Broadening my Career Options.

by Piotr Kowalski, PhD

Finding a suitable career path is a daunting task and often an intimidating process, especially for postdoctoral trainees who are working on a transition to a new position in a predominantly academic setting, which may not provide the means to explore various career routes. I have been fortunate to interact with outstanding academic mentors and entrepreneurs at MIT who taught me about the importance of translation of biomedical research and encouraged me to explore various career paths. The opportunity to apply for the Convergence Scholar Program (CSP) came at the right time as I looked to advance my postdoctoral experiences and skills beyond the research setting. I joined CSP with the aims to prepare myself for broader career options as well as establish connections to guide me towards the next step in my career. 

Thanks to CSP, I had the opportunity to meet with founders of Tiba Biotech, a local biotechnology company that works on a programmable RNA platform for the rapid production of next generation vaccines. I learned a great lesson about the excitements and challenges of research in a startup striving to bring next-generation drugs into patients. CSP also organized a workshop where scholars had the opportunity to hear perspectives from scientists working at small and large pharmaceutical companies, including Rubius, SQZ Biotech, and Sanofi. These experiences encouraged me to further my interest in entrepreneurship after my postdoc and join an early-stage biotechnology company, Senda Bioscience, Inc. This has been a great adventure and a career path I would recommend exploring.

Being originally from Europe, I have always contemplated going back across the Atlantic, and exploring opportunities to establish my own research group in a European university. Throughout the duration of CSP, I was able to attend several workshops covering topics relevant to building a successful career in academia, including workshops in science leadership and communication, which were particularly useful in reinvigorating my interests in academia and gain the confidence to start my own lab. I used my CSP funds to travel and network with academic institutions and funding agencies in Europe, including the Health Research Board (HRB) in Ireland. I was thrilled to see these efforts materialize into an Emerging Investigator Award for Health from HRB! The award will help me establish my own research group at University College Cork in Ireland, where I will be able to finally fulfill my dream of pursuing a career as an independent investigator.

Participation in CSP has encouraged me to keep an open mind and explore potential opportunities both within and beyond academia. I am grateful to the program and other scholars for making this year so memorable, and would highly recommend this program to all postdocs. As an alumni of CSP, I now feel much better equipped to seize on any future opportunities, whether it is in academia, industry, or beyond!