Co-op Catalysts: Inspiring Career Stories from UBC Science Co-op

In this episode UBC Science Co-op employer, Helen Chan, from the BC Cancer Research Institute discusses her academic and career path and talks about her recruitment process and how to give feedback to employees.

1:01 - Helen's personal background and fun facts

5:44 - Helen's academic background

9:55 - Helen's career background

15:11 - About BC Cancer, BC Cancer Research Institute and Terry Fox Lab

22:34 - What co-op students do at Terry Fox Lab

26:19 - Helen's co-op recruitment process

29:33 - Common mistakes in applications

31:45 - Skills that help students succeed at the job at Terry Fox Lab

33:25 - Helen's approach to providing feedback to student employees

40:03 - Does doing co-op increase chance of full-time employment after graduation

41:40 - How Helen takes care of her physical, mental, emotional and spiritual health

44:38 - Helen's best career advice

46:33 - Helen's best life advice

For more information about UBC Science Co-op visit: https://sciencecoop.ubc.ca/

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Views expressed by the host and guests are their own and not representative of the University of British Columbia.

In this episode Sanya talks to Gloria Sun, UBC Manager of Nutrition and Wellbeing and Registered Dietitian about various nutrition topics and food security resources for UBC students.

1:18 - Gloria's personal, professional and academic background

6:15 - About Gloria's role and department at UBC

12:48 - What a healthy diet looks like

16:16 - Tips to improve diet for mental and physical health

21:40 - Meal prep tips

25:15 - Listening to your body

26:08 - Is highly processed food bad for health?

30:24 - Shopping for groceries tips when you are on a budget

34:40 - Food resources for food security at UBC

39:07 - Simple, healthy recipe tips

45:25 - How Gloria takes care of her physical, mental, emotional and spiritual health

46:57 - Gloria's best career advice

48:15 - Gloria's best life advice

For more information about UBC Science Co-op visit: https://sciencecoop.ubc.ca/

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Views expressed by the host and guests are their own and not representative of the University of British Columbia.

In this episode UBC Science Co-op employer, Dr. Mark Cembrowski, from UBC Department of Cellular and Physiological Sciences discusses his academic and career path and talks about hiring co-op student without posting a job.

1:03 - Mark's personal background and fun facts

2:51 - Mark's academic background

7:31 - Mark's career journey

12:30 - Being a scientist in Canada and starting a lab as a professor at UBC

18:13 - About Mark's lab and research at UBC

26:21 - Mark's approach to supervising students and advice for new supervisors

30:04 - Mark's hiring process

35:50 - Mark's work-life balance process and advice

38:38 - How Mark takes care of his physical, mental, emotional and spiritual health

41:29 - Mark's best career advice

43:11 - Mark's best life advice

For more information about UBC Science Co-op visit: https://sciencecoop.ubc.ca/

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Views expressed by the host and guests are their own and not representative of the University of British Columbia.

In this episode, you will hear about general co-op information for those interested in hiring a student and about being a great co-op supervisor, featuring Dr. Javed Iqbal, Science Co-op Program Director and Physics Professor.

1:02 - Fun facts about Javed

3:17 - General co-op information for employers who are interested in hiring co-op students, including timelines, processes, funding, requirements, postings and interviews

10:15 - Funding information

11:05 - Graduate level co-op availability

12:02 - More about funding

19:14 - Benefits of hiring co-op students

24:44 - Supervisor's responsibilities for co-op

28:40 - What typical issues with co-op students are usually about on the job

35:00 - About check in meetings and feedback for students

38:10 - End of work term evaluations and assignments

42:12 - What makes a great co-op supervisor and work environment

55:11 - Role of co-op coordinators as a support for employers

57:11 - How Javed takes care of his physical, mental, emotional and spiritual health

1:01:17 - Advice for graduating students

1:04:13 - Most challenging and rewarding events in Javed's career

For more information about UBC Science Co-op visit: https://sciencecoop.ubc.ca/

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Views expressed by the host and guests are their own and not representative of the University of British Columbia.

In this episode UBC Science Co-op employer, Dr. Chris Murawsky, from Amgen discusses his academic and career path and gives information about his hiring process.

00:53 - Chris's personal, academic and career background

11:43 - About Amgen

15:58 - Difference between working in academia vs private industry

18:28 - About Chris's role as Director of Research

20:33 - What co-op students do at Amgen

26:20 - Chris's hiring process

33:16 - What makes a good mentor and mentorship at Amgen

36:06 - How Chris takes care of his physical, mental, emotional and spiritual health

37:39 - Chris's best career advice

39:05 - Chris's best life advice

For more information about UBC Science Co-op visit: https://sciencecoop.ubc.ca/

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Views expressed by the host and guests are their own and not representative of the University of British Columbia.

Vanessa Arianto (Land and Food Systems Student) is the guest host for this special episode where Sanya Sivic (Co-op Coordinator) discusses challenges students face during the job search and on the job and how to overcome them.

00:00 - Guest host, Vanessa Arianto, introduces herself

1:46 - About Sanya and how she started in the career development field

7:09 - Most rewarding part of being a co-op coordinator

11:56 - Challenges students face when job searching and how to overcome them

25:33 - Challenges students face at co-op jobs and how to overcome them

32:56 - How Sanya sees co-op changing in the next 10 years

35:02 - How Sanya takes care of her mental, physical, emotional and spiritual health

42:18 - Sanya's best career advice

43:13 - Sanya's best life advice

For more information about UBC Science Co-op visit: https://sciencecoop.ubc.ca/

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Views expressed by the host and guests are their own and not representative of the University of British Columbia.

In this episode, Dr. Mark MacLachlan, UBC Faculty of Science Dean and Chemistry Professor, talks about leadership, co-op and his vision for the faculty.

00:53 - Mark's introduction and fun facts

10:30 - Mark's academic background

14:02 - Mark's career and research background

18:56 - Mark's approach to managing the faculty of science

21:04 - Mark's vision and goals for UBC Faculty of Science

27:40 - How co-op fits into Mark's vision of the faculty

31:39 - What makes a great leader and mentor

33:01 - How Mark takes care of his physical, mental, emotional and spiritual health

34:50 - Mark's best career advice

35:35 - Mark's best life advice

If you are an industry partner and wish to collaborate with the UBC Faculty of Science: https://science.ubc.ca/about/leadership

For more information about UBC Science Co-op visit: https://sciencecoop.ubc.ca/

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Views expressed by the host and guests are their own and not representative of the University of British Columbia.

In this episode, 2024 Student of the Year award winner, Jennifer Nguyen (Integrated Sciences), talks about her academic and co-op journeys and about her favourite and most challenging parts about her co-op experiences.

00:42 - Jennifer's academic and personal background

5:06 - What winning the award means to Jennifer

8:42 - Jennifer's co-op experiences

13:19 - Jennifer's favourite part about co-op

16:25 - Tips for new co-op students

23:51 - Skills Jennifer developed during her co-op work terms

25:59 - Most challenging part about co-op for Jennifer

30:00 - Jennifer's plan for after graduation

32:54 - How Jennifer takes care of her physical, mental, emotional and spiritual wellbeing

35:53 - Best career advice

38:25 - Best life advice

For more information about UBC Science Co-op visit: https://sciencecoop.ubc.ca/

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Views expressed by the host and guests are their own and not representative of the University of British Columbia.

In this episode, Allan Dias, UBC Accessibility Advisor, discusses the services provided by the UBC Accessibility office and workplace accommodations.

1:01 - Allan's inspiring personal, career and academic background

13:25 - About the accessibility office and the type of support they provide for students

17:07 - Reasons why students go to the accessibility office

23:26 - Should you disclose your disability during the interview stage or at the job?

31:32 - Should you disclose an invisible disability to your supervisor?

34:24 - How to disclose your disability

36:55 - What employers can do to make things easier for those with disabilities

43:29 - Allan's best career advice

47:28 - Allan's best life advice

For more information about UBC Science Co-op visit: https://sciencecoop.ubc.ca/

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Views expressed by the host and guests are their own and not representative of the University of British Columbia.

In this episode, senior co-op student, Theodor Diederichsen (Mathematics and Economics), talks about his personal, academic and co-op background including moving for co-op positions and what it takes to be an actuary.

00:33 - Theo's personal and academic background

3:24 - Theo's co-op experiences in Toronto, Vancouver and Germany

14:36 - The advice Theo would give a younger version of himself before he started co-op positions

18:03 - What kept Theo motivated to keep applying and not giving up on finding a job

20:13 - Theo's experiences moving for co-op jobs

27:03 - How Theo found his job in Germany

30:31 - Steps to take if you want to be an actuary

36:57 - Theo's best career advice

39:42 - Theo's best life advice

For more information about UBC Science Co-op visit: https://sciencecoop.ubc.ca/

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Views expressed by the host and guests are their own and not representative of the University of British Columbia.