The Alliance is a program of the New York Academy of Sciences dedicated to advancing the careers of students and postdocs in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics. We offer career education, development and training programs for science PhDs provided through seminars, courses, webinars, and a dedicated website.
Visit the main Science Alliance page at the New York Academy of Sciences.
Rounding out the entrepreneurship series, Business Plan: Inception to Fruition provided the theoretical and practical skills necessary to produce a comprehensive business plan. The event took place Tuesday, December 14 at the Academy.
For a second year, PepsiCo hosted 50 young scientists for a Company Day at the Academy in December. Science Alliance director, Monica Kerr, helped coordinate this event that featured presentations from R&D leaders within the company and discussions focused on research in nutrition science.
Most junior faculty members, post-doctoral research fellows, and graduate students receive little formal training on how to publish the results of their work. This comprehensive seminar, co-hosted by Science Alliance and the Memorial Sloan–Kettering Cancer Center Office of Postdoctoral Affairs on December 10, 2010 at Sloan Kettering, covered everything from practical tips on composing the manuscript, through choosing the appropriate journal and understanding its review process, to strategies related to revision and submission.
The third installment in Science Alliance's From Scientist to Entrepreneur series, Navigating the Technology Transfer Process, was aimed at unpacking and explaining technology transfer, a complex and often frustrating step in commercializing research. The event was held November 30, 2010 at the Academy.
Last month, Science Alliance Director Monica Kerr visited New York Medical College (NYMC) and Rockefeller University to speak to students and postdocs about career planning. Details of her seminars were featured in NYMC's monthly publication inTouch ("GSBMS students and postdocs focus on career planning", p.6) and Rockefeller's newsletter Natural Selections in the write-up "Career Planning for Scientists According to Monica Kerr".
On Tuesday, November 16, Science Alliance hosted "Evaluating Opportunity for a Tech Venture", the second session in the From Scientist to Entrepreneur series. Great turnout with over 100 participating between the live and remote attendees.
Director Monica Kerr headed to New Jersey on Wednesday, November 3, visiting both the UMDNJ and Rutgers campuses. At UMDNJ, Monica gave her Career Planning 101 seminar to a great audience of over 60 students and postdocs. Following this, she met with students and faculty at Rutgers to welcome their recent addition to the Science Alliance consortium and discuss the benefits of Academy membership.
On Tuesday, November 2, Science Alliance hosted the kickoff event in the Scientist to Entrepreneur Series: "Science, Technology, and Intellectual Property". This hybrid event was presented to both an in-person audience at the Academy and to remote attendees viewing our webcast. Our upgraded webcasting ability has been made possible through the generous support of the NYC - EDC and the Office of the Manhattan Borough President.
On Wednesday, October 27, Science Alliance presented "From the PhD to Industry: Careers for Scientists in Biotech & Pharma". Not surprisingly, industry is a popular career area for our young scientists and we had one of our largest turnouts with at least 240 in the audience.
Science Alliance Director Monica Kerr attended the October 25 Career Pathways Seminar at Weill Cornell Graduate School to present about career and professional development resources available through the Academy. The Academy's K12 Science Education Initiatives Manager, Meghan Groome, also discussed teaching opportunities for graduate students and postdocs in NYC afterschool programs.
Monica L. Kerr, PhD