Name: Christine Buske
Job: Papers Genius at Springer
Source: BenchFly [original post from March 2013]
Excerpt:
During my time in graduate school, my interests shifted back and forth quite a bit between industry and academia. I loved research, and I was a good scientist, but I also had other interests. I also loved teaching and public speaking opportunities that often come with an academic track. Previously, I thought most of my interests could be met within an academic setting, but ultimately I started to enjoy the process of doing research less. The time it took to see results, the delays, and particularly some of the politics within my institution. All things considered, I was incredibly fortunate with my advisor and lab colleagues, and even with my institute. However, I felt more and more that I needed a change of pace, and that in the long run I just wasn’t sure pure research would make me happy. I fell into the all-too-familiar slump towards the middle and again towards the final part of my studies. Experiments were stalled, results were pending, and my motivation was lowering. There was no way I was going to leave without finishing my degree, but it prompted me to start thinking about my next steps even more seriously. I recognized that I would always love research and teaching, and perhaps one day return to it in some way, but that for the time being I needed to try something a little different.
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