What are the career paths of our alumni in the PhD Program in Science and Policy? At the Zurich-Basel Plant Science Center we are interested in knowing what it is that they do. We did a short survey on 32 of our former PhD students: What type of organizations and sectors are they employed today? Are they involved in policy work?

Half of our alumni are still active in an academic environment (universities and research institutes). Most of these alumni are engaged as researchers (28%, 9 alumni) or as specialists for example as data specialist or in education (16%, 5). Some of the researchers are involved with their research in the science-policy boundary.
34% (11) have moved on to the private sector where they are predominantly employed as specialists for different areas. Of these alumni, two have founded their own companies. NGOs and governmental organizations employ 16% (5) of our former students, all of are still engaged in policy work.

The majority of the Science and Policy alumni have found a great position after finishing their PhD. Asking them about important factors for their successful recruitment, it has been stated clearly that completing the PSC PhD Program in Science and Policy was a major asset to their CV. Building capacities in the communication of scientific evidence to policy-makers and the public; the involvement of different stakeholder groups as well as in policy development and endorsement in Europe and at global scale was of high relevance. It made them stand out from the crowd of applicants.