Carin Reuter, PhD – Advisor, patents and licenses: Anything is possible

Career start
After studying and obtaining my Ph.D. in Organic and Supramolecular Chemistry at the University of Bonn, a postdoc scholarship enabled me to spend some time at the University of California in Berkeley. That was a smart investment, because Bayer invited me to a postdoc workshop in West Haven. I was immediately intrigued by the company, and just a few months later I began working as a patents consultant for Bayer HealthCare in Leverkusen.

Work day
Fortunately my job as a patents and licenses consultant involves a lot more than working with dry legal texts. In fact, my field combines natural sciences with law. That means going into the laboratory from time to time and also keeping abreast of research and development activities and, of course, our products. It is very exciting to experience first hand how good ideas are turned into good concepts, and good concepts into good products. It is my job to protect those products, helping to ensure that Bayer can market them successfully.

It is the combination of these two very different fields that makes Bayer so attractive for me. The switch from scientist to patent agent and the combination of legal and scientific aspects provided me with a unique opportunity to expand my horizons. My time in the United States and my advanced training as a European patent agent and German patent attorney also contributed to this. Bayer is an employer that carefully fosters the personal and professional development of its employees.

Family and career
I gave birth to my three children between August 2004 and April 2008. I have been employed part-time – on a 30-hour week – since 2004, working from home two days a week. This enables me to successfully combine my job with family life. And it means I don’t lose sight of my future career prospects – since even though I have a family, I also want to make progress in my career.