We interviewed Michael Santillo about his experience during graduate school at Penn State. Here, he shares his opinions and advice on how to be successful during and after graduate school.
About Michael Santillo
Michael obtained a Ph.D. degree in Chemistry at Penn State in 2009 and served as a postdoctoral fellow at the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) from 2010 to 2013. For the past decade, he continued working at the FDA as a research chemist. Michael develops in vitro cellular and biochemical methods to detect and predict the safety of chemicals in foods and dietary supplements. His applied-research spans the fields of chemistry, pharmacology, and toxicology.
What motivated you to choose your Ph.D. program at Penn State?
I applied to the Chemistry Graduate Program at Penn State because of its excellent reputation in research quality and output, and grant funding opportunities. I liked how the department focused on interdisciplinary research projects, particularly my advisor who was also affiliated with the Huck Institutes of the Life Sciences. Furthermore, I noticed that alumni from my advisor’s lab had successful careers in academia, federal government, and industry. All of these factors led me to choose Penn State for my graduate education.
How did your Ph.D. training prepare you for your current job position?
Through my doctoral training, I was exposed to diverse experiences that prepared me to become a research scientist. As a teaching assistant, I developed skills in leadership, time management, communication, and organization that enabled me to lecture and supervise lab activities in a room of 25 undergraduate students. In my advisor’s lab, I learned to be resourceful, a fast learner, and an independent problem solver. I gained teamwork skills by training junior lab members in new methods and instruments and offering critical advice on their research projects. Finally, after giving talks at national meetings and writing journal articles, I realized that communication skills are equally important as technical knowledge and lab skills.
What is something surprising that you learned about yourself during your Ph.D.?
I learned that I could overcome many challenges in graduate school (failed experiments, short deadlines, rejected manuscripts, etc) if I focused on the task at hand and identified all available options to solve a certain problem. By trying different solutions, I realized at least one of them would be successful.
Describe a setback you experienced. How did you overcome and learn from it?
I wrote a few manuscripts that were rejected by journals without opportunities for revision. Receiving criticism from editors and reviewers allowed me to improve my scientific writing and experimental thinking which resulted in future manuscripts being published.
What advice do you think is the most valuable for someone who is:
- Applying for graduate school. (1) Obtain practical experience in academic research or industry internships instead of only taking classes through the university. (2) Apply to a graduate school that has multiple faculty members who you would be interested in working with as not all advisors can accept a new student into their labs. (3) Contact current graduate students to gain a sense of the academic and cultural environment of their program. (4) Research the alumni of a given program and learn the career paths that your degree or research field can provide you with.
- Starting graduate school. (1) Be attentive to faculty personality, leadership style, lab management, and research team interactions when choosing a thesis advisor. (2) Attend career fairs and start browsing job listings early on to know your options and better prepare for job positions. (3) Be resourceful and take initiative in your training. (4) Look for opportunities to give oral presentations and write papers. Communication skills are equally important as technical lab skills regardless of your career path.
- Finishing graduate school. (1) Apply to as many jobs as possible and do not be surprised if it takes several months for you to receive a response. The more applications you submit, the higher the chances you will get an interview. (2) If you are invited for an interview, obtain information beforehand on the organization and what they do. (3) Develop a short “elevator pitch” that you can use when marketing your research or skills to potential employers, and modify it depending on who you are speaking to (e.g., human resources recruiter vs. scientist).
Interview by M. Isabel da Silva