The commercial sector offers a range of diverse, high-impact roles suitable for PhD graduates and postdoctoral researchers who are interested in non-academic careers. To shed light on some of these career paths, the EMBL Fellows’ Career Service recently hosted a dedicated Career Panel as part of EMBL’s Industry Day co-organized by EMBL’s Corporate Partnership Programme (CPP) and International Centre for Advanced Training (EICAT). The session brought together industry professionals to discuss career opportunities at the intersection of scientific expertise, product strategy, and client communication – specifically within Sales, Business Development, and Application Science.

The panel featured three scientists who successfully transitioned from academic research into commercial life science roles:

• Arturo Castro Nava, Technical Sales Specialist / Product Specialist at Thermo Fisher Scientific
• Max Körner, Technical Support Scientist at New England Biolabs (NEB)
• Sara Milosevic, Senior Science and Technology Advisor at 10x Genomics

Here are the key insights, general advice, and concrete examples shared by these panel members for early-career scientists considering a move into commercial, technical, and client-facing roles.

Bridging science and business – roles beyond research

While young scientists often associate industry careers available to them primarily with R&D roles, commercial life science tools and biotechnology companies rely heavily on PhD-trained researchers for client-facing and strategic advisory roles as well. In technical sales, field application science, and scientific support roles, deep technical knowledge is essential to understand customers’ experimental setups, evaluate technical feasibility, and translate customer requirements back to internal product development teams. As Sara illustrated through her own role as a Senior Science and Technology Advisor, researchers can pursue such roles and continue to satisfy their scientific curiosity. People in these roles often design and troubleshoot scientific projects, exchange ideas at conferences and seminars, and stay closely connected to emerging scientific developments.

Academics are often cautious about commercial sales teams, especially when the focus seems to lie on sale volumes rather than on supporting clients. However, the panelists emphasized that commercial teams in the life science sector often include professionals with scientific backgrounds, including PhD graduates and former postdocs, who bring scientific credibility and a solution-oriented approach to customer interactions. Sara reminded the audience that commercial representatives are fellow scientists whose primary driver is helping researchers select the optimal tools to answer their scientific questions.

Your PhD opens doors beyond your specialization

A common concern among early-career researchers is that specializing in a single research niche might restrict their future employment options. Panelists strongly advised viewing doctoral training not as a narrow specialization, but as a platform that develops high-level analytical thinking, problem solving skills, and the ability to master complex topics rapidly. Arturo emphasized using the PhD as a “trampoline” to jump into new domains rather than viewing it as a rigid career direction or boundary.

Excelling in client-facing technical roles requires strong communication skills, active listening, and the confidence to handle unexpected challenges and remain comfortable saying, “I don’t know, but I will find out”. All of this should sound familiar to PhD students, who face similar challenges in their everyday research and develop many of these skills along the way – and it is a good reminder that many of the skills developed during a PhD are valuable well beyond one’s own research field.Panelists noted that technical specialists must actively listen to customer pain points and Max added that the role might involve unexpected detective work, for example searching through vintage company archives.

Transitioning into industry requires a substantial mindset shift

Entering a corporate environment requires a fundamental shift in how scientists define success and daily workflow. While academic research focuses on long-term individual project ownership and publication metrics, industry support and application roles center on product ownership, rapid problem solving, and quarterly team targets. Max highlighted this contrast when reflecting on his transition from a plant biology PhD student to a Technical Support Scientist position. Instead of working on a single research project for several years, he now works with a wide range of life science products, helping customers solve problems that often need to be addressed within days rather than months or years.

During the panel Q&A, an attendee raised a common frustration: receiving job rejections for lacking commercial industry experience while simultaneously being labelled overqualified due to holding a PhD or postdoc. The panel advised targeting entry-level client-facing roles where scientific troubleshooting is prioritized over prior commercial history. Both Sara and Max noted that Technical Support and Field Application Science (FAS) are the primary entry gateways for post-academic scientists because companies specifically seek strong laboratory troubleshooters who speak their clients’ scientific language. Max added that companies like NEB regularly hire fresh PhD graduates and postdocs directly into technical support and sales roles.

Finding the right fit: Look beyond the job title

When evaluating industry opportunities, candidates should consider how company scale influences day-to-day responsibilities and professional growth. For example, early-stage startups offer broader exposure to diverse functions, with employees wearing multiple hats, whereas larger multinational corporations provide structured onboarding, defined career pathways, and extensive training. Sara illustrated this by talking about her experience at a 50-person startup where she simultaneously handled sales, technical support, and congress marketing, encouraging candidates to audit their personal preference for agility versus corporate structure.

Preparing a competitive application involves strategic research and active networking. Rather than submitting generic online applications, the panelists encouraged to connect directly with the people working in the interesting roles or teams and ask practical questions. Arturo advised asking industry professionals candid questions such as “what does your Monday morning look like?” to gain genuine insight into daily routines and noted “you do not need to know the final destination – but you can start collecting evidence”.

Ultimately, finding the right job is not just about matching your skills to a position, but also about understanding what the work actually involves and whether the environment suits you.

How is AI changing the daily work of scientists in industry?

Of course, no panel discussion these days would be complete without a question about AI. The panelists shared how they use AI tools in their daily work. Sara noted that AI tools can be helpful for translating texts, structuring topics, and preparing presentations, but cautioned against relying on AI for literature analysis due to hallucinations and mixed citations. AI is particularly useful in tech support for translating customer inquiries, but scientific knowledge and critical output assessment remains essential. Max illustrated this with an example of a customer who had tried to troubleshoot a problem using AI, only to end up with an incorrect workflow based on hallucinated information. The panelists agreed that while AI can make many everyday tasks easier, the domain expertise, critical thinking, and problem-solving skills developed during a PhD remain just as important.

—

Transitioning from academic research to commercial life science is not about abandoning scientific inquiry, but expanding its reach. By combining rigorous analytical training with active listening and commercial curiosity, young scientists can leverage their expertise to solve diverse scientific challenges across the broader life science ecosystem.