What if the future of graduate education were in your hands?

Posted on 21 Feb 2013 by Catherine de Lange

Gene Russo, Careers editor at Nature

The National Science Foundation (NSF) recently gave a small group of graduate students a big say on the future of graduate education. Then the NSF announced a new contest that will give a voice to any student who’s willing, able and motivated to do the same.

At a workshop held by the NSF at the annual American Association for the Advancement of Science in Boston, a couple dozen graduate students, career scientists and others, broke up into work groups, then furiously scribbled their thoughts on large paper pads. How would they change graduate school education for the better?

Some suggested avenues toward greater diversity, empowering minority scientists to teach aspiring minority science students. Others suggested better means of making the transition to full-time jobs – by incorporating more internships into curricula, for example. One group called for more research training among undergraduates in an effort to better prepare future graduate students. There should be more teaching requirements in graduate school, suggested another workgroup. Perhaps, said one group, the master’s degree should be elevated in stature and augmented with more practical training to prepare master’s degree holders for immediate jobs openings. And maybe it’d be wise to extend NSF’s well-regarded, cross-disciplinary scheme, known as Integrative Graduate Education and Research Traineeship or IGERT, to other graduate programmes.

After leading the discussion on such brainstorms, the workshop organizers posed a challenge to all: They launched an NSF-sponsored essay contest, calling on STEM graduate students to submit essays describing what they would do to improve graduate education and professional development in the US. Winners will receive prizes of between $1,000 and $3,000. See here for more info.

What changes would you like to see to improve graduate education and professional development in your country? Let us know in the comments section below.

How to communicate your work through stories

Posted on 17 Feb 2013 by Catherine de Lange

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Stories are the best vehicle for communicating your work, if only you can find them.

Everyone loves a good story, so why do so many scientists shy away from story-telling when discussing their work? Part of the problem could be that we think of stories as fiction, and story-telling as the art of drawing people into a fictional reality. Not true. “The story is a vehicle for a message,” said Brian Lin, Senior Media Relations Specialist at the University of British Colombia, and communications strategist Andy Torr, speaking to a packed audience at the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) annual meeting in Boston this week. “Brains are hardwired for stories. They are constantly asking these three questions: what do I need to know, how do I feel about that, and what do I do now?”

Working your audience

For many scientists, communicating their research involves passing a research paper to an institution’s communications office and hoping for the best. But that’s not good enough, said Lin and Torr. If you want people to engage with your science, you need to be asking yourself some important questions.

For a start, you need to find out what your story is (more on how to do that later) but even before you can do that you need to think about who your audience is. To get your message out to as many people as possible, you should also be asking yourself what your audience can do for you.

Who are the stakeholders who are interested in your research and how can you make them pass the message on more widely? This slide summarises some of the potential audiences scientists are likely to work with, beyond just the mainstream media. Think about how you can engage your audience in a way that’s meaningful to them with your work so they pass the message on.

What’s your story?

Once you know who your audience is, you need to think about the story. Who are the characters? Where is the emotion? “To a non-scientist, facts are not enough to persuade. You need an emotional connection too,” say Lin and Torr. “This is where the story comes in. It is a vehicle for conveying a message and it evokes a visceral reaction. That’s why culture was passed down through stories.” Continue reading →

52 questions to ask before accepting a science job

Posted on 15 Feb 2013 by Catherine de Lange

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For most of us, there’s no such thing as the perfect job offer. Even when we have an ideal in mind, when it comes to real life opportunities, there is usually some sort of compromise involved. At the annual meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS), taking place in Boston this week, career development expert and Executive Director of Addgene, Joanne Kamens, spoke about the kinds of questions all scientists should ask of a new opportunity to find out if it’s right for them.

Most importantly, Kamens says, remember that taking on a new job is not the final decision – you can always change your mind, or move on to other things if it’s not for you. But asking the right questions before making that decision means you can base your choices on rational thinking rather than gut feelings. So here they are.

What should I be looking for in a job?

The most important thing for job satisfaction, contrary to popular belief, is not salary but engagement. Research shows that salary and benefits are less important for job satisfaction than how much you feel you belong, are valued, and are contributing.

To work out whether you’ll get that out of a new job, try to find out about the opportunities there will be for you to learn and grow, Kamens advises. Will the work challenge you? Are there resources in place to help you cope with the pressures and maintain a good work-life balance – what support is available?

You should also pay close attention to the working environment. Can you see yourself there; do you fit in? And what about the values or the organization? Are they similar to your own?

To answer these questions you need to know yourself and what suits your style, so take some time to consider that before setting out to gather this information.

How big is it? Continue reading →

Where are all the science bloggers in the Arab world?

Posted on 05 Feb 2013 by Catherine de Lange

The Arab world needs science bloggers to counter spin in the mainstream media, says Rayna Stamboliyska. So why are they so hard to find?

Cross-posted from House of Wisdom, a blog from Nature Middle East

When I started browsing the web for science blogs from the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region, I didn’t think it would be such an adventure. And for a quest, it was one.

I thus started entering keywords in the search engine. The outcome was disappointing: one or two blogs in English popped up. I thought it is because I was only searching in English, but French and Arabic searches did not harbour significantly more results. When I asked friends to point me out my wrongdoing, they just laughed and the comment invariably was: “Dear, spare your efforts, there is no such thing like science blogging in the region.”

The blogging culture in the Arab world thus seems to mainly touch opinionated people with a say in politics and economy. There is nothing wrong with this. I’ll spare you a lecture on the importance of social media for changing the society we live in, this has been thoroughly discussed elsewhere. Loads of bits and ink have also been spilled to demonstrate the importance of science blogging. Given the paucity of science blogs in the Arab World, I guess a reminder is more than useful.

Why write about science? Reason #1: scientists get to speak directly to the public. Reason #2: lay scientists or enthusiasts engage and keep up to date with developments in various scientific fields. Reason #3: open discussions on research topics are promoted among peers.

This sounds great, motivating and all that. There is, however, a recurrent feature pointing its nose from this shortlist: scientists should initiate and nurture this dynamics, ideally complemented by active science writers and journalists.

A widely circulated image on social networks. Rayna Stamboliyska argues the voice of science is sorely missing in this kind of rhetoric.

If you are reading this piece, it means you are aware that science is an emerging field in the Arab world. Funding is far from sufficient to secure comfortable or even basal equipment for research. Moreover, political influence in science making and communication is a fundamental characteristics in the region. Doctoral degrees are, however, greatly appreciated in all MENA countries. Additionally, journalism and mass communication are a frequently taught discipline. But science and journalism do not really mingle, after all.

If you browse the websites of major universities in the Arab countries, you realize that they are rarely updated. Even if they are so, press releases about endeavours and achievements seldom land on journalists’ desks. Very often, the few science-related articles one stumbles upon in a newspaper are just a translation from foreign sources. This clearly gives the bitter taste of “nothing happens in our part of the world.” Even such admirable initiatives as publishing 50,000 PhD theses online and using the platform as a networking hub finally fail: the dedicated website does not exist at all.

Carry on reading on the House of Wisdom blog…

Rayna Stamboliyska is finalizing a PhD in Genetics and Bioinformatics. She is a science blogger at SciLogs.com’s Beyond the Lab, which looks at emerging ways of doing science. She also blogs at Australian Science and is an editor at Bioinfo-fr.net. In addition, Rayna writes for Global Voices Advocacy, FutureChallenges.org and Jadaliyya. Despite what you might think, she is very much a human being. She tweets as @MaliciaRogue.

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Monthly Archives: February 2013

What if the future of graduate education were in your hands?

How to communicate your work through stories

Stories are the best vehicle for communicating your work, if only you can find them.

Working your audience

What’s your story?

52 questions to ask before accepting a science job

What should I be looking for in a job?

How big is it? Continue reading →

Where are all the science bloggers in the Arab world?

The Arab world needs science bloggers to counter spin in the mainstream media, says Rayna Stamboliyska. So why are they so hard to find?

Stories are the best vehicle for communicating your work, if only you can find them.

Working your audience

What’s your story?

What should I be looking for in a job?

How big is it? Continue reading →

The Arab world needs science bloggers to counter spin in the mainstream media, says Rayna Stamboliyska. So why are they so hard to find?

Nature’s Careers section is pleased to announce our latest international competition to select five young scientist columnists for 2013. All currently enrolled science graduate students and working postdocs are eligible.