Three guest articles: My career path
What are the career prospects inside and outside academia? In short guest articles, three early stage researchers describe their career paths and hopes for the future.
Besides writing my dissertation on the role of faith in the localisation of the UN Sustainable Development Goals in India, I am also the coordinator of a Franco-German degree programme. With this combination, my career can develop in one of two directions: academic work on India’s role in contemporary international politics or work on the internationalisation of universities. Despite the increasing relevance of India’s role in Germany, there are very few positions available in this field in academia and policy consulting. The internationalisation of universities offers more opportunities: current developments at European universities and the large number of Indian students are exciting prospects for my Franco-German-Indian focus.
As an Alexander von Humboldt Fellow in Professor De Vleeschouwer’s team, I am developing my laboratory and numerical modelling skills in the field of palaeoceanography. I also attend conferences to expand my network of collaborators and supervise student degree theses. In the next two to five years, I intend to submit my own research proposal for German or European funding and to recruit my first PhD student. Ultimately, my goal is to obtain a tenured position at a university where I can combine research and teaching. Since climate scientists need to highlight the impacts of climate change, I am also honing my science communication skills by giving talks to the public. If there are no tenure-track positions available, these skills could help me transition to a government agency, for example.
I started my career eight years ago by doing a PhD in Madrid. I had a lot of doubts at the time, but I had a gut feeling that doing a PhD was the right decision: it would allow me to pursue the interests I had developed during my previous studies. These doubts, this reluctance, eventually subsided, and now I am sure and happy to say that I want to pursue a career in academia. This is the life I choose for myself, even if it can be hard on your relationships or other prospects. For me, this life of untangling the web that is mathematics and elucidating right from wrong is quite fulfilling. It has also allowed me to meet many interesting and lovely people over the years. I hope that this can continue in my next career step, which fortunately begins in a few months in Leuven, Belgium.
This article appeared in the University newspaper wissen|leben No. 4, 12 June 2024.