Building Your Own Scientific Consultancy Side-Gig

The interactive workshop that gives postdocs the tools

to learn where their skills are needed most

(online or in-person)

Many early career researchers wonder whether their skills and expertise present a ‘side hustle’ opportunity. The questions they might ask:

  • Might companies have a part-time need for the skills and expertise of a science researcher?

  • Do companies occasionally have a need for detailed knowledge and capabilities they don’t have in their team?

  • Can a PhD candidate or postdoc sell their expertise to a company on a consultancy basis?

The answer to these questions is ‘absolutely!’ And yet, opportunities for researchers to work with private sector companies are often overlooked.

This workshop will teach you to build an actionable plan for selling your scientific skills and expertise in the private sector. We will discuss what skills and expertise companies are likely to need, how to identify your Unique Selling Proposition, how to pitch it to potential clients in industry, and more.

If you are interested in exploring building your own scientific consultancy as a side-gig, this workshop is for you.

Workshop Content:

What does a consultancy side-project look like?

How does the private private sector function?

Building your own customer consultancy plan

Conveying your Unique Selling Proposition (USP)

Making connections in industry

Tips for being 'Industry Ready'

Building Your Own Scientific Consultancy was an amazing workshop! Thank you very much, David Giltner.’

- Imane Guellil, Research Fellow at the University of Edinburgh

Workshop Instructor:

David M. Giltner, PhD – Founder and CEO of TurningScience

David has spent more than twenty years developing cutting-edge photonics technologies into commercial products in the fields of optical communications, remote sensing, directed energy, and scientific instrumentation. In 2017 he started TurningScience to provide training for scientists of all disciplines seeking to enter the private sector as employees, collaborators, or entrepreneurs.

David is the author of the books Shaping the World: The Vital Role of Scientists in Industry, It’s a Game, not a Formula: How to Succeed as a Scientist Working in the Private Sector and Turning Science into Things People Need: Voices of Scientists Working in Industry and is an internationally recognized speaker and mentor on the topics of technology commercialization, product development, and career design.

David has a BS and PhD in physics and holds seven patents in the fields of laser spectroscopy and optical communications.