Panel Discussion: Careers in Academia, Industry, Start-Ups, and Beyond

Rachel Thomas, Letiția Pârcălăbescu, Katharina Schäfer, Dag Ivar Furevikstrand, Markus Gottschling

Explore diverse career paths with professionals from academia, industry, start-ups, education, and science communication. Through an interactive panel discussion, speakers will share their experiences, discuss the opportunities and trade-offs of different career choices, and reflect on navigating transitions between sectors. The session aims to help young researchers make informed career decisions and embrace flexibility in their professional journeys. 

Moderator:
Markus Gottschling 

Panelists:
Tony Feng
Dag Ivar Furevikstrand
Letiția Pârcălăbescu
Katharina Schäfer
Rachel Thomas 

The 13th Heidelberg Laureate Forum took place from September 13–18, 2026. #HLF26 

The Heidelberg Laureate Forum (HLF) is an annual networking conference where 200 carefully selected young researchers in mathematics and computer science spend a week interacting with the laureates of the most prestigious awards in their disciplines: the Abel Prize, ACM A.M. Turing Award, ACM Prize in Computing, Fields Medal, IMU Abacus Medal and Nevanlinna Prize. 

The opinions expressed in the videos do not necessarily reflect the views of the Heidelberg Laureate Forum Foundation or any other person or associated institution involved in the making and distribution of these videos.