We’re following in the tradition of open discussions among scientists that has resulted in important advances in both science and society.
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Dear Dora,
My PhD boss does not trust me at all and according to him I am a thief who is selling his lab work to others, but of course I am not doing that. He checks my results five times – keeping watch on me. It’s really bothering me…please help.
– Rohit, grad student
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My career path over the years has veered in directions I never would have guessed. As an undergraduate, majoring in chemistry, I thought that engineering sounded completely unappealing because of all the math involved. I also refused to take a single biology class because my mother taught high school biology, and it amused me that my dislike of biology irked her. (That totally counts as rebellion, right?)
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When pursuing research as a profession, it often seems our options distill down to two choices: 1) a career in academics, or 2) a career in anything else. While ‘anything else’ includes a tremendous number of exciting opportunities, it’s not unusual that researchers might feel a bias towards academics – especially early in their careers. After all, the academic environment is where most of us start out and as a result, our professional role models are likely academics.
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Work is filled with moments where our minds drift off on vacation, leaving the body carelessly going through the motions in autopilot mode. Nowhere are the consequences of a poorly-trained autopilot more damaging than in email. Mess up an experiment, you can repeat it. Send an angry email to your boss, you can start browsing the classifieds.
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The business card is a staple in most industries, but they are much less prevalent in science, particularly in the academic community. For many of us, the thought of handing out business cards congers up images of slimy douchebags at cheesy networking events. Yet, the reality is far from that fear. The business card is a powerful professional tool that deserves serious consideration among scientists. The douchebag, on the other hand, is a different kind of tool and should be avoided in the interest of career development…
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The “deinterlace video” setting is one of the easiest ways to improve video quality and it requires nothing more than a click of a button. Understanding how video is recorded and displayed provides a solid foundation for documenting your laboratory techniques as well as for looking cool when talking about high definition tvs…
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Here I sit, 5:48pm on a Tuesday. It’s exactly three hours and 48 minutes after I was supposed to have the weekly one-on-one meeting with my boss. What have I been doing for the last four hours? Let’s review.
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Dear Dora,
My PI constantly tells potential collaborators that we’ve got results we actually don’t have, despite my frequent attempts at correcting him. I’m worried it’s going to backfire on us and make me look bad. What do you recommend?
– KA, postdoc
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Today our laboratory techniques join the ranks of the Whopper, the Tall Latte and the Burrito as items that can all be enjoyed on the go (hopefully without the heartburn…). As the Apple vs. Flash video war rages on, the real victims are often us – the innocent internet users – who find many of our favorite websites aren’t fully functional on our cell phones. And in an on-demand world, that’s just not acceptable.
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Dear Dora,
My boss is a serious micromanger and it’s driving me crazy. Is there any way to get them to loosen the reigns, or am I stuck?
– Amy, grad student
