Networking Abroad - Swetox

This summer we got an invite from The Swedish Toxicology Sciences Research Center (Swetox) to join their Academy annual autumn meeting for PhDs and PDs to interact with mentors and seniors. It's basically a sort of socialization-event for people working with toxicology in Sweden to just 'hang out' with each other and establish new contacts and networks through discussions, idea-exchanges, or whatever else you might feel like talking about. Governmental and regulative representatives are invited as well, thus it's a brilliant opportunity to establish connections between people working within academia and people working more directly with and towards societal challenges and solutions.

As Swetox aim to strengthen the relationship and opportunities for cooperation between Nordic countries, we got invited to join them. Needless to say, we took this chance of border-crossing without hesitation, and the 22nd of August, Katrine, Danny and me flew off to Stockholm to hang out with potential future colleagues and project partners for the next two days. I think i can safely speak for all of us when I say it was two days well spent.

Although this meeting mainly focused on career planning and exchange of experiences in this area, the most important part of these kind of meetings is likely the networking part. Working as biologists, be it as toxicologist or ecologist, within academia or in governmental institutions, networking and the continuous establishment of potential future partners for cooperation can make the difference in whether one is able to get on with that 'one cool project'. Ultimately, early efforts at networking might prove to mean a whole great deal for ones' final career.

In a way it's sort of work-related speed-dating. Intense and frightening at first, but once you get out there, gets a little 'warm in the game', you never look back.