Starting your Research Career after a PhD

What happens after your PhD? This talk will be about my personal (evolving) take on how to start an academic career after a PhD. The PhD process is an intense apprenticeship experience that lasts 6 or more years. The advisor guides you through the process, teaches you how to research, write papers, and give talks. But the next stage is equally exciting and unnerving: starting your own research agenda, forming a research group, getting grants and funding, and teaching. I will discuss some aspects that (I think) are important for a robust start to your research career, including serendipity, grabbing opportunities, and just keeping your head down and believing in good work. I will use some examples from the research in my lab to discuss what worked and what did not work.