"A PhD, and then what?" A look back at the conference held by the Institut Pasteur and the newspaper Le Monde

On Tuesday June 25, the French daily newspaper Le Monde and the Institut Pasteur joined forces to run a morning of debate and discussion with scientists, academic teaching staff and business leaders about post-PhD career options.

This conference, held in the Le Monde auditorium, was an opportunity for attendees to meet both recent doctoral graduates and experienced PhD holders who work in a variety of fields: industry-based research, scientific outreach, start-ups, public research and teaching.

The current situation for PhD holders is complex. In France, despite their many years of education and extensive theoretical and methodological knowledge, job opportunities and career options for doctoral graduates are often scarce.

The Institut Pasteur has long been committed to addressing this issue, especially since 2014 when it set up the MAASCC welcome, support and career development structure for scientists. Two Institut Pasteur scientists came to the conference to contribute to the debates and round tables by speaking about their own experiences: Mariana Mesel-Lemoine (Head of the MAASCC at the Institut Pasteur) and Andres Alcover (coordinator of the PASTEURDOC European project).

Consult the program and see the list of speakers at the conference (in French)

To read the article of Le Monde on this subject (in French)

To read the contribution by Mariana Mesel-Lemoine (in French)