Natalia BIELCZYK

Founder & CEO, Ontology of Value®, Nijmegen, the Netherlands

WHO AM I

I am a Computational Neuroscientist turned Career & Business Advisor helping individuals and teams navigate, build value and subvert all expectations in the times of AI. I am also a bootstrapping solopreneur, speaker, author, podcaster, and blogger. 

I graduated from the College of Inter-Faculty Individual Studies in Mathematics and Natural Sciences at the University of Warsaw, Poland, with a triple MS title in Physics, Mathematics, and Psychology. Later, I obtained a PhD in Computational Neuroscience at the Donders Institute for Brain, Cognition, and Behavior, in Nijmegen, the Netherlands. In 2018, I launched a public foundation, Stichting Solaris Onderzoek en Ontwikkeling, aiming to help early career researchers find new careers in industry.

In 2019, I founded Ontology of Value®, an R&D, EdTech, and consulting company  that creates new tools and practices to help professionals craft their dream careers, as well as helping businesses create synergistic, healthy, and happy teams. In the company, I developed the flagship project: the data and machine-learning-backed Ontology of Value® Test, a robust tool that helps professionals and students find optimal career paths, and helps teams bring their performance to the next level.

Even though I chose to work in the open job market, I am still a researcher at heart and believe in the compatibility of science and entrepreneurship. Besides my work, I also author books, lead a YouTube channel, and create educational blogs. In my free time, I document my personal journey at www.nataliabielczyk.com.

WHAT WILL I TALK ABOUT

I will talk about my transition from computational neuroscience to my own business: the philosophy behind my career choices and the subsequent steps I took to develop an international consulting business as a bootstrapping solopreneur. A teaser: it was easier than completing my PhD and I am sure you can do it too! 

I will present my business model and explain how you can discover your own path and make sure that you optimally use your academic experience in your business endeavours. Lastly, I will share some of my thoughts about the future of the job market and give you some general tips for optimal professional development within the next decade.