Antara Chakravarty came to UCR as an international student from India. She is a former UCR Grad Slam finalist and TA Development Program Lead Consultant. 

What did you get your degree in, and what are you doing now?

My degree is in Plant Pathology, with an emphasis in Molecular Virology. I studied how genome content, replicase proteins, and subgenomic RNA packaging influence the dynamics of capsids and pathogenesis in plant RNA viruses. Also, part of my thesis work examined the structure and potential applications of plant-based virus-like particles or VLPs.

This fall, I will be joining Stanford University as a postdoctoral scholar to develop experimental systems to investigate lipid composition's impact on membrane-associated RNA virus replication.

What are the top 2-3 things you did while at UCR that helped you finish your degree (and get a position in your field, if you have)? What was most helpful to you as a student here?

While I explored various opportunities UCR offers to graduate students, I will highlight the top three things that helped me the most.

• I have been a part of the GradSuccess community since my first day on the UCR campus. Being a mentee in the Graduate Student Mentorship Program provided an early acquaintance with valuable resources and tools. Subsequently, I served as the Lead Consultant in the Teaching Assistant Development Program (TADP) and as a mentor in the GradEdge/JumpStart program, which helped refine my teaching, mentoring, and presentation/public speaking skills. These roles also provided an opportunity to work with students and teaching assistants from diverse backgrounds. I could mention these experiences in my applications to highlight my commitment and preparation for an academic job.
• Participating in the National Science Foundation (NSF)-funded Innovation Corps Program at UCR was another turning point that taught me critical lessons about evaluating product-market fit for VLP technology, competition a technology may face, intellectual property protection, and funding.
• UCR is an eBird hotspot with 197 species of birds observed on campus so far. I used to document and take photos of birds and bird behavior on the way to and from the lab on weekends. Birdwatching is a lot about patience. Channeling that patience has helped me troubleshoot experiments when I was on the verge of giving up.

What did you like best about your graduate work? What did you like least?

My graduate work was highly collaborative and interdisciplinary. For example, one of my committee members is a theoretical physicist and offered various insightful inputs, creating room for many scientific debates and discussions. I had the freedom to design experiments to answer these questions. That is what I liked most about my research. These discussions undoubtedly enhanced the quality of the dissertation and the publications.

My preferences lean more towards designing and executing experiments. During the last year while collecting data for one of the chapters, I worked simultaneously on two review articles. I remember that time as particularly stressful. My hope for the future is to manage my time and distribute it proportionately between experiments, reading, and writing. Having to choose one or the other from many things you like is difficult!

Is there anything you wish you had done or regretted doing/not doing while a UCR graduate student?

There cannot be a better example than the current social/political climate to establish why scientists must become part of the policy-making process. While our graduate work taught us many transferable skills, discussions about how and when scientists can work with policymakers weren't there. So, I regret not finding out that UCR has a Science to Policy Certificate Program and an option to work on a Designated Emphasis in Public Policy until it was too late to explore either of these options successfully while maintaining other existing work commitments.

What are you most looking forward to in your new position/post-graduate life?

I am beyond excited about starting my new position as a postdoc. The human virology projects I will work on align very well with my overall research interests and goals. Additionally, I will get an opportunity to develop novel experimental systems using my knowledge and skills in plant molecular virology.

Apart from work, I look forward to exploring many wildlife refuges in the Bay area until the COVID situation allows us to visit other public places/attractions safely. Achieving a healthier work-life balance is also one of my priorities at this juncture. Hopefully, I will be able to read, cook, paint, and talk to my family, at least closer to the extent I would like (now that I have graduated, but I do not have too high a hope on this one!).

What advice do you have for other graduate students at UCR about finishing their degrees, going on the job market, or life in general?

So, here's the scoop - some of the best advice I have received from my mentors/network at UCR and beyond, or learned from several thought leaders in my field, or learned in a hard way through my own mistakes):

• Whether you are going for an academic or non-academic job, the skills like hypothesis building and testing, data collection, data analysis, data visualization, and ultimately data interpretation will stay relevant in one context or the other. Similarly, organization, time management, leadership, communication skills, and being comfortable with technology are general qualities employers seek. Therefore, evaluating and reevaluating skills and progress after a certain amount of time goes a long way (for graduate students in science, you can make an initial skills assessment in myIDP if you haven't done so already).
• For those entering the job market, exploring different career paths is advisable to have plans A-C, if not A-Z. If you happen to have informational interviews or network in a virtual conference with someone with a non-traditional career or designation, don't forget to ask them the top three to five skills they need in their daily work. Who knows if it might just turn out to be the description of your dream job?
• As graduate students, we are working to find answers to unique questions that intrigue us the most. Therefore, I think the traditional numeric ways to determine success and failure don't fit this context. However, in the real world, no one can deny that things like funding are highly competitive. So, I indulge in competition with a simple motto: I would not lose anything in it; even if I don't win, I will learn. And that learning comes from asking for feedback and implementing the constructive part of it in future efforts. There is at least one rejected or denied application for each award/grant I list on my CV. Not everyone responded when I asked for feedback. But those who did made the difference between acceptance and rejection in the following application.
• Graduate work is one of the many phases of our lives. But during this demanding and rigorous journey, we often forget to take care of our mind and body, which will get us through everything in life that comes after our PhD. If the mind is not in the right place, self-care seemingly becomes an impossible task to achieve. And that results in failing physical health and unhealthy eating habits, amongst many other things. After all, our body is helping us accomplish all that we want to achieve and serve the causes we believe in. But unfortunately, a lot of graduate students don't think about it consciously. Take every step necessary to ensure your overall well-being, and never give a second thought to the time spent.

We at GradSuccess would like to say thanks to the exceptional women who participated in our PhD Spotlight series this summer, and wish them well in their future careers!