By José M. Otero, PhD student and Merck Doctoral Fellow

Until recently, I have resisted the empowering revolution taking place over the world-wide web, where people of all ages, disciplines, backgrounds, and experiences are blogging their stories to anyone who will read them. As a PhD student in biochemical engineering at the Technical University of Denmark (Kgs. Lyngby, Denmark), and simultaneously a research biochemical engineer at Merck Research Labs, Merck & Co., Inc. (West Point, PA), I have been intrigued by the idea of trying to start a blog, but wasn’t sure it would have much appeal to a broad audience, particularly one that was outside the scientific community, until I discovered the Nature Network. I love the idea of the simple, modern, and sexy format offered by the Nature Network for scientists to take a shot at sharing their experiences and providing an opinion on a diverse range of topics, although most clearly have a scientific twist. So, I hope you enjoy this first attempt at entering the world of blogging, and I look forward to future digital interactions with the readership.

While the recent weather would suggest otherwise, we are in fact entering Spring 2008 and not uncommonly, this time of the year offers annual rituals, some welcomed and some not, to a variety of professions. For the graduate students that will complete either their Master’s or Doctoral theses, and Post-Doctoral associates who’s research funding is concluding, the question, “What should I do now?”, begins to occupy much of their late evenings, gradually becoming a central part of their day. This phenomena does not have geographical or educational boundaries, because as someone who has graduate degrees from both the US (M. Eng, 2002, MIT) and Europe (PhD, expected 2009, DTU), I see all types of people struggling to answer the same question. I am perhaps in a slightly more unique position, because while I am a PhD student in every sense, I am also one of those people who decided to leave academia after their Master’s, and spent three years as a research biochemical engineer at Merck Research Laboratories, before heading back to get my PhD. I am completing my PhD as a Merck Doctoral Fellow, so my future is fairly well determined in that I am committed (and looking forward) to returning to Merck. Having been on both sides of the coin, colleagues, friends, and students often try to grab a cup of coffee (US) or beer (Denmark) with me to get my impressions of what an industrial research environment is like, particularly compared to academic atmospheres. However, what I am often perplexed by and spend most of the conversation doing is debasing many of the false pretenses that young academically trained researchers have regarding industrial research. The myths are extensive, and consequently, the result is that students feel they’re left with no option other than to pursue an academic career, when really they are simply basing decisions on false information. And so, let me describe three of the most common myths I hear, which based on my personal experience, are absolutely false.

(To be continued in my next blog session!)