From PhD to Industry – Career Paths in Research & Development
Course Type: Online Information Session and Discussion Target Group: Postdoctoral researchers, doctoral researchers
This event is part of the Postdoc Appreciation Week 2026.
Dr Marc Kieke is an R&D Chemist who develops high-performance specialty chemicals tailored to customer needs and industrial applications. He focuses on formulation development, i.e., translating scientific insight and application knowledge into market-ready, scalable solutions. In his role, he works closely with technical Sales to solve complex customer challenges and with Operations to guide product scale-up from lab validation to industrial production. Since 2015, he has been with Chem-Trend (Freudenberg Group). He studied chemistry and earned his PhD at Leibniz University Hannover.
The talk series "Career Conversations at Lunchtime" is offered by the Academic Staff Development unit at the University of Konstanz. It provides insights into career opportunities for academics beyond the university environment. Experts holding doctoral degrees from a variety of industries share their individual career paths and discuss their current professional roles. They reflect on key career decisions, challenges, and experiences they encountered along the way. Drawing on their personal perspectives, the speakers describe both the appeal and the challenges of their day-to-day work and provide information about possible entry routes into their fields, particularly highlighting the qualifications and skills that are most beneficial. This creates engaging insights into potential career fields and professional opportunities. The event also provides participants with the opportunity to engage directly with the speakers and ask questions.
Marc Kieke is an R&D Chemist who develops high-performance specialty chemicals tailored to customer needs and industrial applications. He focuses on formulation development, i.e., translating scientific insight and application knowledge into market-ready, scalable solutions. In his role, he works closely with technical Sales to solve complex customer challenges and with Operations to guide product scale-up from lab validation to industrial production. Since 2015, he has been with Chem-Trend (Freudenberg Group). He studied chemistry and earned his PhD at Leibniz University Hannover.
