After Graduate School

Earning a PhD is a significant accomplishment and positions students for variety of career paths.

Explore possible careers

Career paths for individuals with a PhD in Microbiology span a range of areas, so it's important to explore different options while considering which may be the best fit for you. The College of Natural Sciences Postdoc Association provides a number of valuable resources for graduate students and postdocs. These include a professional development seminar series with information on different career options, preparing to job search, and strategies for the actual application process. Please contact Anne Tibbetts, Director for Postgraduate Education, for more information.

Career Resources

Mentoring Organizations for Graduate Students

ILS Graduate Student Association Mentoring Buddies in Science Program:

Mentoring Buddies in Science is a mentoring and community building initiative created by the ILS Graduate Student Assembly (GSA). Through this program, we hope to foster support and collaboration amongst students to help incoming First Years transition to graduate student life.

LS-PAC MODELS Program:

The LS-PAC MODELS Center provides mentorship, professional learning, and networking opportunities for historically underrepresented STEM undergraduate and graduate students, post-doctoral fellows, and early-career faculty.

Científico Latino:

The Científico Latino Project works to increase the pool of minority scientists and professionals by creating a platform where everyone—regardless of ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation, disability or immigration status—has equal access to fellowship and scholarship opportunities, and the chance to learn from their peers to becoming successful STEM professionals and other related fields.

National Research Mentoring Network:

Provides evidence-based mentorship and professional development programming for researchers in all career stages in biomedical, behavioral, clinical, and social sciences.

Review job listings and build skills

If you already know the career path you plan to follow, exploring job listings will help you understand the expectations and salaries for various roles in your chosen field. Reviewing the entry requirements for different roles is also a great way to identify skills that you may need to develop before entering the job market. Conducting informational interviews with professionals who work a variety of fields will help you learn about various pathways to career success. The Graduate School, College of Natural Sciences, and the Center for Computational Biology and Bioinformatics each offer many opportunities for graduate students to hone their professional skills.

Scientific Jobs

Get Expert Guidance

The Career Design Center provides avenues to help you plan and execute the next stage of your professional life. In addition to informational resources, the Career Design Center also offers one-on-one career coaching sessions. To schedule an individual consultation with Dr. Po-Tsan Ku, the College of Natural Sciences Career Development Specialist, please call the Career Design Center at 512-471-6700. Additional online career resources for graduate students and post-docs are available through Texas Career Engagement.

Alumni Stories

Alumni@Work: Samantha Shelton, PhD

Watch Samantha's interview with Texas Career Engagement.

UT Austin alumna, Samantha Shelton, PhD, discusses the jobs she had as a graduate student, career advice for students, and the strategy that helped her transition from graduate school to her next job. Samantha Shelton received her PhD in Molecular Biology from UT Austin in 2018. She is currently working as a Support Scientist at 10x Genomics, where she works with customers to troubleshoot and design their experiments and serves as the voice of the customer on 10x's product teams.

Alumni@Work: Anna Mengjie Yu, PhD

Watch Anna's interview with Texas Career Engagement.

UT Austin alumna, Anna Mengjie Yu, PhD, discusses how her first job after her PhD program prepared her for her current role, and shares advice for international students preparing for a job search. Anna Yu received her PhD in Biology (Bioinformatic focus) and MS in Statistics from UT Austin in 2017. She is currently working as a Research Scientist at Facebook, where she leverages machine learning and statistical modeling to deliver personalized experience for users in future Augmented Reality and Virtual Reality interactions. Prior to FB, she worked as a Data Scientist at Intel for 2.5 years, delivering end to end machine learning solutions for Intel's Sales and Marketing. She has filed 5 AI patents during her time at Intel.

Alumni@Work: Yating Chen, PhD

Watch Yating's interview with Texas Career Engagement.

UT Austin alumna, Yating Chen, PhD, shares the skills from her PhD that she uses today, the most interesting project she has worked on, and which experiences from her PhD program have been most relevant in her day-to-day work. Yating Chen received her PhD in Cellular and Molecular Biology from UT Austin in Dec 2018. She is currently working as a Scientist at Ultragenyx Gene Therapy, where she specifically supports the gene therapy program pipeline including technical transfer, method qualification and validation and routine GMP testing of AAV vectors for lot release and stability.

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