Advice for Scientists
Aníbal
Valentín-Acevedo
Being passionate about what we do
I recently gave a talk to a group of undergraduate students about how to identify their goals and the importance of passion during that process. Although most of them agreed with me on the importance of being passionate, the reality is that most people have a hard time identifying what they are...
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Judy
Lytle
Imposter Syndrome
The term “imposter syndrome” was coined by a couple of clinical psychologists in the late 1970s. This is when high-achieving people have freak-out moments, and think that they’re going to be called out as frauds. I think PhDs coming out of academia often suffer from imposter syndrome.&nbs...
Suzane
Ramos da Silva
How to multi-task?
My challenge began around a ago, when my PI invited me to manage the lab, while at the same time, I was developing my post-doc projects. At first, I said no, but after considerable thought, I decided to accept the new task. Apart from the new routine, it also came with a lot of new responsibili...
Judy
Lytle
The Seven Archetypes of Difficult Co-Workers, Part 1
Seven dwarves, seven deadly sins, seven Wonders of the World, seven consecutive post-doc positions if you stay in academia… Since seven seems to be a magical number, I stopped my list at seven. But there are so many archetypes to choose from! I’m going to talk about some of the archetypes I...
Judy
Lytle
The Seven Archetypes of Difficult Co-Workers, Part 2
In my last post, I described seven types of difficult people I’ve encountered since leaving academia. Here, I’ll talk about how I deal with those people.In a previous role, I managed a staff of 15 people. While my staff was generally fantastic, I spent a lot of time addressing personnel issues. ...
Robert Cory
Bernhards
Giving Your Research Presentation
Presenting your research well is critical to being a successful scientist. If you’re a good presenter, you’ll be able to get people excited about your research, which may lead to collaborations, funding, awards, and jobs. Now that you know how to prepare your presentation from my pre...
Charlene
Milliken
Did I Just Waste All Those Years in Graduate School?!
I’ve asked myself this question a lot over the past couple of years. I spent years in graduate school, focused on becoming an expert in a subject matter that I was passionate about…only to leave it behind as soon as my Ph.D. was in hand. Did I just waste 8-1/2 years of my life?! &nbs...
Lamar
Blackwell
Searching for our career north: The Process- Step 1: The Actions
After we have made an honest assessment of what our values are and how our choices aligns with our values, we can think about how we should go about this change. It is important that this is personalized because this is your path. Then we can take inventory of where we are and where we w...
Robert Cory
Bernhards
Preparing Your Research Presentation
Research presentations are a vital part of science. Your preparation process for an oral presentation will depend on how experienced you are and how well you understand your research, however, here is a tried and true method that can work for you at any level.
Michael
Salgaller
Job-Hunting: Riding the Emotional Roller Coaster
Looking for a position – even voluntarily – is stressful. If the job-hunt is discretionary, if you can stay where you are long-term and perhaps are simply bored, it’s comparatively less stressful. But even then, there’s something unsatisfying about where you are that’s making you look...