The Graduate School at Stony Brook University co-sponsored the 2025 What Can You Be With a PhD? (WCUB) symposium, one of the largest PhD career development conferences in the country. Hosted by NYU Grossman School of Medicine, WCUB brought together early-career researchers from universities across the Northeast to explore more than 20 panels and workshops led by over 90 experts in their field.
Stony Brook was able to support 47 graduate students’ and 11 postdoctoral scholars’ attendance at the WCUB symposium in New York City for a two-day event on October 25 and 26. Participants engaged with panels covering a wide range of professional trajectories, from academia and industry to government, policy and consulting. At the symposium, students and postdocs were able to take advantage of these workshops and receive professional headshot sessions and one-on-one career coaching.
The Graduate School hosted a post-symposium lunch where attendees from Stony Brook shared their reflections of a highly positive experience, with many of the individuals praising the event’s organization, diversity of sessions and the informative keynote speakers. One participant shared that the panels “offered valuable advice and opened my eyes to careers I didn’t know existed,” while others were impressed with the quality and diversity of speakers present.
Students and postdocs also appreciated the practical focus of the workshops and opportunities to connect with professionals across sectors. They found the networking encouraged by the event rewarding, especially as it helped them establish new connections with individuals they otherwise wouldn’t have met. Furthering this, Jonathan Plessis-Belair, an SBU postdoc, said, “The WCUB event provides a space for students, postdocs and professionals from diverse perspectives to communicate and build their network, sharing both past and present experiences which have helped them shape their career prospects. Ultimately, WCUB is a great opportunity to explore careers and receive feedback from people that have found their calling as a PhD.”
By partnering with WCUB, Stony Brook continues to support graduate students in exploring the full range of career possibilities their degrees can unlock. The Graduate School is dedicated to supporting these individuals through a variety of professional development offerings.
This upcoming spring, the 2026 3MT Competition and Postdoc Spotlight will take place on Friday, March 13, 2026, and speaker registration is now open. Graduate students and postdoctoral students across all disciplines are encouraged to bring their research to life and compete for cash prizes generously sponsored by the SBU Alumni Association.
Speaker applications are due January 29, 2026.
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