Science Writing, Consulting, and Business Development Leaving the bench and finding a full- time job via freelancing
My Background BA in Classics (2008-2012) PhD from the TUSOMBMS Program (2012-2016) Fellowship at St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital (August 2016- June 2017) Freelance Scientific Writing and Consulting (June 2017- March 2018) LSUHSC TUSOM LCRC School District in Texas National Consulting/Tech Transfer Firm Business Development Associate with TUSOM Office of Research Business Development cchrist6@tulane.edu
Why Leave the Bench Funding: 10%-20% depending on institute Job Market/Process in Academia Focusing on one thing Time-to-Independence (First R01 at 42) Talking to People and Utilizing Different Skill Sets Moral Obligation cchrist6@tulane.edu
Science Writing and Consulting Breadth of Expertise Two Types For Scientists For Non-Scientists Experience: Freelance Editing, Blog Posts Consulting for TreMonti cchrist6@tulane.edu
Business Development Related to but distinct from Tech Transfer Dot Connecting and Web Weaving VCs, Angel Investors, Other Universities, Lawyers, PIs Managing Projects, Writing, Being Up-to-Date on Science cchrist6@tulane.edu
Misconceptions Fallback Editing for Lab Members as Experience PhD=Source of All Knowledge Never thinking about specific experiments or grant writing again Less work The transition is easy cchrist6@tulane.edu
What I did Right Broad Experience and “Expertise”: Prelim, PhD, and PostDoc Do your homework Publish! Ask lots of questions and be curious Do a PostDoc Freelance Start early cchrist6@tulane.edu
What I would Do Differently Start earlier Go to more seminars and learn to network Use the University Resources Freelancing vs. Full-Time cchrist6@tulane.edu
Resources and In Summary The University Your Friends/Other Alumni Professional Organizations Other Offices in your Organization Would I do it again? cchrist6@tulane.edu
Just email/LinkedIn Me! Questions? Just email/LinkedIn Me! cchrist6@tulane.edu https://www.linkedin.com/in/claibornemchristian