The four-part series focused on building career skills for life after graduation

The Department of Bioengineering hosted a four-part Career Exploration Workshop Series spring term at the Phil and Penny Knight Campus for Accelerating Scientific Impact, concluding with a networking panel featuring industry and national lab experts from across the country on May 18.

The workshop series was designed to guide and prepare Bioengineering PhD students and postdoctoral scholars for the job market, which is a cornerstone of the experience at Knight Campus. The department has a priority on career acceleration of its students with multiple trainings offered in career skills, science communication, and entrepreneurship, among others.

“The Knight Campus is setting up trainees for career success by ensuring they have technical prowess and professional know how to navigate their desired career path,” said Stacey York, Senior Director of Professional Development and Workforce Readiness at Knight Campus. “The trainees’ level of professional preparedness clearly stood out to the career panelists, with several mentioning they wished similar training had been available to them in graduate school.”

The Career Exploration Workshop Series featured four workshops that focused on key skills for success in the job market for graduate students and postdocs. Over the course of nine weeks, attendees learned strategies for surveying the job market, designing their career path, building a strong resume, and networking to increase their professional capital. The workshop series culminated in a multi-session engagement with industry and national lab professionals. Trainees were able to engage with panelists over multiple hours through a roundtable discussion, small group lunch, informational interviews and building tours.

The expert panel was made up of Mahdieh Aghazadeh of Janssen Pharmaceuticals, Kurt Reynertson of Kenvue, Johanna Schwartz of Lawrence Livermore National Lab, and Maureen Newman of Nautilus Biotechnology. Notably, Newman is an alum of The Benoit Lab.

“The Career Exploration Workshop Series is a great example of how the Department of Bioengineering supports students not just while they are at Knight Campus, but sets them up for success for the future,” said Lorry Lokey Chair of the Department of Bioengineering, Danielle Benoit.

The workshop series is just one way student success is supported. The department regularly hosts trainings and workshops, including an annual Graduate Research Fellowship Program workshop, which has resulted in three fellows awards at Knight Campus in its first three years.