Motivation: know thyself
Some scientists say that lab work can be really boring (even if boredom is interesting), and, when facing deadlines and lots of work with not enough time, motivation can be in short supply for scientists — especially as we all retreat from once-fresh new year resolutions. Read more
Dummy no more: When to accept you’re no longer a beginner
Last year, a friend of mine was applying for highly competitive PhD scholarships at Oxford, Cambridge and EMBL-EBI. She spent countless hours filling in applications, going through interviews, getting rejected and trying again. This process was tough – especially because she almost always made it into the final round. It was a learning experience for all of us. Read more
Know the odds
Both supply and demand have contributed to an research-and-development (R&D) career bottleneck, according to a 15 December Science article signed by the 10 research leaders, who call themselves the Coalition for Next Generation Life Science. US federal research funding, when adjusted for inflation, declined by nearly 20% from 2003 to 2016, according to the article. Meanwhile, PhD candidates continue to enroll in doctoral programmes. The result is that only one in 10 trainees will gain a tenure-track position within five years of receiving their PhD. Many PhD holders then spend longer than they had anticipated in postdoc training positions, sometimes taking multiple fellowships while waiting for academic job openings to materialize. And the ones who do land such positions are taking longer to secure their first independent grant. Read more
A long and winding road into medical communications
Many of our scientific journeys began long before we stepped foot onto a university campus. We may have had lifelong fascinations with the natural world, a desire to make some positive change, or simply a love of learning. We aspired to become like our science heroes, the Marie Curies and Bill Nyes of the world, and so embarked on the path towards becoming a scientist. Read more
Career success: Reframe your thinking
Milgram, who spoke at NIH’s 10th annual Career Symposium in May, says that junior scientists, including graduate students and postdocs, need to become active participants in their career development, and that a chief component of that participation is talking with people about various career paths. “Talk with them — and learn from them,” she told her symposium audience. Read more
Taking the long way to international development
How Panagiotis Vagenas ended up withdrawing from NIH funding for a research position with a non-governmental organization. Read more
Science competitions earn you fame, glory and transferable skills
My PhD journey is coming to its end and I am considering a non-academic career. Looking at job descriptions, I know I tick the box marked ‘strong analytical and problem-solving skills.’ However, there are other boxes to consider: ‘Strong time and project management skills.’ ‘A team player with a proven track record of collaborations.’ ‘The ability to communicate clearly and concisely to a wide range of stakeholders.’ … Read more
The way to success in science
A degree in science is just one stepping stone on a long path with varied exits, curves and about-turns. Choosing wisely is not always an easy task, but there’s no right way to success: there’s a whole lot out there to choose from. Read more