FECYT participates in the Scientific Alternative Careers Workshop

The Postgraduate and Specialization Department of the Spanish National Research Council organized on November 14th 2018 its first event introducing alternative career paths for researchers beyond academia.

Career advice for young researchers is becoming a priority for research performing organizations. The academic career path is with no doubt one of the options for PhD candidates, but there are many other professional options that are convenient for researchers to know about as soon as possible, so each of them can try to work towards their individual goals.  

In the framework of the EURAXESS initiative, the Spanish Foundation for Science and Technology (FECYT) offers as much information as possible to the researcher community about the existing possibilities for scientists, and facilitates the access to the necessary skills and competencies needed to improve their employability.

This event was specially focused towards CSIC researchers on the last stages of completing their PhDs and gathered more than 75 participants. Along the first half of the event, Dr. Manuel Castellano from the platform Carreras Científicas Alternativas gave an overview of a traditional research career in academia and provided a first view to alternative career paths and the strategies needed.

In the second part of the event, the participants were divided into three workshops with a more practical approach which were aimed at exploring the necessary steps and existing resources to allow researchers to identify job opportunities beyond the academic world. These workshops were delivered by Manuel Castellano, Marta Gálvez-Cañero Junquera and Xavier Eekhout, project manager at FECYT.

Xavier Eekhout presented the tools currently available for researchers, which allow them to assess their professional situation and learn about professional opportunities in other sectors. FECYT has actively contributed to the creation of these tools, which can be found in the career development section of the EURAXESS portal, through its participation in recent projects like PIPERS or EURAXIND.