“What I learned in the CSO course was very helpful during [my job] selection process (especially everything related to communication), and I hope it will help me to keep my job for a very very long time.”
All programs can be offered live On Site or virtually via Zoom.
Business of Science Certificate Program
Certificate Program is available on-site and virtually live, or on-demand (via Flamingo Pro).
SciPhD’s Business of Science Certificate Program is offered as a 2 1/2 day on-site program, as well as virtually, both live, and on-demand. This program provides the essential business and social skills training valued by professional organizations. Our team-based experiential learning brings advanced communications, negotiations, project management, leadership and more to your PhD students and postdocs. You will form companies on your first day based on your own research, and work as a company throughout the program.
To request more information or schedule a program please fill out the brief form at the bottom of this page.
Certificate Program – includes the following modules:
Module 1: The Business of Science
Overview of the skills and behaviors valued by professional organizations. What kinds of jobs are available for PhDs, and what kinds of companies value PhDs. Using Flamingo, learn how to analyze a job ad, identify critical requirements, relate them to your accomplishments and build a powerful resume.
Module 2: Communications for Scientists
Your transition from academia to industry will require an upgrade in your communication competencies. Every leadership and job performance analysis places communications in the top 5 required competencies to be successful in industry. This module looks in detail at four essential communications competencies, and how to master them.
Module 3: Developing Your People
Developing Your People is all about managing, mentoring, and motivating in a team-based environment. In the professional world, beyond your technical skills and accomplishments, you will be judged on your ability to work in a team-based environment. This module focuses on motivating your team, mentoring, four stages of competency in learning, and effective managing.
Module 4: Applied Networking
Building relationships is the key to personal and business success. Having a strong network of diverse contacts provides you with access to a tremendous amount of information that can give you a competitive advantage in launching and advancing your career. Networking is about building genuine relationships and gaining advocates who will help you advance your career.
Module 5: Project Management
Scientists employ project management practices as a natural aspect of taking a hypothesis from idea to conclusion. As such you, as a scientist have significant experience doing project management. This module will connect the dots between your current practices and the language of project management, so that you can demonstrate that you have significant experience in project management to hiring managers.
Module 6: Team Performance
A business must constantly compete globally and improve on its products and services as well as its productivity. Continuous improvement is an ongoing effort to improve products, services, and/or processes. Working in teams requires a coordinated and disciplined approach to problem solving in order to accomplish these improvements. We will present 6 such “tools” to improve team performance.
Module 7: Financial Literacy
Fundamental to the two rules of business is the basic understanding of finance. Should you join a start-up or a legacy Pharma company? How does your personal risk compare with the financial health of a company? Is there a competitive interview advantage in knowing how EBITDA is used in business? This module addresses these essential questions that are fundamental to knowing the future of your employer and your own career.
Module 8: Negotiations
Negotiation is a dialogue between parties intended to reach an understanding, resolve points of difference, or to craft outcomes that satisfy various interests. Which negotiating techniques are about your interest vs. the other party’s interest vs. both parties’ interest? Note how often you are practicing Social Intelligence as you complete various exercises, especially salary negotiations for more money!
Testimonials
“Both Randy and Larry were super-approachable and available for individual discussions after class. -The venue was beautiful–even though I was tired at the end of the day, I looked forward to going to class. -For me, taking the course coincided with my academic job search and the interview process. The course really kept me in the mindset of transitioning to becoming a faculty member. Soon after the course ended, I got my first offer! -Thanks to the course content, I now feel prepared to manage my own lab.”
“The Scientist to CSO course has helped me broaden my horizons. As scientists, we tend to spend almost all our time in our little cocoons. The Scientist to CSO course introduced me to several important and broadly relevant concepts in the management of both people and projects and I have found these ideas extremely beneficial in my current activities as a research scientist in industry.”
“It helped me to develop the soft skills better on a broad scale, facilitate interactions in the academic environment, raise awareness when interacting with people from industry, finance, etc., improve managerial skills on the day-to-day basis and especially become savvier when negotiating things, applying for a job, getting the resume in tiptop cutting edge format”
“The class gives you the frameworks that help understand where scientists fit within business realms, and gives one the vocabulary to describe things one already does in a business-friendly way. This class, unlike anything offered by university career services, helps to understand how, as a PhD, one is seen by the business people. It gives students both the knowledge about the business world and the confidence to go for it. I would highly recommend the class.”
“Thank you very much for the opportunity to take this great course at the New York Academy of Sciences! I enjoyed taking these classes with you [Tom Magaldi], Larry and Randy! I attribute the success of my key [job] interview in large part to speaking with Randy three days before meeting with my [hiring] manager, as well as the overall class content.”
“The course helped me understand how to translate the skills I have from my research and make it applicable to industry, especially for non-research positions. I used these skills in applying for the position I’m currently being considered and expecting an offer for. I now have a better understanding of interpersonal communication and the forces that govern it. I’ve always thought of myself as a good communicator, but Larry and Randy showed me important nuances that made me even better. It helped me understand the road-blocks to effectively communicating with and developing a student I had been supervising!”
