Testimonials

I enjoy the professional and career development aspects—learning accountability, project management, team management. It's largely taking ideas that I already practice and linking them together with formal terminology. – Jimmy Zhang

The program has opened my eyes to the fact that there are other job opportunities out there for PhDs who don't feel like academia is a good fit for them. The URBEST program has helped me see gaps in my training and helped to fill them with important soft skills or experiences I may not have had otherwise. – Lauren (Rice) Walling

URBEST has been very helpful to me in establishing important professional contacts. Thanks to URBEST, I am participating in various entrepreneurship-related activities here at UR. – Gowrishankar Muthukrishnan

I have become determined to keep my eyes and ears open to the many options that others have pursued with a PhD, and I am most assured that when I am further along I will do an internship. I would not have considered an internship prior to URBEST, but the program has convinced me (for my purposes) that this is a must. – Anthony Franchini

Becoming a trainee in the URBEST program has broadened my scientific and social adeptness, competence, and networking abilities, enabling me to make important connections that will likely become viable employment opportunities. Listening to URBEST Alumni speak on their current industry positions bolstered my passion and perspective for the biotechnology field as well as garnered my understanding of the high demand for PhDs in industry positions. – Maureen Newman

The career stories have been a great way to connect with UR alumni.  I was able to connect with an alum that was a postdoc in my lab but we had never met.  His career path is congruent with what I'd like mine to be, and it was a great opportunity to chat with him and hear about how he got to where he is today. He said he would look over my CV and cover letter as I'm applying for fellowships.  I'm glad to have made the connection thanks to URBEST! – Jennifer Judge

I recently joined URBEST because I've heard about and seen people discovering career possibilities that they might never have known about if not for the help from the program. I think URBEST is a great platform for any graduate who wants to explore their post-graduate career options. – Hong Zhu

The URBEST program has provided a platform to start discussions with faculty and other students about important aspects of career training that are typically not offered during graduate school. I love the open-mindedness that everyone who is aware of the URBEST program has now about unique opportunities, such as internships or informational interviews. This is definitely a great program for the University of Rochester that separates graduate training here from the training environments at other schools across the country. Keep up the great work! – Kenneth Sims

The URBEST Program has made me feel more prepared for life outside of research and has given me many potential options. – Virginia Glazier

This program has really opened my eyes to the unorthodox routes people can take, yet still end up with interesting, challenging, and successful careers. Additionally, it has helped me build my network and realize the flaws I have in preparing for post grad life. These are things I would have likely realized while having to find a job, making fixing them impossible. Now I am aware of some of what I need to focus on, before I actually need to apply. – URBEST Trainee Anonymous

The URBEST Program has definitely helped, by allowing more networking opportunities with people in industry and general questions about the differences between the culture of industry vs. academia. I only have limited experience in industry, and want to know as much as possible to make an informed career decision. – Valeriia Sherina​