We have had the opportunity to hear career transition stories from many PhDs in US. It was high time that PhD CSG caught up with our folks from Europe. CSG has been blessed to have seen a surge in the participation from our European friends. I got an opportunity to interact with Dr Alokta Chakrabarti and learn about her transition from academia to industry. After a PhD from Radboud Institute for Molecular Life Sciences (Netherlands) and postdoc from University of Freiburg (Germany), Alokta was selected from amongst 170 odd candidates for her current position as a Group Leader in Cellular Drug Discovery at ProQinase. As a first in this series of dialogues, ClubSciWri presents a Face to Face interview with Alokta.
Abhinav: Can you briefly describe your role as group leader at ProQinase?
Alokta: I’m mainly responsible for execution of customer projects, which include design of experiments, compound management and line-management duties for laboratory technicians.
Abhinav: What made you decide to move into industry rather than stay on the academic track?
Alokta: I took the decision to move to industry very early in my career as I wanted to have a hands-on experience in oncology drug development in a preclinical/clinical setting. After my Masters, I already worked as a Research Biologist in a CRO company in Kolkata, India. While working there I realized that I’m a very curious personality and hungry for more detailed ‘knowledge’ behind drug development. Then, I decided to move back to academia for PhD/Postdoc.
Abhinav: How did you prepare for your current position?
Alokta: I did not have any specific strategy. I already had a CRO experience from India. I guess my knowledge of European work culture both from the Netherlands and Germany was an advantage.
Abhinav: Do you have any advice for postdocs considering careers in the biotech and pharmaceutical industry? What can they do to make themselves competitive?
Alokta: I cannot give a general advice. It highly depends on the country one wishes to apply. I would suggest to get deep into the requirements in the industry depending on the target country and prepare your application accordingly. I hear that networking is a golden standard for getting a job in industry, however, for my position I applied just through the normal procedure.
Abhinav: How did your post-doc experience at prepare you for your position today?
Alokta: I would say that my experience from post-MSc to Postdoc was valuable for my current position. I have acquired experience in different techniques as I have completely swapped topics during each move. This has helped me to come out of my comfort zone, forced me to rethink and has opened my mind to various areas.
Abhinav: Did you use any of the resources at University of Freiburg, such as the Office of Postdoctoral Education, the Postdoctoral Association or others?
Alokta: No.
Abhinav: How has been your experience with CSG and what direction would you like CSG to take in order to make career development beyond academia less stressful for postdocs?
Alokta: I think CSG is a very strong platform to promote industry transition, especially with the current mentor-mentee program. There is always a constant help from the seniors, e.g. CV checks. However, I think it is much stronger for the USA and not many experienced people to guide for Europe. Suggestions: Podcasts could be arranged with CSG senior members who are already successful and have made a transition. Perhaps, people can invite friends/alumni who are recruiters. Important: more the presence of industry personnel, more is the chance to network and get recommendations for positions.
To know more, connect with Alokta on LinkedIn : https://de.linkedin.com/in/alokta
Alokta Chakrabarti was interveiwed by Abhinav Dey. Abhinav is a postdoctoral fellow at Emory University and a Young Investigator Awardee from Alex’s Lemonade Stand Foundation for Childhood Cancer. He is also the co-founder of PhD Career Support Group (CSG) for Science PhDs and ClubSciWri
(https://www.linkedin.com/in/abhinavdey)
This work by ClubSciWri is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.
