Tag Archives: information

#scidata16: Work reproducibly for the sake of your career

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Making sure others can do your experiments doesn’t just help them — it’s good for you, too.

Publishing Better Science through Beter Data writing competition Jonathan Page

A core tenet of science is reproducibility: the results of one scientist must be able to be reproduced by another, lest the findings be dismissed as a fluke or even fraudulent. In today’s data-driven realms of research, ‘reproducibility’ doesn’t simply mean publishing methods, many journals now require that datasets, and the code used to analyse them, be published too. This requirement ensures that both data, and methods, can be scrutinised. If other researchers can’t reach the same results, the study will need to be treated with caution. In doing this, scientists avoid damaging their reputation by publishing flawed studies, and journals avoid publishing bad science. It’s a win-win situation.

So why don’t scientists always work reproducibly?

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Jonathan Page

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#scidata16 keynote highlights: “Research data management for early career researchers”

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Data management is a crucial component of scientific research and one that should be tackled by early career researchers before they become swamped with data, says Erica Brockmeier.

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PhD students and early career researchers have a lot on their to-do lists, everything from writing papers and applying for grants to staying on top of the latest findings in their field. The third keynote of the #scidata16 conference highlighted yet another important facet of a research career: data management. Kevin Ashley, based at the University of Edinburgh, gave a thought-provoking presentation on this topic. As director of the Digital Curation Centre in Edinburgh, Scotland, Mr. Ashley and his team provide advice, guidance and training for researchers, alongside consultancy services on all aspects of data management and data reuse. Continue reading →

Opening doors to open data at #scidata16

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Want to embrace open data but don’t know where to start? The tools are out there, says Matthew Edmonds.

The Publishing Better Science through Better Data conference, or #scidata16 for short, took place at the Wellcome Collection in London at the end of October. This one-day event organised by the journal Scientific Data, Springer Nature and the Wellcome Trust explored the challenges facing early-career researchers as we enter the era of open data.

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As a data novice, I arrived without really knowing what to expect. The types of experiments I perform generate only small datasets needing a simple statistical test, easily summarised in a graph in the manuscript. The original data can be safely left to gather dust in a shared drive. Continue reading →

Make a (sketch)note of Science!

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Raise your hand if you doodle while taking notes.

Taking notes is a time consuming – and occasionally boring – process, but doodling and using symbols can make it easier, more fun – and could be better for your studies, says Marianna Ricci.

https://youtu.be/qp3kdN58SD0

Personally I’ve always liked to draw and I think of myself as a “visual person”: I’m sensitive to paintings and photos as well as nice color combinations or a cool pattern.

When I need to study something, the easiest way for me is to write it down and draw a diagram. Especially in my veterinary medicine studies, I used mathematical symbols and diagrams as well as colour codes and eye-catching drawings while taking notes and summarizing the lessons. Continue reading →

How can better data sharing and management improve a career in science?

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Taking the time to plan how raw data will be recorded and shared can make all the difference when new research directions appear, says Matthew Edmonds.

In many research projects, there tends to be three major interested parties. The first is the researcher who actually performs the experiment and collects the data. The second is the scientist overseeing the research project, who may be collating related data from several researchers. Finally, there is the institution, which supports the research financially and provides a space in which to do it.

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{credit}Roche DG, Lanfear R, Binning SA, Haff TM, Schwanz LE, et al. (2014) Troubleshooting Public Data Archiving: Suggestions to Increase Participation. PLoS Biol 12(1): e1001779. doi:10.1371/journal.pbio.1001779, CC BY 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=30978545{/credit}

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How is the rise of data-intensive research changing what it means to be a scientist?

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Data-intensive research requires a new breed of scientist: interdisciplinary analysts who enjoy swimming in data, says Atma Ivancevic.

There has always been an emphasis on the generation of novel data in science. Being a scientist involves progressing from observation to hypothesis to experiment to output. In the past, a combination of scarce data to look at and low throughput machinery to make more has led to limited experimental outcomes.

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Atma Ivancevic

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Big data jobs are out there – are you ready?

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Jungwoo Ryoo, Pennsylvania State University

Big data is increasingly becoming part of everyday life. Network security companies use it to improve the accuracy of their intrusion detection services. Dating services use it to help clients find soulmates. It can enhance the efficiency and accuracy of fraud detection, in turn helping protect your personal finances.

“Big data” is a catchall term for any data set of exceedingly large volume. It could be transaction information at a credit card company, invoice data at an online retailer, meteorological measurements from a weather station. All these data sets have unique characteristics that make it extremely difficult to use conventional computing technologies and techniques to store and process them for analysis. Their variety is daunting, and high velocity is required to handle them in a timely manner.

Organizations in any field can use big data to enhance their effectiveness, which is why there are seemingly unlimited career opportunities in big data these days. The big data industry is growing fast, with the market predicted to grow at a compound annual growth rate of 23.1 percent over the 2014-2019 period.

So who is going to store, manage and process all this information? Well, why not you? Companies are starved for people with this kind of expertise. Big data is a growth industry and people from a variety of academic backgrounds can find successful careers in this area.

Get ready, get set….
World Bank Photo Collection, CC BY-NC-ND

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Informational interviews: The right push for your career?

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Confused about your next career move? Informational interviews can help you get started.

Guest contributor Meenakshi Prabhune

The job search is difficult and intimidating, especially during a career transition. While there are tons of articles and advice on dealing with the much dreaded job interview, they rely on a major assumption: you’ve been called for an interview in the first place! What if you’re still figuring out what jobs you should start applying for? This is where informational interviews come in.

 

dominos Continue reading →