Career Development

The MS-FTRM put a strong emphasis on career readiness and help you develop practical skills for the next stage of your career. These includes scientific communication, CV and résumé development, interviewing, networking, fellowship and job applications, entrepreneurship, intellectual property and communicating science to diverse audiences.

Learn professional skills that translate

Student working at laptop with red Cornell water bottle

Experimental design and statistics help you evaluate evidence and solve research problems.
Laboratory training builds experience in specimen handling, imaging, and reproductive techniques, with relevance determined by your project and placement.
Critical reading and ethics prepare you to assess emerging technologies and their implications.
Writing, presentations, and teamwork help you communicate findings to scientists, colleagues, and wider audiences.
Your thesis demonstrates sustained research experience.
Your externship helps you test career interests. Mentors and professional contacts can help you understand what employers or advanced training programs expect.

Develop a plan tailored to your interests

Work with program advisers and research mentors to connect your interests with achievable goals. Reflect on your progress, identify skills to strengthen, and use feedback from presentations, research meetings and externships to refine your direction.

Support to prepare for the next step

In your final semester, Dr. Connor Owens will support your search for jobs or further academic training. Individual mentoring will help you identify your career goals and build the research experience, professional skills, and networks needed to achieve them. Externship contacts and Cornell Graduate School career resources can provide additional guidance as you prepare applications and communicate your experience.