NEW YORK -- A capacity crowd filled the Weill Auditorium for a recent Career Pathways presentation, "Walking the Academic Road." A panel of junior faculty from the Weill Cornell Graduate School spoke with students at length about their experiences looking for and finding a position in higher education.

While acknowledging the challenges facing graduates looking for academic appointments, the presenters spoke about the great satisfaction they find in working at Weill Cornell. "Academia is the place to follow your own ideas. I wouldn't do anything else in the world," says Geri Kreitzer, assistant professor of cell and developmental biology, whose research is centered on the question of how cells generate and maintain polarity in vivo. "I look forward to coming to work every day. I love what I do."

The Career Pathways Program is a strategic resource offered by the Graduate School to help students explore career options, navigate the job market and learn the nuances of networking.

The program is designed to help students discover career options within the fields of academia, law, public policy, finance, communications and other areas in which an advanced science degree is highly prized. Monthly speaker presentations, featuring graduate school alumni, serve as a venue for students to network with professionals, presenters, and other students, and make valuable contacts. They also serve as ideal recruitment opportunities.

Postdoc positions: know what you want

The panelists at the recent discussion agreed that graduate students need to spend considerable time securing the right postdoctoral position as the next step in their career after leaving graduate school. The decision is a complex one. Jayanta Chaudhuri is an assistant professor in the Immunology and Microbial Pathogenesis Program whose work focuses on the role of genetics in the development of B cell lymphomas. He believes that students "have to make a choice between applying to big, well-established labs that can be very intense, or small labs with little or no track record, but where you may have a lot of independence."

Panelists recommended that students apply to as many laboratories as possible and take the measure of each postdoc position by talking to lab members in detail about what it's like to work in a particular lab. "Matching lab expertise with your research interests will help you make a good decision. It's important to remember that science thrives in an active community of researchers. Seek an environment that supports you and your work. Know what you want and talk to others about your interests," said Kreitzer.

Life as a new faculty member

All the presenters landed jobs in higher education after postdoc experiences lasting an average of four years. Yueming Li, assistant member of the Molecular Pharmacology and Chemistry Program at Sloan-Kettering Institute, also worked at Merck Research Laboratories for five years before returning to higher education. "I missed the freedom of academic research," said Li, whose research shows promise in developing a treatment for Alzheimer's disease.

Although funding remains a constant challenge ("We are always writing grants," the panelists said), there was agreement that working in an academic setting has allowed them to balance work and family life more effectively than if they had chosen a career track in business or industry. The panelists also believe that their work thrives in the supportive environment of academic research. While there is no set formula for securing an academic post, the panel members share the opinion that if students wish to go that route, they should create a niche within their field that they can build a career on. As Chaudhuri put it, "Develop something you can call your own and go for it."

Georgia Tucker is a public affairs consultant for the Weill Graduate School of Medical Sciences of Cornell.