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Azevedo strongly advises other postdocs to start applying even if they feel it is too early in their career.

A rewarding career awaits those who can stand up to the field's fast pace and considerable demands.

Your personal statement should clearly express your understanding of what graduate school is about and how the graduate degree will build upon your previous experiences toward the attainment of your career goals.

My academic CV, which went on and on about kinetics, fluorescence, and other things that would have sent someone outside my field running, was thrown in the fire, and I started thinking hard about what transferable skills I had gained during my time in academia.

"You have a lot to learn, but when you can argue the case of your patent application successfully to a patent examiner, it's great," says Sarah Thompson.

Systems biology seeks to connect the dots between molecular data. It's a hot career field, but success requires making connections between disciplines.

"You have to tell them that you're ready to do independent research because as a postdoc you're not going to be held by the hand anymore," says Anna Moraitis, NSERC Industrial Research fellow.

"My stay has kept all its promises."

Asked to assess the programs, the panel threw up its hands.

Making courageous career choices, says Linda Ko-Ferrigno, is a lot easier when "you have someone cheering you on."

“In the last 15 years, I had some good intuition that I always made sure I followed up on,” says Pierre Dutilleul, an applied statistician at McGillUniversity.

"It's easy to find things that work. But to produce them on a large scale and market [them], it's a whole new thing, and it requires a lot more expertise that maybe in-house researchers just don't have," says Hélène Chaisson, Vice-President of Research and Development, Codena.

If you stay in the lab, you can only be as innovative as yourself.

Her past experiences helped her realize the importance of being a scientist and a mentor, and she currently uses her expertise to help manage natural resources and to bring women and minorities, especially Native Americans, into science.

"RISE wants all students, especially the ones who think they can't do it or aren't sure [about a career in science]." --Robyn Hannigan

Oldroyd had found an ideal research area to build his career on. "I made very conscious decisions about which fields to go into," recalls Oldroyd.

"The most important concept you have to remember is that technology doesn't mean you have a company." Says Roger Bernier, Vice-President of Foragen Technologies Management.

Beyond the challenges, provided one is aware of the rules of the game, leaving academia doesn't need to be a one-way street--and may provide the opportunity to gain valuable skills.

It is a successful formula for this target group.

Whitney B. Hill, who joined MVA in October as a research scientist, prepares and analyzes environmental samples for identification and characterization using Transmission Electron Microscopy (TEM).