Bidding Adieu To Academia

Deciding you don’t want to be an academic scientist doesn’t mean you’ve failed—other pastures abound beyond the walls of your lab.

AsianScientist (Jun. 17, 2018) – Many of us have at least one person in our lives whom we know as ‘the one that got away.’ Sometimes, the person in question is the love of a lifetime, but as stereotypically dispassionate scientists, it’s more often a reference to a colleague who did the seemingly unthinkable—leaving academia.

Choosing to walk away from a hard-earned PhD, a coveted postdoc position, or even a tenured role can be a tough choice to make… or it can be really easy. This month, in the final part of our series on transitions, Asian Scientist Magazine speaks to two researchers who traded in their lab coats for other science-related jobs. Here are some things to consider if you’re thinking about leaving the lab.


1. What is the bigger picture?

Things were going well for molecular biologist Dr. Lewis Hong—he had a PhD from Stanford University, was a postdoc at Singapore’s Agency for Science, Technology and Research (A*STAR), had secured US$750,000 in research funding as a project leader and had multiple publications and a patent to his name. Still, after nearly eight years working in an academic lab on virus sequencing and gene expression, Hong decided to quit and move into industry instead.

It was a decision that was “very easy,” says Hong, who now leads the Molecular Biomarkers division at Merck Research Laboratories.

“I think the reasons are probably the same for most of us who leave academia—we want to see the impact of our work on society and human health. And I think that impact is a lot more visible to us if we’re working in industry.”

A common misconception that people have about those who leave academia for industry, says Hong, is that they do so for the money.

“But that’s not always true,” he says. “Sometimes we want to be able to do something for society, for our friends and family who may be suffering from a disease, to be able to take some of the work we feel passionate about and make an important product or vaccine.”

It’s about examining what you consider important and what you want the impact of your work to be. Sometimes you can find that through academia, and other times you can’t.


2. Nothing has to go to waste

Leaving behind an academic career doesn’t necessarily mean throwing away the science and skillsets you’ve painstakingly acquired over the years. While some researchers move into completely different fields away from the bench, many more make a sideways step into science-related jobs. These include medical sales, science policy and communications, just to name a few.

In 2013, Dr. Khoo Kian Hoe left his postdoc position at A*STAR’s p53 lab to become a patent attorney. There, he continues to make use of the skills he acquired as a scientist.

“I still have to keep up with the latest developments in science and technology, to understand where scientific trends are heading,” says Khoo. “So when I speak to inventors, I can provide them with good advice and draft the best specification for them.”

Hence, when deciding to step away from the bench, the key is to look before you leap. Do your research, go to career fairs and seek out the advice of others, says Khoo.

“There are many different opportunities out there. Once you find something you like, take the plunge. A lot of the times it just requires courage to try it out,” he adds.


3. Change fosters growth

Venturing into uncharted waters can be scary, but it’s only when we push ourselves out of our comfort zones do we change and grow. Moving out of academia forced both Khoo and Hong to adapt to new environments and pick up new skills.

“In the lab, you have a lot of the time to culture your cells, do PCR and so on. There’s some waiting time where you can think about other things and listen to music, so it’s quite different,” said Khoo. “But an office environment can be fast-paced and intense.”

For Hong, getting his feet wet in industry impressed upon him the importance of teamwork.

“In academia, you’re often working in a silo or in a small group on a problem for a long period of time,” he says. “You almost never see that in industry—you’re constantly working in teams in a matrix environment.”

More importantly, leaving academia taught Hong one important lesson: to be open to new opportunities.

“People want to time things to perfection, saying ‘I need to finish this project, publish it and then I can leave because I don’t want to leave things halfway,’” he says. “That’s admirable, but suitable opportunities are hard to come by, especially in Singapore where it’s a very small ecosystem.”

“You need to recognize a good opportunity when it arises, take advantage and grab hold of it,” says Hong, “instead of saying ‘I’ll let this pass and wait for the next one’ … because the next one may never come.”



This article is from a monthly column called Beyond The Bench. Click here to see the other articles in this series.

———

Copyright: Asian Scientist Magazine; Photo: Shutterstock.
Disclaimer: This article does not necessarily reflect the views of AsianScientist or its staff.

Sandy holds a BSc in life sciences, and masters degrees in both forensic science and journalism.

Related Stories from Asian Scientist