Tag Archives: John Tregoning

The Naturejobs Career Expo – some secrets to scientific success

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Naturejobs journalism competition winner Eileen Parkes

Over one thousand scientists attended the Naturejobs Career Expo last week in London. With professional CV checking, exhibitors from academic institutions and companies from around the world, and career-focused talks from Nobel Prize winner Professor Venki Ramakrishnan, science communication expert David Urry, popular blogger and senior lecturer Dr John Tregoning and many more, this was a resource-packed event for researchers.

Spending the day absorbing so much great careers advice left me feeling punch-drunk by the end.  Some themes cropped up repeatedly — distilled wisdom on scientific success.

Some of the submissions to the Naturejobs Career Expo photoboth

Some of the submissions to the Naturejobs Career Expo photoboth

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I need space to breathe, to create

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Creativity – probably the best PI skill in the world, says John Tregoning

What is the most important skill to become a PI? An eye for numbers, an ability to perform repetitive tasks accurately, optimism in the face of relentless failure, the ability to play nicely with others, sheer bloody mindedness, self-belief? All of these skills will strap you into the driving seat but once there, you’ll need to press the pedals yourselves. The most vital skill is creativity; the ability to see new connections — linking old data in new ways and using what we do know to interpret what we don’t.

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Failing to fail gracefully

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Failure is hard, but keep trying, says John Tregoning (who should follow his own advice occasionally).

Guest contributor John Tregoning

Advice: easier to give than to follow

This time last year, I wrote ten strategies to improve mental health in academic life. I think they’re worth reading, if you haven’t already. You’d think that having given all this advice, I would have followed it, and maintained a Zen-like calm. Not so.

John Tregoning

John Tregoning

In the last year I have allowed failure (and the prospect of failure) to define my mood, compared my progress with researchers several leagues above me and found myself wanting, got too obsessed with work to appreciate anything else, taken on more than I can manage, unsuccessfully disguised my jealousy about colleagues’ success, taken criticism as a personal attack, and not spoken to anyone about what was going on in my head.

Whilst reflecting on my inability to follow my own advice, this year I wanted to come up with something that I could follow to improve my own mental health. Then I had (another) grant bounce and realised that, for me, the major contributor to mental health issues in academia is failure. Yes, failure is relative and, yes, there are clearly bigger problems in the world. But in that bitter moment of rejection it’s hard to step back and see that. Continue reading →

The faculty series: Balancing the books

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It is important to get the balance between your different responsibilities right when starting your academic post, John Tregoning suggests some ninja tips to help you choose.

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{credit} John Tregoning {/credit}

Guest contributor John Tregoning

So you have just read my first blog post, Nobody rides for free, and have come to terms with the idea that academia is more than just research. Now you face a dilemma – how best to add value and still be productive. One of the biggest challenges facing early stage academics is not over-diluting your effort and getting the balance of activities right. Whilst everyone is different and the balance can change over the trajectory of a career, with teaching/grants predominant early on and admin/impact coming later, the following approaches can help you to decide how best to spend your time.

Mentoring. You are not the first person to start a career and academics love to give advice. The simple act of talking through problems can often clarify the solutions. Find someone local, trustworthy (and ideally not your boss) who is willing to give up a bit of their time and sound them out. If you can’t find someone, many institutions now have mentoring schemes to help guide you through the maze. “At my university, new faculty are enrolled into a formal mentorship programme,” says Jamie Mann, assistant professor at the University of Western Ontario, Canada. “This non-supervisory process ensures new faculty members can access the critical support and assistance of more experienced colleagues, enabling new recruits to better achieve their professional goals.” Don’t limit yourself to one person; it may be that you get prudent political advice from one professor and great grantsmanship guidance from another. Continue reading →

The faculty series: Nobody rides for free

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Faculty need to learn how to add value to their institution when starting their first role, says John Tregoning.

Guest contributor John Tregoning

Congratulations, you have your first academic appointment and are now a member of faculty.

Commiserations, you are now a massive financial burden to the faculty and will need to continually justify your appointment.

As a postdoc, financially you were someone else’s problem: your salary came from whoever funded your project. Now, as a member of faculty, the cost of your salary comes from the university’s pocket. But it doesn’t stop at salary. The university also pays for bench space, utilities, parental leave, and – if you were better than me at negotiating – consumables, equipment and possibly even a technician’s salary. None of which comes cheaply. In this age of austerity, heads of department are forced to make budgetary decisions and salaries are not only the biggest cost to most departments, they often account for more than 50% of the total budget. In business speak, these costs mean that not only do you need to demonstrate that the department is making a return on its investment in you, but you also need to add value. Continue reading →