This text is part of the special section Relève en recherche
The vast majority of graduate students will have jobs outside of academia. For them, as for those who choose the path of university research, the challenges are manifold. The Association francophone pour le savoir (Acfas) is there for them, in particular thanks to the Journées de la succession en recherche, which will be held from 25 October to 1er November.
“Students and postdoctoral researchers evolve in a complex environment: graduate studies are very disciplinary, but the world of work is increasingly interdisciplinary,” says Jean-Pierre Perreault, president of Acfas. Among those with a doctorate, less than 20% will pursue an academic career. This means that the vast majority of graduate students will have a different job from that of all the professors who trained them.
In addition to having to become experts in their discipline, graduate students must develop several transversal skills. “The Young People’s Research Days are part of this logic,” explains the president. They give students the opportunity to reflect on the type of career they are considering, and to acquire those additional skills which are more difficult to develop in the course of their regular research activities.
The transversal skills required in the labor market will vary according to the field of training and the career envisaged: popularization, knowledge of intellectual property, project management, pedagogy. “It is very specific to each one, but it must be part of the reflection,” observes Mr. Perreault.
Days for training
The Acfas Emerging Days have two components: to encourage students to undertake an intellectual journey and to discover all the employment possibilities, and to make them aware of the skills necessary to prepare well for them.
For the second time, Acfas will hold a fully virtual edition of these 9es Days. “What we lose in human warmth, we gain in accessibility,” notes the president, however. The programming will extend over seven days this year, two more days than during the 2020 edition, which had already gone from two to five days.
“It allows us to expose students to a certain number of models, with people who have careers broader than university research,” points out Jean-Pierre Perreault. The event will begin on Monday, October 25 with a round table that brings together former doctoral students with varied backgrounds and who have non-traditional careers: Nadia Al-Banna, program manager in a research center, Tina Gruosso, scientist in a biotechnology company, Serge Dupuis, professional historian, and Mathieu Vick, researcher at the Canadian Union of Public Employees in Quebec. The only activity accessible without registration, the round table will also be broadcast on the organization’s Facebook page.
Big news this year: the addition of a popularization blitz day, which will end the week. This “vulgarisathon” will be held on Monday 1er November. Five groups of ten people will meet online with a guide to design a popular science work in French (text, audio, comic strip, video, blog), which they will present at the end of the day. Participants will thus acquire transversal skills essential to their careers.
Online networking
In addition to the 17 workshops given by scientists and professionals, the Young People’s Days offer a number of networking activities, in particular one organized by the Fonds de recherche du Québec. Students will be able to chat with the Chief Scientist, Rémi Quirion, and the Fonds team. “It’s a great opportunity to go and question our chief scientist,” believes Mr. Perreault.
The event is expected to virtually host around 200 people. Participants will then have access to an online toolkit. While pre-registration is mandatory, workshops and other activities are completely free, an important point given that financial support during studies is another major challenge for some master’s and doctoral students.
This is one of the things that Acfas highlights in a brief submitted as part of the consultations for the 2022 Quebec Research and Innovation Strategy. The organization recommends increasing the number. and the amount of scholarships offered to students. “It’s tempting to quit your studies and take a job before you graduate, especially in certain fields where workers are in high demand, such as IT,” observes Mr. Perreault.
Science at the heart of society
Even if they do not pursue an academic career, graduate students do and will play a vital role in research and in society. “I believe fundamentally that students are responsible for innovation at the graduate level,” says Jean-Pierre Perreault. To cultivate this innovation, it is necessary to put in place the most stimulating framework possible, by the university, the supervisor and organizations such as Acfas.
Research also occupies an important place outside the walls of the university. “The mission of Acfas is to promote research, innovation and scientific culture. It does not stop with university research, ”emphasizes the president.
No one can claim to know future needs. When things go wrong, we are always happy to have a specialist on hand.
Our knowledge society must therefore ensure that more and more students graduate. A major challenge, given the labor shortage in which Quebec is plunged and the attractiveness of the job market. “It’s an important element, research drives society forward. In the aftermath of the pandemic, this should not be forgotten, ”recalls the one who is also a professor in the Department of biochemistry and functional genomics at the University of Sherbrooke.
“We want to have a knowledge society; it starts with education, ”he continues. The RNA specialist also recalls that research was essential to better understand and get through the crisis that shook us, both in health or in the economy, during the recovery, and in psychology to better understand stress and stress. anxiety generated by these events.
“It takes a 360-degree view of knowledge. It is important to support all graduate students. No one can claim to know the future needs. When things go wrong, we are always happy to have a specialist on hand, ”he concludes.