Welcome To Papa PhD
with David Mendes, PhD
Career & Life Balance Exploration
for Academics and Graduate Researchers
Latest Episodes
Hidden Opportunities in Tech for Social Sciences Graduates With Victoria Wobber
This week, I’m sharing with you a conversation about a side of the post-PhD experience that is kind of a blind spot for me – the place of social...
I’m in the middle of my PhD – What Should I Invest In If I Want a Private Sector Job? With The 2nd Lab
Welcome to another collab episode of the PhD Dojo with The 2nd Lab. While you’re here, I’ll take the opportunity to announce that Papa PhD has joined the Podcast...
Managing Your Imposter Experience During and Beyond Your Degree with Marc Reid
This week, on the first Papa PhD episode of 2023, I am bringing you an incredibly insightful conversation about the impostor phenomenon in academia and beyond with Marc Reid,...
Are Things Changing for the Better for Women in STEM? with Krishna Kadiyala (Rerun)
In this week on the show, I’m bringing you another treasure from the vault – my Season 2 conversation with Krishna Kadiyala about her experience as a woman in...
Faire le pont entre chercheur.e.s. et entreprises avec Anne Bonlarron (rediffusion)
Tu aimes Papa PhD ? Laisse-moi un commentaire > ici < – une courte phrase suffit ! Et inclus ton identifiant Twitter – comme ça je pourrai te remercier...
Getting Involved in Science Policy After Graduate School With Adriana Bankston (Rerun)
This week on Papa PhD and to mark the end of the year, I share with you the first of a series of three of the most popular episodes...
Honing Your Public Speaking Skills with Neil Thompson
This week on Papa PhD, I’m bringing you an expert on how to improve your public speaking skills – Neil Thompson of TeachTheGeek.com. If you want to get better...
Projeter les jeunes chercheur.e.s dans des carrières d’avenir avec Rémi Quirion
La semaine où je célébrais le 200e épisode de Papa PhD, j’ai eu le plaisir d’interviewer un invité d’honneur – Rémi Quirion, le scientifique en chef du Québec –...
The Power of Mentorship During a Career Pivot With Anushka Khasnobish
This week on Papa PhD, I’m sharing the story of someone I’ve had the pleasure to mentor during her PhD to non-academic job transition – Anushka Khasnobish. I want...
Featured Guests
Wellbeing And Burnout Coach
Özgün Ünver is a certified life, stress and burnout coach working with academics around wellbeing, mindset, and burnout prevention/recovery.
She has a PhD in social policy, a strong interest in psychosocial wellbeing in the workplace, and a passion for normalising mental health-related conversations in every aspect of our lives.
Her mission is to help academics (and everyone else) to prioritize self-care, work-life balance, and mental (as well as physical) health.
Career Wellness Coach
Danielle De La Mare, founder of Self-Compassionate Professor, focuses on healing academics’ relationship to work, helping them to clear mental and emotional clutter, make space for their own needs and wants, and find the clarity to make sound and meaningful career decisions grounded in wellness.
Career Coach | Civil Engineer
Dr. Kimberly Duong completed her PhD in Civil and Environmental Engineering at UC Irvine and successfully transitioned to industry. She wants to share lessons learned and help others succeed in their own PhD journey. Kimberly employs a tailored one-on-one approach, drawing on more than ten years of project management, leadership, STEM outreach, and mentorship experience in academia, government, nonprofits, and entrepreneurship. Her diverse background has led her to a variety of experiences, from wetlands field work in Melbourne, Australia to science policy at the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine in Washington, DC. In addition to coaching, Kimberly also enjoys cooking and fitness.
UX Researcher
Dr. Ashley Ruba (PhD in Developmental Psychology) is a UX Researcher at Meta Reality Labs, building the next generation of AR/VR technology. Prior to joining Meta, Dr. Ruba spent over a decade in academic research, studying how young children learn about emotions.
Academic writing Coach
Dr Anna Clemens is an academic writing coach with a PhD in Chemistry. In her online program, the Researchers Writing Academy, Anna helps researchers get their papers published in their target journals without procrastinating on the writing.
Food Industry Consultant
Bryan Quoc Le, Ph.D. is a food scientist, food industry consultant, and author of 150 Food Science Questions Answered. He earned his Ph.D. in Food Science from the University of Wisconsin, Madison, where he studied the chemistry of savory flavors from plant-based sources. He is currently a research scholar through the Ronin Institute for Independent Scholarship, an industry expert for Carbon13 (a venture builder based in the UK), and an independent consultant for Mycelium Gastronomy (an industry network of food experts).
Coach And Consultant
Dr. Victoria (Tory) Wobber received her PhD in Human Evolutionary Biology in 2012 and secured a role as a data scientist at Facebook in 2013. She now runs her own business as a career and leadership coach.
Tory has three degrees from Harvard, worked at Facebook and Google, and developed the Academic Exit framework after making the transition from academia to industry herself and coaching more than 50 people through that same transition.
Scientist | Author
Marc Reid completed his Masters and Carnegie Trust-sponsored PhD in Chemistry at the University of Strathclyde. Marc was then a postdoctoral research associate at the University of Edinburgh. During that time, he was inducted into the SciFinder Future Leaders in Chemistry programme.
Marc’s independent academic career has been fuelled by prestigious Leverhulme Trust and UKRI Future Leaders Fellowships. He has held lecturing positions at the University of Bristol and the Hunter Centre for Entrepreneurship. In 2021, Marc completed the altMBA.
His research interests include physical organic chemistry, computer vision, virtual reality, process safety, and the Imposter Phenomenon.
He lives with his wife, two kids, and border terrier in ‘sunny’ Glasgow.
Testimonials
“In my continued search for new science podcasts, I happened upon Papa PhD, hosted and produced by its creator David Mendes.
This podcast has wonderful interviews with those who’ve completed their PhD’s where they talk about what brought them to the path they are currently on in their career.
When it comes to thinking about networking and thinking outside the box as far as next steps after your PhD program, this is the podcast to subscribe to.” – Read article here.
Suzanne C. Miller – Managing Editor, Integrative & Comparative Biology
« Il y a beaucoup de conseils de carrière judicieux dans chacun des podcasts.
Le parcours des intervenants est diversifié, tant académique que professionnel.
L’intervieweur laisse un bel espace aux intervenants et pose des questions pertinentes aux moments opportuns. »
François T. on Podchaser
“Your podcast series is like a treasure mine for me 🙂 Every time I listen to one episode I find someone I want to connect to.
I don’t know how I will be implementing the feedback and guidance I have received so far from all the connections from your podcast series, but at least I know I really am enjoying connecting with new people.
Especially knowing that someone is involved in a job they are really happy in and that they have carved for themselves is so inspiring.”
Anushka K. – Doctoral Researcher at Okayama University
How To Stop Burnout In Its Tracks With Özgün Ünver