Discovering the Antelope in me: The program for female researchers that changed my career
It was a cold and damp winter morning. I had just arrived at the lab and started to prepare my experiments for the day. As I was counting my bacterial colonies and planning to set up another reaction, I heard my mailbox ping.
Little did I know that the email I had just gotten would change my career forever. In my mailbox, waiting patiently for me to finish my lab work, was an acceptance letter for a career development program at the University of Basel, called “Antelope.”
Looking back now, three years after participating in this program and several months after transitioning into my new job in the industry, I can say with great confidence that this program has had a significant impact on my life choices and helped me to advance my career in unforeseen ways.
No one is born an Antelope
On the official website, the antelope is depicted as a symbol of dynamism and advancement, and as a very strong, wild animal that escapes capture, unless its horns become entangled in bushes.
The metaphor fits perfectly. Imagine a young researcher that has just started her PhD or moved to Switzerland from abroad to begin a postdoc position. Her potential is immense, yet she can easily fall into the trap of not knowing how to promote herself, how to advance her writing and leadership skills, how to apply for jobs in the future, or, simply, how to handle the responsibility of starting a family along with maintaining a meaningful and successful career.
Losing well-trained female researchers is a problem not only known in Switzerland but all over the map. Although 50% of first semester science students are female, only a handful end up as postdocs or professors.
This is where support programs such as Antelope come into play. They intend to tackle this problem head-on by offering services and coaching for female researchers. At the University of Basel, it is the Office of Diversity that is overlooking these efforts.
To leap forward
Antelope was initiated in 2014, originally consisting of two subprograms — “antelope@university” and “antelope@novartis.” This career program offers highly qualified female researchers a 10-month program focusing on career advancement, self-promotion, and leadership.
The initiative was later expanded to include female postdoctoral researchers. The sub-programs “antelope professorship” and “antelope medical professorship” build upon existing success predispositions and focus on empowerment, fundraising, and appointments with experts to help secure a position in academia.
All four antelope programs consist of multiple modules including a career camp, a mentorship program, as well as different kind of workshops and coaching. Through these various modules, “antelopees” can start to think critically about their career plans early on, learn to network effectively, and arrange their steps towards empowerment and future leadership systematically.
Taking the lead
From my personal perspective, Antelope has had a great influence both on my personal and professional life. I applied for antelope@university half way through my doctoral studies.
Thanks to the “Expert exchange,” I was able to travel to the Netherlands and met a professor active in the same field as my research group. Due to his advice, I was able to finish one of my projects, where I had been stuck for several weeks. The resulting paper was my initial first-author publication in the course of my PhD studies.
As most PhD students, I also encountered “dark times” and even considered quitting my doctoral studies. My fellow antelopees, along with my mentor and the coaching I received helped me to realize that giving up was definitely not a solution to my problems.
Instead, Antelope taught me to acknowledge my skills and abilities. Thanks to the coaching I received on self-branding, self-promotion, and scientific publishing, I discovered my passion for management, writing and science communication. Fast forward a few years later — I now run a science communication channel on Instagram, regularly write for national newspapers and international magazines as a science journalist, while working full-time as a forensic chemist in industry.
Last but not least, Antelope provided me with a network for life. I am still in contact with the other “antelopees” as well as with my mentor. While all my technical skills came from my academic research and studies, the soft skills necessary for making the career change originated in Antelope.
Jump!
Do you identify as a female working as a PhD or a postdoctoral researcher at the University of Basel?
The call for applications for the next Antelope program cycle will open in December 2018. There are 50 places available in total; the career camp, coaching and training will take place between March and mid-November in 2019. Further information can be found on the “Antelope” website.
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The University of Basel has an international reputation of outstanding achievements in research and teaching. Founded in 1460, the University of Basel is the oldest university in Switzerland and has a history of success going back over 550 years. Learn more
