode as the annual conference approaches.
What almost every role shares is this: a lot of email, a lot of coordination across different stakeholders, and a genuine need to understand the scientific community you’re serving. The scientists who do this work best are the ones who still think like researchers, who ask good questions, care about evidence, and understand what their members are going through because they’ve been through it themselves.
Because credibility with the membership matters enormously. When a programme officer talks to a graduate student about career development, or a policy officer testifies before a funding body, the fact that they have a scientific background changes the quality of that conversation completely .
You don’t need to have published 20 papers to work at a scientific society. But understanding what it feels like to be in a lab, to write a grant, to navigate peer review, that lived experience shapes everything about how you do this work well .
📚 This is not a fallback career. The most effective scientific society administrators are people who actively chose this path because they wanted to serve the community, not people who ended up here because academia didn’t work out . Going in with that mindset matters.
📚 Salaries vary widely. Large societies like ACS or the Society for Neuroscience offer competitive compensation. Smaller, discipline-specific societies may offer less. Do your research on the specific organisation before applying.
📚 The work can be slower-paced than research. Institutional timelines, committee approvals, and governance structures mean change happens gradually. For scientists used to the urgency of experimental work, this takes genuine adjustment.
📚 It’s a genuinely stable career with room to grow. Society administration has a clear progression, from coordinator to manager to director, and the skills you build are transferable across organisations, non-profits, and the broader science policy ecosystem.
💻 Programme Officer / Programme Manager
💻 Meetings and Events Coordinator / Manager
💻 Membership Manager
💻 Communications Manager
💻 Science Policy Officer
💻 Publications Coordinator
💻 Executive Director (senior level)
🗣️ Get involved with a scientific society now, as a volunteer, a committee member, or a student representative. This is the single most effective way to understand what the work involves and to get your name known within that organisation .
🗣️ Attend the society’s annual meeting with a different set of eyes. Pay attention to how it’s run, who’s behind the scenes, and what conversations are happening about the society’s direction. That context is invaluable.
🗣️ The American Society for Association Executives (ASAE) is the professional body for association and society management, their resources, events, and job board are worth bookmarking if you’re serious about this path.
🗣️ ASBMB Today has published direct advice from people working in scientific society careers, worth reading before you reach out to anyone .
🗣️ LinkedIn is your friend here. Find scientists who have moved into society administration roles and ask them about the transition. Most are candid about what they wish they’d known, and what actually made the difference.
Scientific society administration is one of those careers where your scientific background isn’t just useful, it’s the thing that makes you genuinely good at it. You’re building the infrastructure that supports the next generation of researchers. That’s not a small thing.
Clinical trials are how we find out whether new medicines, vaccines, and treatments actually work. And behind every well-run trial, there’s someone making sure everything stays on track, managing the paperwork, protecting the participants, keeping the data clean, and holding the whole operation together.
That person is often a Clinical Research Coordinator. And it’s a career far more scientists should know about.
A Clinical Research Coordinator, CRC for short, manages the day-to-day running of clinical trials . You’re not designing the study (that’s the Principal Investigator’s job), but you are the person responsible for making sure it actually runs properly.
That means recruiting and screening participants, obtaining informed consent, collecting and managing data, maintaining regulatory and ethics compliance, monitoring participant safety, and acting as the main point of contact for everyone involved in the trial, from patients to sponsors to institutional review boards .
It’s operational, detail-heavy work. And it’s genuinely consequential, the quality of your coordination directly affects the integrity of data that will eventually shape clinical decision-making.
💡 Are highly organised and thrive on structure and process
💡 Care about patient welfare and research ethics, not just data collection
💡 Want to work in a clinical or hospital environment without being a clinician
💡 Like having clear deliverables and defined responsibilities
💡 Are looking for a stable, in-demand role with real room to grow
💡 Want industry experience while keeping one foot in the world of research
No two days are identical, but the rhythm of the job is consistent. You might spend the morning screening a new participant for eligibility, the afternoon updating regulatory documentation, and the end of the day following up on a safety report.
CRCs work across hospitals, pharmaceutical companies, contract research organisations (CROs), universities, and private research centres . The setting shapes a lot, a hospital-based CRC might be working across multiple wards, while a CRO-based CRC might be managing multiple studies simultaneously from a central office.
What stays constant is the attention to detail. In clinical research, documentation isn’t bureaucracy, it’s the evidence that the study was conducted properly. If it isn’t recorded, it didn’t happen.
Because understanding the science matters. A CRC who genuinely understands the biology behind a trial, why a drug mechanism works the way it does, what an adverse event actually means physiologically, how to read an eligibility criterion critically, will catch things that someone without that background simply won’t.
A Bachelor’s degree in a life science field is typically the baseline requirement . A Master’s or PhD isn’t usually required for entry, but it absolutely differentiates you, especially when moving into senior or study management roles.
📚 The workload is real. CRCs manage a lot of moving parts simultaneously, multiple participants, multiple regulatory timelines, and often multiple studies. Strong organisational systems aren’t optional here .
📚 Certification matters for career progression. The Association of Clinical Research Professionals (ACRP) offers a range of certifications including the Certified Clinical Research Coordinator (CCRC), which signals competence and opens doors to more senior roles . You typically need to be working in the field before you can sit for these, so getting your first role is the priority.
📚 It’s a genuine stepping stone. CRC experience is highly valued across clinical research, many people move from this role into Clinical Research Associate (CRA), Regulatory Affairs, Clinical Data Management, or project management tracks . Starting here doesn’t mean staying here.
📚 Emotionally, the work can be demanding. You’re working with patients, often in vulnerable situations. That connection can be one of the most meaningful parts of the job, but it’s worth going in with your eyes open.
💻 Clinical Research Coordinator (CRC)
💻 Clinical Trials Coordinator
💻 Research Coordinator
💻 Study Coordinator
💻 Clinical Research Associate (CRA), the next step up
🗣️ If your institution runs clinical trials, find out who coordinates them and ask for a conversation. Most CRCs are happy to walk someone through what the job actually involves day-to-day.
🗣️ Look for entry-level CRC positions at teaching hospitals, academic medical centres, and contract research organisations. These are the most common starting points, and many actively hire candidates with science degrees but no prior clinical trial experience.
🗣️ The Association of Clinical Research Professionals (ACRP) and Society of Clinical Research Associates (SOCRA) both have resources, job boards, and student membership options worth exploring if you’re serious about this path.
🗣️ Coursera’s Design and Interpretation of Clinical Trials course from Johns Hopkins is a solid introduction to how trials actually work, and it signals genuine intent to any employer reading your CV.
Clinical research coordination sits at the intersection of science, healthcare, and human welfare. It’s structured work with real stakes, and for scientists who want to contribute to medicine without being a physician or staying in a research lab, it’s one of the most direct ways to do exactly that.
When scientists hear “business development,” one of two things comes to mind: a sales rep they’ve been avoiding in the lab hallway, or a vague corporate role that has nothing to do with science. Neither is accurate. And for scientists who are curious, strategic, and genuinely enjoy working with people, this career is worth a much closer look.
In biotech and pharma, business development, BD for short, covers the work of growing a company through external relationships. That means identifying partnership opportunities, negotiating licensing deals, scouting technologies worth bringing in-house, and building the collaborations that move science forward commercially.
At a small biotech, one BD professional might be developing a market strategy one day and negotiating a licensing agreement with a larger company the next . At a bigger corporation, roles tend to be more specialised, focused on a specific type of deal, a therapeutic area, or a particular market.
What ties it all together is this: you can’t do this job well without understanding the science. And that’s exactly where you come in.
💡 Like thinking about the big picture, where a field is heading, what’s missing, what’s next
💡 Are genuinely good at communicating with different kinds of people
💡 Enjoy strategy and negotiation as much as technical problem-solving
💡 Can make complex science sound clear and compelling to a non-scientific audience
💡 Want variety, no two projects, deals, or conversations are the same
💡 Are ready to step away from the bench without stepping away from the science
Identifying, negotiating, and managing deals between companies, licensing technologies in or out, forming research collaborations, structuring co-development agreements. The science has to make sense before the business case does .
Found at universities and research institutions. Tech transfer professionals work with scientists to identify inventions worth commercialising, manage the patent process, and find the right industry partners to license the work . One of the most accessible entry points from academia.
More analytical, understanding the competitive landscape, identifying unmet clinical needs, and helping shape what a company prioritises commercially. Strong scientific knowledge combined with market awareness is what makes someone stand out here.
Because the deals are scientific. Evaluating whether a technology is worth licensing, building a credible partnership pitch, understanding what a competitor’s pipeline actually means for your company, none of that holds up without someone who can read between the lines of a data package.
PhDs are actively sought in BD roles, and companies pay a premium for advanced degrees because the technical credibility is genuinely hard to replace . An MBA can help, particularly at larger companies, but experienced BD professionals often recommend getting company experience first, then pursuing further education on the company’s budget later .
📚 Very few scientists jump directly from bench to BD. The more common path is an intermediate step, a technical role, a sales-adjacent position, or time in a technology transfer office, and building across from there . This isn’t a barrier. It’s just how the path usually goes.
📚 The network matters more in BD than almost anywhere else. Cold applications rarely land these roles, connections do. Industry conferences like BIO and FASEB are specifically worth attending if you’re serious about this direction .
📚 Being technically sharp is expected. Being able to read a room, negotiate without burning bridges, and communicate clearly under pressure, that’s what actually separates good BD professionals from great ones.
📚 Smaller companies move faster. The variety of work you’ll get at a small biotech or startup will teach you more about BD in two years than a highly specialised role at a large corporation might in four .
💻 Business Development Associate / Manager
💻 Licensing Specialist
💻 Technology Transfer Officer / Manager
💻 Strategic Partnerships Manager
💻 Corporate Development Analyst
💻 Alliance Manager
🗣️ Your university’s technology transfer office is the most underused resource in academia. Get involved, ask questions, and if possible sit in on commercialisation conversations, even one experience there teaches you more than months of research.
🗣️ Conferences are not optional if you’re serious about BD. BIO, FASEB, and the JPMorgan Healthcare Conference are where corporate VPs actually show up, and one good conversation at a booth can do more than a hundred cold LinkedIn messages .
🗣️ Find scientists who have made this move and ask them about it directly. Most BD professionals are refreshingly open about how they got there, and their path will tell you far more than any job description.
🗣️ Want to go deeper on this before you dive in? This Science.org piece breaks down the career track in detail: Tooling Up: The Business Development Career Track, Science.org
BD is one of those careers where being a scientist isn’t a box you tick on a CV, it’s the reason people trust your judgment. The deals you shape, the partnerships you build, the technologies you help bring to market, all of it starts with understanding the science well enough to know what’s worth betting on.
Not many career paths can say that.
When most scientists think about careers in biotech or pharma, they picture research labs. Discovery work. Experiments, data, publications. But there’s an entirely different side of those industries that keeps everything running, and it’s one of the fastest-growing, most in-demand career tracks a scientist with a biology, chemistry, or engineering background can step into.
It’s called biomanufacturing. And there’s a very good chance no one mentioned it at your PhD orientation.
Biomanufacturing is the process of using living biological systems, cells, microorganisms, enzymes, to produce medicines, vaccines, and other biological products at scale . When a pharmaceutical company develops a new monoclonal antibody therapy or a vaccine, someone has to figure out how to make it reliably, consistently, and safely, not once in a lab flask, but thousands of times over, in large bioreactors, under strict regulatory oversight.
That’s biomanufacturing. And it covers a huge range of products: insulin, cancer therapies, gene and cell therapies, recombinant proteins, vaccines, the medicines people actually depend on .
The science doesn’t stop at discovery. Getting a biological product from a research bench to a patient requires an entirely separate, highly specialised field of expertise. That’s where biomanufacturing professionals come in.
💡 Want to work in biotech or pharma without staying in research
💡 Like the idea of applied, problem-solving work with real-world stakes
💡 Enjoy working in structured, regulated environments where precision matters
💡 Are drawn to process thinking, how things work at scale, not just in theory
💡 Want clear deliverables and tangible outcomes from your work
💡 Are comfortable with shift work or non-traditional lab hours (this varies by role)
💡 Want strong job security, biomanufacturing is consistently hiring, and the talent gap is significant
Biomanufacturing isn’t one job, it’s an entire ecosystem of roles. Here’s what the landscape actually looks like:
🔬 Process Development Scientist
Works on developing and optimising the biological processes used to make a product. Lots of bench work at this stage, figuring out the best growth conditions, yields, and parameters before scaling up. Strong scientific background is essential here.
🔬 Manufacturing Associate / Manufacturing Scientist
The hands-on role at the production floor. Responsible for running bioreactors, executing manufacturing protocols, monitoring critical process parameters, and making sure every batch is produced exactly as specified . This is where your lab skills translate most directly.
🔬 Quality Control (QC) Analyst
Tests and analyses samples at various stages of the manufacturing process to verify that the product meets required specifications. Detail-oriented, methodical, and absolutely critical, no product leaves a facility without QC sign-off .
🔬 Quality Assurance (QA) Specialist
Where QC tests the product, QA manages the systems that ensure quality, writing and reviewing Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs), handling deviations and investigations, managing compliance with regulatory requirements like FDA and GMP standards . It’s less lab-heavy and more documentation and process-focused.
🔬 Validation Engineer / Scientist
Responsible for proving, formally and documentably, that manufacturing equipment, processes, and systems consistently perform as intended. This is highly regulated work, and it’s where science meets documentation in a very detailed way.
🔬 Manufacturing Operations Manager
The leadership track. Oversees day-to-day manufacturing operations, manages teams, and ensures production timelines, quality standards, and regulatory requirements are all met simultaneously. Usually requires several years of experience in a more junior manufacturing role first.
It depends heavily on which part of biomanufacturing you’re in. Process development feels closest to research, you’re still in a lab, designing experiments and collecting data, but the question you’re answering is “how do we make this scalable and reproducible?” rather than “what does this do?”
On the manufacturing floor, the work is more protocol-driven. You’re executing established processes, maintaining meticulous records, and ensuring that every single step is performed exactly as specified, because in a regulated manufacturing environment, consistency isn’t just good practice, it’s a legal requirement.
Both sides of biomanufacturing share one thing: the stakes are high, the standards are non-negotiable, and the work genuinely matters. The product at the end of your process is something a patient is going to receive. That doesn’t feel abstract for long.
Because biological processes are fundamentally complex, and when something goes wrong in a manufacturing run, a contamination event, an unexpected yield drop, an out-of-spec result, you need people who can troubleshoot at a scientific level, not just follow a checklist .
A background in cell biology, biochemistry, microbiology, or chemical engineering gives you the foundation to understand why a process behaves the way it does. That understanding is what separates someone who can execute a protocol from someone who can fix it when it breaks.
📚 GMP (Good Manufacturing Practice) is the regulatory framework that governs all biomanufacturing. Understanding what GMP means and why it exists is foundational knowledge for any role in this space, start familiarising yourself with it now, before your first interview .
📚 Documentation is non-negotiable. If it isn’t written down, it didn’t happen. The level of record-keeping in biomanufacturing is significantly higher than in research settings, and it takes adjustment for most scientists coming from academia.
📚 Shift work is common at the manufacturing level. Bioreactors don’t work 9 to 5. Depending on your role and facility, you may be working evenings, weekends, or rotating shifts. It’s worth understanding the schedule expectations before you accept a role.
📚 Biomanufacturing is actively hiring and has been for years. The talent gap between the number of open roles and the number of qualified candidates is real and well-documented . That’s genuinely good news if you’re considering this career, the demand for people with your background is not going away.
📚 Career progression can move quickly. Companies are growing, new facilities are opening, and people with strong scientific foundations who also understand manufacturing operations are advancing into leadership roles faster than in almost any other area of industry science.
💻 Process Development Scientist / Associate
💻 Manufacturing Associate / Manufacturing Scientist
💻 Quality Control Analyst
💻 Quality Assurance Specialist
💻 Validation Scientist / Engineer
💻 Upstream / Downstream Processing Scientist
💻 Bioprocess Engineer
🗣️ Look at job postings from major biomanufacturing employers, Genentech, Amgen, Lonza, Thermo Fisher, Pfizer, Regeneron, and contract manufacturing organisations (CMOs) like Samsung Biologics and WuXi Biologics all hire heavily in this space.
🗣️ If your graduate work involved cell culture, fermentation, protein expression, or process-adjacent techniques, map those skills directly to biomanufacturing job descriptions. The overlap is almost always bigger than you think.
🗣️ Look into GMP training courses. Several universities and online platforms offer introductory GMP and biomanufacturing courses, completing one signals to employers that you’re serious and that you’ve done your homework.
🗣️ Reach out to scientists working in biomanufacturing on LinkedIn. Ask them what they wish they’d known before starting, and whether there are any entry points into the field they’d recommend for someone with your background.
🗣️ For a deeper read on what the biomanufacturing career track actually looks like from the inside, this piece from Science.org is worth your time: The Biomanufacturing Career Track, Science.org
Biomanufacturing is one of those career paths that rewards everything a science background gives you, the rigour, the problem-solving, the ability to think critically under pressure. You just get to apply it somewhere with a very different kind of finish line.
And that finish line? It’s a medicine that actually reaches a patient. That’s not nothing.
Most scientists interact with scientific publishing from one side only, submitting papers, waiting on reviews, dealing with rejections. But there’s an entire world of careers behind that process, and for scientists who love the literature without wanting to produce it forever, it’s worth paying attention to.
Scientific publishing is bigger than most people realise. It’s not just “become an editor at a journal.” There are roles in editorial, production, marketing, communications, and strategy, and many of them actively want people with a science background.
Let’s walk through what’s actually out there.
Because science is hard to understand without doing it. Publishers need people who can read a manuscript in molecular biology or pharmacology and actually judge whether the science is sound, whether the claims are supported, and whether the work is novel enough to publish.
That’s not something you can train someone in quickly. But if you’ve spent years doing research, reviewing papers, and thinking critically about study design? You already have the core skill set. Publishers know this, which is why PhD scientists are actively recruited, especially at journals run by major publishers like Nature Portfolio, Elsevier, Wiley, and the American Chemical Society.
This is the most well-known publishing role for scientists, and for good reason, it’s a genuinely great fit. As a scientific editor at a peer-reviewed journal, your job is to receive submitted manuscripts, assess whether they’re within scope, send them out for peer review, evaluate reviewer feedback, and make publication decisions.
About 75% of an editor’s time is spent reviewing manuscripts, reading submissions, assessing the science, and communicating with authors and reviewers . It’s detail-heavy, intellectually demanding, and keeps you close to the cutting edge of research across your field.
Most positions require a PhD and strong subject expertise. Prior publishing experience isn’t always necessary, Nature Communications, for example, doesn’t require it for entry-level editorial roles .
A step up from associate editor. Managing editors oversee the editorial workflow across one or multiple journals, managing timelines, coordinating teams, maintaining quality standards, and keeping the publication process running smoothly. It’s less about reading science and more about running operations well. If you have a PhD and enjoy leadership and process management, this path opens up fairly naturally over time.
This one is specifically for scientists who love language as much as they love science. Copy editors review manuscripts for grammar, consistency, accuracy, and clarity before publication. It’s precise, independent work, and it’s found across journal publishing, science news outlets, and book publishing .
You don’t always need a PhD here, but subject expertise matters. A copy editor who understands the science they’re editing will always catch more than one who doesn’t.
If journals feel too narrow, book publishing is a different world entirely. Acquisitions editors identify gaps in the scientific literature, find researchers to write books that fill those gaps, and manage the relationship from proposal to publication .
It involves a lot of relationship-building, conference attendance, and strategic thinking about what the field needs next. For scientists who love the big picture, trends, emerging areas, what comes next, this is a genuinely exciting role that most people overlook.
The entry point for many publishing careers. Editorial assistants support the editorial team, managing submissions, coordinating communications between authors and reviewers, and handling the day-to-day logistics of keeping a journal running . If you want to break into publishing without a publication record of your own, starting here and working your way up is a legitimate and well-worn path.
Less visible but absolutely essential. Production teams handle everything that happens after a paper is accepted, typesetting, formatting, digital preparation, and distribution. It’s operations-heavy and detail-oriented, and often a great entry point for scientists who want to work in publishing but aren’t sure editorial is the right fit.
Major publishers also have marketing teams, and they value science backgrounds here too. These roles involve communicating research to broader audiences, writing about new publications, developing outreach campaigns, and helping position a journal or publisher in the market. For scientists who lean toward communication and strategy, it’s worth knowing this door exists.
💡 Love reading papers, genuinely, not just out of obligation
💡 Have strong opinions about scientific writing and what makes it clear or unclear
💡 Enjoy evaluating ideas rather than generating new data
💡 Want a 9-to-5 structure that research rarely offers
💡 Like staying current across a whole field, not just one narrow project
💡 Are ready to leave the bench without leaving science behind
📚 Most scientific editor roles require at least a Master’s degree, with a PhD strongly preferred, especially at high-impact journals .
📚 Publishing roles are largely office or remote-based. If you loved fieldwork or labwork for the physical, hands-on element of it, the transition to a desk role takes adjustment.
📚 Career progression in publishing tends to be structured. Editors typically start as Associate Editors, move to Senior Editor after a few years, and can eventually progress to Chief Editor or management positions . It’s not the fastest-moving ladder, but it’s a stable and clear one.
📚 The field is competitive at the top journals. Nature, Cell, Science, these are dream jobs for a lot of scientists, and the hiring process reflects that. Building a strong publication record, reviewing papers for journals, and networking in your field all matter here.
📚 Don’t sleep on society journals and smaller publishers. They’re often easier to break into, the work is just as meaningful, and they frequently offer more variety across different areas of science.
💻 Associate Editor / Scientific Editor
💻 Managing Editor
💻 Copy Editor / Science Editor
💻 Acquisitions Editor
💻 Editorial Assistant
💻 Production Coordinator
💻 Publishing Marketing Specialist
🗣️ Start reviewing papers, contact journals in your field and volunteer as a reviewer. It directly demonstrates the skill set publishers are hiring for, and it gets your name in front of editors.
🗣️ Get involved in your institution’s manuscript process. If your lab is submitting papers, ask to be part of the revision and editing process.
🗣️ Follow publishers on LinkedIn, Nature Portfolio, Elsevier, Wiley, ACS Publications, and PLOS all post editorial openings there regularly.
🗣️ Attend a publishing career panel or informational event. Many universities host these, and the Society for Scholarly Publishing (SSP) runs events specifically for people exploring careers in the field.
🗣️ Write. Whether it’s a science blog, a newsletter, or contributions to your department’s communications, any evidence that you can translate science into clear, engaging writing will help your application stand out.
Scientific publishing is one of those careers that rewards everything a research background gives you, the critical thinking, the deep subject knowledge, the ability to read between the lines of a methods section and know when something doesn’t add up. You just get to use those skills in a completely different way.
And honestly? Seeing science move through the world, from lab to published paper to the people who need it, is its own kind of satisfying.
Picture this: you have a PhD, you understand the science deeply, but you don’t want to spend the next decade at a bench or chasing grant funding. You want to talk about science, to the people who use it every day to make decisions that affect patients.
That’s essentially what a Medical Science Liaison does. And it’s one of the most interesting non-traditional career paths a scientist can take.
A Medical Science Liaison, or MSL, is a scientific expert who works for a pharmaceutical or biotech company but spends most of their time outside the office. Their job is to build and maintain relationships with Key Opinion Leaders (KOLs), the physicians, researchers, and healthcare professionals who are at the forefront of a particular disease area or treatment field.
In plain terms: you’re the bridge between the company and the clinic. You’re not a sales rep. You’re not pushing a product. You’re a trusted scientific resource, someone a cardiologist or oncologist can call when they have a question about a drug mechanism, a clinical trial design, or the latest data in their field.
It’s a role that blends science, communication, relationship-building, and strategy in a way that almost no other industry job does. And if you love talking science with smart people, it can feel less like work and more like doing what you love, with a much better salary.
💡 Want to work in pharma or biotech while staying connected to the medical community
💡 Love translating complex science into clear, confident conversations
💡 Enjoy building long-term professional relationships, not just one-off interactions
💡 Are comfortable delivering scientific presentations to highly educated audiences
💡 Want to specialise deeply in a specific disease area or therapeutic field
💡 Like variety in your day, no two weeks look the same
💡 Are genuinely okay with being on the road, MSL roles typically involve 50%+ travel
That last point is worth sitting with. The travel is real. For some people, it’s one of the best parts of the job. For others, it’s a dealbreaker. Know which one you are before you pursue it.
There isn’t really a “typical” day, which is part of the appeal. One week you might be presenting clinical trial data to a group of oncologists at a hospital. The next, you’re attending a medical conference, connecting with researchers, and gathering insights on what questions are keeping clinicians up at night.
You’ll also spend time internally, collaborating with your company’s medical affairs, clinical, and commercial teams, reporting on field insights, and staying completely current on the literature in your therapeutic area. The expectation is that you know your disease space deeply, better than almost anyone you’re talking to.
It’s a high-responsibility role. But for scientists who thrive on staying sharp and being genuinely useful to the people they work with, it hits differently than anything else in industry.
Because the people MSLs talk to are doctors, researchers, and clinical specialists. These are highly educated, deeply experienced professionals who can tell within five minutes whether the person across from them actually understands the science, or is just presenting slides.
A scientist brings credibility that no amount of training can replicate. When a physician asks a hard question about a mechanism of action or a subgroup analysis from a trial, you can answer it, confidently and accurately. That trust is the entire foundation of what makes an MSL effective.
Your PhD isn’t just a qualification here. It’s what gets you taken seriously in the room.
📚 Getting your first MSL role is genuinely tough. This field runs almost entirely on relationships and internal referrals. Applying cold rarely works, who you know matters enormously here, more than in almost any other industry role.
📚 Be strategic with your applications. Only apply where you have an internal reference or a genuine connection. A warm introduction carries far more weight than a polished CV.
📚 Clinical experience is a strong differentiator. If you’ve worked in a clinical setting, even in a research-adjacent role like clinical research coordinator or regulatory affairs, that background will open doors faster.
📚 Most MSL positions require a doctoral degree, PhD, MD, or PharmD. It’s one of the few industry roles where a doctorate is genuinely expected, not just preferred.
📚 The role can feel isolating at times. You’re often working independently in the field, away from a team environment. If you draw energy from being around colleagues day-to-day, that’s worth factoring in.
💻 Medical Science Liaison
💻 Field Medical Director
💻 Regional Medical Liaison
💻 Medical Affairs Associate (a common entry point)
🗣️ Network, seriously, this is not optional in the MSL world. LinkedIn is your best starting point. Find MSLs with science backgrounds and ask for a conversation. Most will say yes.
🗣️ The MSL Society hosts an annual conference in the US, it’s one of the best places to meet people in the field, understand the landscape, and make the connections that actually lead to opportunities.
🗣️ Take a course on clinical trials. Understanding how trials are designed, run, and reported is foundational knowledge for any MSL, and it signals to hiring managers that you’re serious.
🗣️ If possible, get clinical exposure now. Ask your supervisor if you can join a project with a clinical component, or look for collaborations with clinical departments in your institution.
🗣️ Some companies offer MSL internships or structured training programs, especially for postdocs. These are worth actively hunting for.
The MSL path isn’t the easiest one to break into, but for scientists who want to stay close to the science, connect with the medical community, and build a career that actually takes them places (literally and figuratively), it’s one of the most rewarding options out there.
