The Yale Physics Professional Development Organization (YPPDO) is an organization that provides professional development resources to physical science PhD students and postdocs. In particular, the YPPDO focuses on exposing PhD students and postdocs to non-academic career opportunities and providing them with opportunities to develop the skills required to make the transition to these fields. We accomplish that by inviting physics PhDs, especially Yale Physics alumni, to speak about their career trajectories into other industries and by hosting skill-building workshops. Finally, the YPPDO collaborates with several organizations on campus to optimize the resources available to our student and postdoc populations.
The gap between academic science and industry is often narrow but deep. Many of the skills you may lack are seen as necessary by an employer, but can be easily learned. (UC Berkeley CDIPS)
The YPPDO greatly acknowledges the support of Yale’s Department of Physics, Wright Laboratory, and the Flint Fund.