Oindrila De

Oindrila is a Ph.D. candidate in the Department of Molecular Biosciences at KU. Her doctoral research is focused on understanding morphogenesis in fruit flies. Besides conducting research, Oindrila is actively involved in professional development and outreach opportunities at KU such as the Molecular Biosciences Graduate Student Organization, Jayhawks Breaking Barriers program and Kansas DNA Day. Early in her career, Oindrila realized the vast scope of non-academic job opportunities for STEM Ph.D.s. However, she feels there is a lack of resources available to trainees, especially to international students as these career paths are less commonly discussed. Being a part of the SEARCH organizing committee, she hopes that the experiences of diverse professionals at the event will help trainees including herself to learn more about the various careers outside of academia, the challenges of the transition process for internationals and how one can effectively prepare for these job positions during graduate school.