Date: Tuesday May 2nd 2017 at 15:00 EST (21:00 London, 22:00 Paris, May 3rd 06:00 Melbourne),

Speakers:

Katie Morton, Innovia Technology, Cambridge

Rick Prins, Minddistrict, Amsterdam

Abstract:

Making a major career transition out of academia can be intimidating and overwhelming, especially if you’ve committed several years to PhD and post-doctoral research. Many students and post docs are faced with tough career-related decisions about whether to stay in academia or to ‘jump ship’ and do something else, especially when permanent academic positions are hard to come by.

 

In this webinar, Katie Morton and Rick Prins, both previously post-doctoral researchers at CEDAR (University of Cambridge), will talk about their experiences in transitioning from academia, and why a career move might be a viable option, whatever stage in your academic career you may be at.

Whether you are finishing your PhD and considering what’s next, or a post-doctoral researcher looking for a major change – this webinar will provide an honest account of the pros and cons of changing careers and working in industry. It will also provide advice and tips on how to identify your most valuable transferable skills and abilities and how to “sell” these to future employers. 

Biography of speakers:

Katie Morton is a behavioural science consultant at Innovia Technology – a consultancy specialising in early-stage breakthrough innovation, based in Cambridge (UK). Before joining Innovia in September 2016, Katie was a Career Development Fellow at CEDAR (University of Cambridge). Katie completed her PhD at the University of British Columbia, Canada in 2011 and then worked as a Research Associate in the Behavioural Science Group in the Primary Care Unit at the University of Cambridge for 2 years, before joining CEDAR in 2014.

 Katie’s PhD and post-doctoral research primarily focused on the development and evaluation of health-related behaviour change interventions. This included the development and evaluation of very brief behaviour change programs (delivered in primary care settings), and mHealth interventions to increase physical activity and reduce the risk of Type 2 Diabetes in adults. More recently, Katie has worked on a programme of research funded by the Department of Health (UK) that sought to better understand the school environment and its impact on physical activity in youth.

 

Rick Prins is head of Research and Intervention Development at Minddistrict, Amsterdam (the Netherlands). Minddistrict offers a “software-as-a-service” (SaaS) eHealth solution to (mental) healthcare in the Netherlands and is European market leader.

 Rick started his career in academia in 2006, when he joined the department of Public Health of the Erasmus Medical Center in Rotterdam (the Netherlands), as a PhD student. His PhD thesis was focused on the interplay between environmental and motivational factors in shaping physical activity behaviour. He incorporated insights from observational studies in a computer-tailored intervention to promote physical activity among adolescents. Later he successfully applied for funding to work as a postdoctoral researcher on a project to intervene in the physical and social environmental to promote physical activity among elderly – at the same department. From 2014 till 2016 he worked as a Career Development Fellow at CEDAR (University of Cambridge) and focused on the mechanisms by which changes in the environment affect changes in physical activity.