I’ve recently graduated from Åbo Akademi University with a PhD. Having spent nearly a decade in academic research working in the fields of cell biology and cell signalling, I realised that while I love the variety of doing wet lab work, it wasn’t where my passion lay. For some years I have been acutely aware that traditional PhD studies in science do not prepare students for life outside academia. To remedy this I decided to teach myself commercial awareness. In my spare time I took various business courses offered by ÅA and other universities, in the form of traditional courses and MOOCs (massive open online courses). In the process of trying to improve my commercial awareness I discovered that I really enjoy learning about different aspects of business and their application to bioscience – and so I discovered my passion.
Now I have the chance to combine my scientific expertise with my business studies. I am currently living in Evanston, USA – home of Northwestern University and the Kellogg School of Management. Here I hope to learn more about technology transfer and the commercialisation of inventions in order to bring my knowledge back to Finland to benefit Åbo Akademi University. This blog is intended to document my time here in the USA, primarily on a professional level. Any views and opinions expressed here are entirely my own and do not reflect the positions of ÅA and NU.
– Claire
If you want to read about some of my free time exploits in the Chicago area head over to my other blog: Transitions – Finland to Chicago