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Monthly Archives: September 2016
Multi-disciplinary Centers are lousy lifeguards when drowning in sea of PowerPoint slides
Structured efforts to build collaboration-encouraging centers cannot overcome fundamental problems in scientific communication.
These centers should focus on new scientist-to-scientist communication techniques before designing formal programs, says David Rubenson.
Multi-disciplinary, trans-disciplinary, translational, team science. These are the buzzwords for a consensus that transformative science requires collaboration among diverse disciplines. With scientists locked into narrow sub-disciplines, universities are dedicating enormous resources for top-down multi-disciplinary “programs,” “centers,” and “institutes” that attract diverse researchers, with the aim of encouraging more multidisciplinary collaboration.
Fieldwork fails: A polar bear stand-off
Russian researchers saved from becoming an easy meal for hungry predators
Polar bears investigate the submarine USS Honolulu 450 kilometres (280 mi) from the North Pole in 2003{credit}U.S. Navy footage/video{/credit}
Panic and a PhD
The authors are recent PhD graduates who’ve all experienced anxiety during and after their doctoral program.
Here they share their story to support current doctoral students working to navigate and maintain a healthy work/life balance.
The lifestyle of graduate school has been associated with the presence of mental health issues, such as depression and anxiety, in students during their academic programs. A 2013 analysis of the 2009 National College Health Assessment found that 61.3% of current graduate students reported ever feeling anxiety, with 43.8% feeling anxiety within the past 12 months. As recent graduates from a doctoral program, we’ve experienced this anxiety firsthand, and hope that our stories and recommendations can help to tackle this problem head-on.
Stress is an essential reaction to danger, a mechanism ingrained in us long ago to force a “fight” or “fly” response. However, it’s how we react to stress that impacts our long-term health, including the potential development of anxiety through cognitive distortions and unhealthy coping mechanisms. While we three may have already been naturally anxious people, this became increasingly heightened when under the stress of working on our PhDs.
Big data jobs are out there – are you ready?
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.
World Bank Photo Collection, CC BY-NC-ND
Children’s hour
As a scientist, you’re juggling so much already.
You’re managing your research programme, trying to publish, writing grants, and, depending on your career stage, looking for a postdoc or permanent position or supervising and mentoring junior lab members. Plus you likely have teaching obligations, are serving on a committee or three and have to give a big talk soon.
How do you cope with all of that when you have a family? You can’t just put baby in the corner as you race off to the lab in the morning, or rely on the babysitter every single night for three weeks straight because of that thing that keeps happening with your cell culture.
It isn’t easy. But we’ve rounded up a few ideas for you from other parent-researchers that might help smooth your way. One possibility, if you’re about to do a postdoc or are doing one, is to ask your principal investigator (PI) about shared postdocs. While this idea hasn’t taken off (yet) like wildfire, it’s worth bringing to the table, especially if your PI knows that you have young children at home or are planning for one. The risk is minimal, and you might be pleasantly surprised. Remember: no ask, no get. Continue reading
Finding job satisfaction as a data scientist
Following your interests and making connections can launch a career.
Unlike most US students, Nathan Sanders declared his specialty as soon as he started undergraduate studies. He’d known for years that he wanted to study astronomy, but during his PhD at Harvard University he realized that the analysis itself enthralled him more than the applications for astronomy. He describes how he used his technical skills, and connections outside his academic program, to launch his career.
What’s different in your day to day (from graduate school)?
We ask academics at the Naturejobs career expo, San Francisco, what’s changed.
https://youtu.be/rKE2n_tobmk
Why building a start-up is probably your most sensible career path
Your PhD has given you the perfect tool set to start a high-tech company, and it’s nothing to do with your technical skill, says Mark Hammond.
In stark contrast to the proliferation of web based start-ups led by young founders, science based start-ups have typically remained the domain of seasoned professors, spinning out breakthrough technology built on years of research. This is changing rapidly, and it’s now more viable than ever to start a science based company straight out of a PhD. In fact, it might just be one of the most sensible career paths that you can take.
Students at Imperial College’s Marker’s meetup present ideas and get feedback
Highlights from the Comm4Science science communication conference
You need to prepare to get your science in the news. And when it comes to interacting with journalists, loosen up and let your emotion come through.
Guest contributor Virginia Schutte
The international conference Comm4Science: communicating science beyond the lab took place in Heidelberg in early May. Around 100 participants attended, where they met a great roster of speakers, took part in a communication workshop, and asked questions of a panel of experts.
Virginia Schutte