1
00:00:16,184 --> 00:00:21,560
Who of you was born between
the 1980s and the early 2000s?

2
00:00:22,975 --> 00:00:24,435
Right, most of us ...

3
00:00:24,803 --> 00:00:27,523
So most of us here, including me,

4
00:00:27,563 --> 00:00:31,684
are part of the generation of millennials,

5
00:00:32,644 --> 00:00:34,804
or “generation Y.”

6
00:00:36,384 --> 00:00:42,244
I suspect this “Y” stands for
“'Why' are we so misunderstood?”

7
00:00:44,313 --> 00:00:45,913
(Laughter)

8
00:00:45,943 --> 00:00:50,283
A stereotype about the millennials
is that we were told at an early age

9
00:00:50,313 --> 00:00:53,063
that we could be whatever we wanted to be.

10
00:00:53,795 --> 00:00:56,825
Contrary to our parents'
and grandparents' generations,

11
00:00:56,855 --> 00:00:59,055
we millennials were privileged enough

12
00:00:59,085 --> 00:01:02,375
not to have to struggle
with war, or recession,

13
00:01:02,405 --> 00:01:05,445
or to have to emigrate
in order to find a job.

14
00:01:05,781 --> 00:01:08,871
No, life was finally relatively stable,

15
00:01:08,901 --> 00:01:11,921
so we were raised to be high achievers.

16
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"The sky is the limit.

17
00:01:15,028 --> 00:01:17,408
The world is your playground."

18
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So,

19
00:01:20,213 --> 00:01:24,133
by the time I was 17 years old,

20
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I was finishing high school in Brazil,

21
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my country of origin,

22
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struggling with the question
many millennial teenagers struggled with:

23
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“What do I want to do when I grow up?”

24
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Knowing I would probably not be able
to answer that at such an early age,

25
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I figured I’d settle for answering
a smaller question instead at that point:

26
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“What do I want to study
at university next year?”

27
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Then, once I’m at university,
I'll ask myself what I want to do next,

28
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then do that again, step by step.

29
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It sounded like a good plan.

30
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And have you always known,
since you were little,

31
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what you wanted to study at university?

32
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If so, I envy you,

33
00:02:07,484 --> 00:02:10,824
but my thought process was more like this:

34
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"OK, I like biology in school,

35
00:02:15,084 --> 00:02:16,254
but to be honest,

36
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I’ve got no interest
in studying plants or insects,

37
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and I don’t really want
to become a medical doctor."

38
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So I thought I’d start
a bachelor's in Biomedical Sciences,

39
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to study human biology.

40
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That seemed to fit well.

41
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And soon after I started,

42
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I saw that my suspicion
from high school was true:

43
00:02:38,494 --> 00:02:40,934
Science was awesome!

44
00:02:41,542 --> 00:02:45,582
The human body works in ways
that seem out of this world!

45
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It’s unbelievable how much goes on
inside one tiny cell in our body.

46
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So I was really enjoying
the subjects in my bachelor’s,

47
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and I was getting pretty good grades.

48
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So I thought: "I must be doing
something right."

49
00:03:01,345 --> 00:03:03,525
But there was still
something bothering me.

50
00:03:04,159 --> 00:03:08,019
Now the time had come
to ask myself what I would do next.

51
00:03:08,049 --> 00:03:13,039
But everyone who I asked what my options
were for after getting the degree

52
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would tell me the same thing:

53
00:03:16,453 --> 00:03:18,423
“There are no 'options.'

54
00:03:19,209 --> 00:03:21,289
There is 'one' option:

55
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After your bachelor’s, you do a master’s;

56
00:03:24,892 --> 00:03:28,152
after your master’s, you do a PhD;

57
00:03:28,182 --> 00:03:34,092
for the ultimate goal is to become
a university professor and researcher.”

58
00:03:36,622 --> 00:03:40,582
Everyone would tell me that
because that’s all they knew.

59
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But wait, what do you mean,
“there’s only one option”?

60
00:03:44,436 --> 00:03:47,436
I’m a millennial; I was told
the sky is the limit.

61
00:03:48,517 --> 00:03:50,987
Doing a master’s and a PhD
was OK with me.

62
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I loved science and wanted
to get deeper into it

63
00:03:53,567 --> 00:03:55,867
and keep doing
some cool things in the lab.

64
00:03:55,897 --> 00:03:59,497
But the last part about becoming
a professor really concerned me

65
00:03:59,942 --> 00:04:04,502
because back then I already knew
I didn’t want to do research forever.

66
00:04:05,963 --> 00:04:08,443
So I did my master’s and my PhD,

67
00:04:08,473 --> 00:04:09,843
still in love with science,

68
00:04:09,873 --> 00:04:13,903
but always feeling like the black sheep
in my graduate program,

69
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the one that doesn’t share
the dream of a professorship,

70
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the odd one out.

71
00:04:21,606 --> 00:04:24,256
And so I went on, at first mostly alone,

72
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almost embarrassed, almost apologetic,

73
00:04:27,646 --> 00:04:30,466
trying to find the answer
to my new question:

74
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what kinds of jobs could I have
that don’t involve me doing experiments,

75
00:04:35,656 --> 00:04:37,856
but are still related to science?

76
00:04:39,163 --> 00:04:41,783
So I spent years doing my own research,

77
00:04:41,813 --> 00:04:45,733
having my own little side project
in parallel to my thesis,

78
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reading and talking to a lot of people.

79
00:04:48,623 --> 00:04:51,263
I started coming across
more and more colleagues

80
00:04:51,293 --> 00:04:54,123
who were looking for the answer
to the same question.

81
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It turns out I wasn’t alone.

82
00:04:56,547 --> 00:04:59,187
There were a few other
black sheep like me.

83
00:05:00,178 --> 00:05:03,898
And I found that there are
so many kinds of jobs one could have

84
00:05:03,928 --> 00:05:06,038
with a science or technology background.

85
00:05:06,068 --> 00:05:08,013
You can work with business consulting,

86
00:05:08,033 --> 00:05:10,338
project management, science journalism,

87
00:05:10,368 --> 00:05:12,648
digital health and science technology,

88
00:05:12,678 --> 00:05:14,688
editorial of a scientific journal,

89
00:05:14,718 --> 00:05:15,688
public policy,

90
00:05:15,718 --> 00:05:18,108
patent protection
and intellectual property,

91
00:05:18,138 --> 00:05:19,138
public health;

92
00:05:19,168 --> 00:05:21,638
entrepreneurship,
starting your own company ...

93
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Just to name a few.

94
00:05:24,785 --> 00:05:29,375
I suddenly went from "worried
that there won’t be any options"

95
00:05:29,405 --> 00:05:33,105
to "overwhelmed with all the
dozens of possibilities."

96
00:05:34,386 --> 00:05:36,186
And I asked myself,

97
00:05:36,216 --> 00:05:39,524
"Why is it that not all
graduate students know that?"

98
00:05:40,210 --> 00:05:43,740
Why did it take me so long
to find out the truth?

99
00:05:45,224 --> 00:05:50,804
And I realized that it's because
the academic world is a bubble.

100
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Sometimes it feels like people
who are in that bubble

101
00:05:54,756 --> 00:05:57,666
don’t have so much contact
with the outside world.

102
00:05:58,751 --> 00:06:02,121
There’s little space for sunshine
or vacation in that bubble.

103
00:06:02,151 --> 00:06:04,681
That’s why graduate students look so pale.

104
00:06:05,561 --> 00:06:09,721
A diet based on instant noodles
and coffee doesn’t help either.

105
00:06:10,911 --> 00:06:14,661
I know, because I lived
in that bubble for 10 years,

106
00:06:14,691 --> 00:06:17,181
and I noticed that my lack of access

107
00:06:17,211 --> 00:06:20,081
to information coming
from outside the bubble

108
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was due to the academic culture.

109
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One of the core aspects
of the academic culture

110
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is that most people still believe

111
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the main purpose of doing a PhD
is to become a university professor

112
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and researcher.

113
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Now, historically, this is true.

114
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This used to be the case in the past;

115
00:06:42,129 --> 00:06:45,069
it was like that in my
grandparents’ generation.

116
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And it’s still true that if you want
to be a professor today,

117
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you have to do a PhD.

118
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And a post-doc.

119
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And a second post-doc.

120
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And sometimes a third one ...

121
00:06:58,437 --> 00:07:03,067
But you don’t necessarily have to become
a lifelong academic researcher

122
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just because you did a master’s and a PhD.

123
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In fact, most PhDs -

124
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90 to 99%, depending on the country -

125
00:07:11,457 --> 00:07:15,428
end up elsewhere, outside academia,
after their studies.

126
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So, becoming a professor is not
the "classical path" anymore.

127
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It has become the "alternative path."

128
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But even though doing something else
is the most common path,

129
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there is still a culture of discouragement
if you want to leave academia,

130
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which contributed to making me feel
like a black sheep during my studies.

131
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I’ve heard academics call those
who leave the academic bubble four things.

132
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"Time-waster."

133
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They say by leaving academia

134
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you’re throwing out of the window
all the time and effort

135
00:07:51,777 --> 00:07:54,817
you put into learning
science all those years.

136
00:07:55,828 --> 00:07:58,968
But pursuing a career
unrelated to academia

137
00:07:58,998 --> 00:08:01,768
does not mean "unrelated to research."

138
00:08:03,279 --> 00:08:06,739
You’re also called a "traitor."

139
00:08:08,333 --> 00:08:09,993
My personal favorite.

140
00:08:10,907 --> 00:08:14,437
"The University invested
so much money in training you,

141
00:08:14,467 --> 00:08:17,667
and now you’re turning your back
on academic research."

142
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I mean, we should be forever grateful
to our graduate programs,

143
00:08:21,956 --> 00:08:26,546
but I don’t remember ever signing
a lifelong contract to stay in research.

144
00:08:28,624 --> 00:08:33,434
You’re also called a "failed scientist."

145
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Ouch.

146
00:08:36,564 --> 00:08:39,314
Yeah, if you’re leaving
the academic bubble,

147
00:08:39,344 --> 00:08:43,484
it must mean you were not
good enough to make it in it.

148
00:08:44,569 --> 00:08:48,039
I’ve even heard a professor say,
almost mourning:

149
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"I once had such a brilliant student

150
00:08:50,565 --> 00:08:53,655
who later went to work
in the private sector ...

151
00:08:53,685 --> 00:08:55,945
I don’t know where I went wrong."

152
00:08:57,205 --> 00:09:01,255
Well, maybe that student left
because he or she wanted to?

153
00:09:01,285 --> 00:09:03,201
Not because they had to?

154
00:09:04,731 --> 00:09:07,281
And finally, you're called "greedy."

155
00:09:07,728 --> 00:09:11,748
Yeah, because the industry
pays better than academia.

156
00:09:12,670 --> 00:09:16,650
Well, actually the industry
pays reasonable salaries,

157
00:09:16,680 --> 00:09:20,120
appropriate for highly
educated professionals.

158
00:09:20,150 --> 00:09:22,673
It’s academia that underpays.

159
00:09:25,420 --> 00:09:28,640
I personally don’t get it,
why academics get so defensive

160
00:09:28,670 --> 00:09:31,640
about graduate students
leaving for non-academic jobs.

161
00:09:32,642 --> 00:09:35,972
There are not enough jobs
in academia anyway!

162
00:09:36,435 --> 00:09:40,595
The number of fresh PhDs has gone up
tremendously over the years,

163
00:09:40,625 --> 00:09:44,625
while the number of new faculty positions
has stayed roughly the same.

164
00:09:44,655 --> 00:09:48,612
The universities right now
just cannot accommodate that many PhDs

165
00:09:48,632 --> 00:09:50,582
as permanent researchers.

166
00:09:51,731 --> 00:09:53,221
So, you see,

167
00:09:53,251 --> 00:09:55,326
if you want to leave academia,

168
00:09:55,356 --> 00:10:00,022
you’re a greedy, failed,
time-wasting Judas.

169
00:10:01,382 --> 00:10:03,922
But if you actually want to stay,

170
00:10:03,952 --> 00:10:05,674
there’s no job for you!

171
00:10:08,012 --> 00:10:12,162
To solve this academic paradox,
there are a few options.

172
00:10:12,891 --> 00:10:17,771
One is to limit the amount of students
being admitted into graduate programs,

173
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to try to control the number
of new PhDs getting a degree,

174
00:10:21,446 --> 00:10:23,626
but I personally
don't really like the idea

175
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of restricting access to education.

176
00:10:27,566 --> 00:10:32,736
A second, obvious way is to create
more researcher positions,

177
00:10:32,766 --> 00:10:36,101
hire more people as permanent scientists.

178
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This would already help a lot,
but it wouldn’t be enough.

179
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So, we really have to face the facts

180
00:10:44,210 --> 00:10:47,080
and approach the issue
from a different angle.

181
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Graduate programs have to start
preparing their students

182
00:10:53,308 --> 00:10:56,798
for tasks they will actually
be doing in the future.

183
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Companies want to hire PhDs
for their deep knowledge of science

184
00:11:01,641 --> 00:11:05,111
and their ability to solve
problems and learn fast.

185
00:11:05,419 --> 00:11:10,059
And students right now are being trained
to become excellent investigators,

186
00:11:10,089 --> 00:11:11,603
which is great,

187
00:11:11,633 --> 00:11:14,754
but if most of them will end up
working in the private sector,

188
00:11:14,784 --> 00:11:19,024
they should also be trained
to become excellent administrators,

189
00:11:19,054 --> 00:11:20,811
negotiators,

190
00:11:20,831 --> 00:11:22,681
communicators,

191
00:11:22,711 --> 00:11:24,099
leaders.

192
00:11:25,091 --> 00:11:30,021
Graduate programs have to start teaching,
at least as an option,

193
00:11:30,051 --> 00:11:32,361
courses on business concepts,

194
00:11:32,391 --> 00:11:33,891
entrepreneurship,

195
00:11:33,921 --> 00:11:36,711
project management, marketing, finance ...

196
00:11:37,388 --> 00:11:43,208
It’s time we bring
a bit of the MBA into the PhD.

197
00:11:44,524 --> 00:11:45,604
On top of that,

198
00:11:45,634 --> 00:11:50,244
graduate students also need to receive
more career support and guidance.

199
00:11:50,274 --> 00:11:52,026
Many of them are not even aware


200
00:11:52,046 --> 00:11:55,226
that their chances of getting
a professorship are minimal.

201
00:11:55,815 --> 00:11:58,085
Right from the start of their programs,

202
00:11:58,115 --> 00:12:02,095
they must be constantly
exposed to, not hidden from,

203
00:12:02,125 --> 00:12:05,078
all their possibilities
beyond the academic bubble,

204
00:12:05,098 --> 00:12:09,798
so they can make an informed
career decision and prepare for it,

205
00:12:09,828 --> 00:12:12,648
and not just take anything
that comes their way.

206
00:12:13,289 --> 00:12:16,219
So they really only go on
to do a post-doc

207
00:12:16,249 --> 00:12:18,989
if they actively decided for it,

208
00:12:19,019 --> 00:12:21,069
not because they didn’t know
what else to do

209
00:12:21,099 --> 00:12:23,159
and turned on the autopilot mode.

210
00:12:26,010 --> 00:12:30,960
And students should also be more active
in getting career information.

211
00:12:30,985 --> 00:12:33,075
I know it’s hard ...

212
00:12:33,105 --> 00:12:36,502
We don’t have time for anything
other than our theses,

213
00:12:36,532 --> 00:12:37,534
and most of the time

214
00:12:37,554 --> 00:12:41,215
we just prefer to avoid
thinking about the future altogether.

215
00:12:42,087 --> 00:12:43,727
But, you know,

216
00:12:43,763 --> 00:12:45,583
it will come anyway.

217
00:12:46,193 --> 00:12:49,303
Your university education
is not your whole career;

218
00:12:49,333 --> 00:12:51,313
it is your background.

219
00:12:51,585 --> 00:12:55,555
No bachelor’s, master’s
or PhD lasts forever,

220
00:12:55,985 --> 00:12:58,933
even though it might feel like it
most of the time.

221
00:12:59,815 --> 00:13:02,285
They are all temporary positions,

222
00:13:02,315 --> 00:13:05,586
and we’ll soon have
to figure out our next move.

223
00:13:05,616 --> 00:13:07,236
And you don’t have to do it alone.

224
00:13:07,266 --> 00:13:10,526
You can team up with colleagues
who are in the same boat.

225
00:13:10,556 --> 00:13:14,459
That’s how we’ve established
the Career Development Initiative,

226
00:13:14,489 --> 00:13:16,819
the CDI, here in Berlin,

227
00:13:16,849 --> 00:13:20,179
which is entirely organized
by students, alumni

228
00:13:20,209 --> 00:13:24,079
and one professor who acknowledges
the need for a culture change.

229
00:13:24,109 --> 00:13:26,439
They are still rare, but they exist.

230
00:13:26,980 --> 00:13:30,600
Together, we use the time
none of us have -

231
00:13:30,630 --> 00:13:32,310
evenings, weekends -

232
00:13:32,340 --> 00:13:36,600
to put together events,
training programs and internships

233
00:13:36,630 --> 00:13:40,880
to help students find jobs
where they feel fulfilled and recognized,

234
00:13:40,910 --> 00:13:42,960
inside or outside the bubble.

235
00:13:43,378 --> 00:13:45,298
I’m happy to share with current students

236
00:13:45,328 --> 00:13:48,528
what I’ve learned
about career options after a PhD,

237
00:13:48,558 --> 00:13:51,198
so they don’t feel
like black sheep themselves.

238
00:13:54,360 --> 00:13:56,750
For all of this to work,

239
00:13:56,780 --> 00:14:00,340
for graduate students
to get more information and training

240
00:14:00,370 --> 00:14:04,420
to become prepared
for a transition into the job market,

241
00:14:04,450 --> 00:14:08,850
the professors who supervise them
need to support them.

242
00:14:08,880 --> 00:14:12,082
If you're a professor
and can’t be a career mentor yourself -

243
00:14:12,102 --> 00:14:15,562
because, after all,
you’re also in the bubble -

244
00:14:16,157 --> 00:14:20,517
at least do not discourage
your students from doing this.

245
00:14:20,547 --> 00:14:24,441
Let them take part in courses
and extracurricular activities

246
00:14:24,471 --> 00:14:27,691
even if they're not
directly related to research.

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It most likely won’t interfere
with the quality of their theses,

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and it might make a huge
difference for their future.

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Let’s keep in mind that most graduates
will leave for non-academic jobs

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and that it is not a sign of failure.

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And I know that if you’re not
in the academic bubble yourself,

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you might be thinking:

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“OK, so life for graduate
students is hard.

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Cry me a river."

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“It was their own choice
to go down that road.”

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“I’m a lawyer, why should I care?”

257
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I’ll tell you why you should care.

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Most of innovation,
of ideas that improve society -

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be they cures for diseases,

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or solutions for world hunger,

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or the latest technologies -

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are born in universities.

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And most of the people working on this
are graduate students.

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Sure, professors manage
and supervise everything,

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but the everyday,
hands-on, "dirty work"

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is done by the students.

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If research is like
constructing a skyscraper,

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they are the thousands of bricklayers.

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If it’s a war, they are the army.

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00:15:49,782 --> 00:15:51,982
If it’s Game of Thrones,

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they are the white walkers.

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They even look just as pale.

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00:15:56,789 --> 00:15:58,209
(Laughter)

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The progress of science and innovation
depends on graduate students.

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So let’s take care of them,

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value them and give them
career guidance and mental support.

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Let’s encourage them
to be the best version of themselves.

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Science is amazing,

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and it can do so much for our lives
if done out of passion and not pressure.

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We need a change in the academic culture.

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First of all, let’s stop thinking:

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"Hmm ... Things are not great,

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00:16:31,120 --> 00:16:33,930
but that’s just how it is
and has always been."

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No, after we leave here today,

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00:16:36,990 --> 00:16:40,460
let’s not again reproduce
the century-old speech

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00:16:40,490 --> 00:16:44,310
that a PhD is a one-way ticket
to "Professorland,"

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00:16:44,340 --> 00:16:46,350
and let’s start opening our eyes

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00:16:46,380 --> 00:16:49,730
to all the things a millennial
with a degree can do -

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00:16:50,370 --> 00:16:52,960
if he or she ever gets off that phone.

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00:16:55,639 --> 00:17:00,119
Academics should start reaching out more
to people outside the bubble

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00:17:00,149 --> 00:17:02,649
and be supportive of their colleagues.

292
00:17:03,358 --> 00:17:06,408
Graduate programs have
to listen more to their students

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00:17:06,438 --> 00:17:08,638
and adapt to their needs.

294
00:17:09,567 --> 00:17:13,697
Let’s burst that bubble and bring
academia to the twenty-first century.

295
00:17:16,106 --> 00:17:17,126
Most of all,

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it’s essential that we become
aware of these issues

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00:17:20,266 --> 00:17:22,846
and talk about them,
like we’re doing here.

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Let’s keep a critical eye
on the system we live in,

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00:17:27,338 --> 00:17:30,338
and yes, change it,
if it needs improvement.

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After all ...

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that’s what university taught us to do.

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(Applause)