Growing up, curry night was always one of my favorite family dinners. Mum would throw together an Indian chicken jalfrezi with rice and poppadums and mango chutney. Delicious! But little did I know that hidden in that curry was a multi-talented chemical.
Curry: Now Good for Detecting Explosions, Not Just Causing Them
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Changing Labs: It’s Not You, It’s Me…Actually, It’s You.
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At one point or another many of us consider changing thesis projects, whether out of frustration, failure or downright boredom. However, for some of us simply changing thesis projects is not enough to resolve the issue we’re facing. In these cases, the last hope may be the nuclear option – changing labs. Students grappling with the decision to join a new group face a number of potential consequences including adding time on to their degree and facing potential political fallout from the decision. Therefore, many students are left to wonder, Is it really that bad? Maybe it’s me? Am I the only one dealing with a situation like this and is it bad enough to change labs over?
Is It 2-Week or 2-Hour Notice? Telling the Boss You’re Leaving
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Dear Dora,
I’ve been a postdoc for 2.5 years and I’ve been casually looking for jobs on the side and a company just made an offer I really don’t think I can pass up, but they need me to start as soon as possible and there’s not much room for pushing the start date back. My PI has no idea. I know it’s going to be ugly – how should I tell the boss I’m leaving?
– Sneaky, Postdoc
The Tightrope: Finding Balance as a Scientist Mom
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Guilt, exhaustion, frustration, turmoil, confusion – all sentiments of my newly intermingled roles as Mom and Scientist. I’ve been pulling this act together since I had my first child – a little boy referred to as Monkey – last November. And while the tenure track to which I aspire presents a worthy challenge, my first four months of motherhood have shown this goal pales in comparison to raising a child. My son changed my life for the better and brought my career into focus. I am slowly redefining myself, and I implore every new mom to do the same.
Graduate School by the Numbers: Aftermath of the Decision
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If I needed a sign that I had chosen the right program – and my guilt pangs were a sure indication that I did – the Dean of the School of Biological Sciences at Super-Fancy Program called me personally to award me a fellowship (just for being a “top recruit”!). Now, I can afford a moving truck and food to stock our new closet-sized home.
Three things overwhelmed the aftermath of the decision-making process:
12 Reasons to Establish a Collaboration (or Not)
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As it turns out, we scientists are a very collaborative bunch! Well at least according to our recent article, There is No ‘I’ in Research, where researchers overwhelmingly opted for sharing the biline with others in order to complete projects faster than going it alone. But speed is just one reason we may consider working with collaborators, so to dig deeper into the reasons we seek out collaborations we’ve listed several potential benefits of working with others. If we can understand what drives collaboration, it may be possible to help support and enable more of them in the future.
Networking Etiquette: Opening Lines to Avoid
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We know. The word ‘networking’ may be about as pleasant to a scientist as the words ‘rejected’, ‘denied’, or ‘triaged’. For many of us, the idea of networking seems like a giant waste of time- something that’s just keeping us from setting up another experiment, reading a paper, or going home. In reality, nothing could be further from the truth. Particularly in today’s economy where jobs are predominantly landed through personal contacts, building relationships with colleagues in a diverse range of fields has never been more important. However, networking can be a bit of an art, so be sure to avoid these opening lines to ensure your NETworking doesn’t turn into NOTworking…
Vote for Your Favorite Scientist Homepage
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Today the flavors.me + BenchFly Scientist Homepage Challenge enters the final stage to determine which websites will receive a full year of premium services from the great folks over at flavors. To support your favorites, vote for them below before March 23, 2011- the top five sites you like the most will be declared winners. (And we’re not talking the Charlie Sheen kind of ‘winner’…) Of course, by creating fantastic homepages the entrants made it tough to decide between them. So to get the ball rolling, we turned to a few expert judges from academia and industry to see what criteria they value in a great website.
So You Thought Eating Poop Was Bad For You?
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Yesterday I got a package in the mail: My mum had sent me a red nose. I can imagine you are thinking “sweet!” or “what?” or “why?” or a combination of all these emotions, so I will respond to them all. Yes, it is awesome, and I proceeded to wear it as I drove around town running errands. It is a squishy red clown nose with a smiley face on it that gently pinches onto your own boring nose and makes it look sillier.
Graduate School by the Numbers: The Decision
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I have lost count of the number of people to whom I’ve turned for advice regarding the optimal career path. The beautiful thing about learning from other people’s experiences is that you come away with proof that things can work out (or not) if a certain course is taken. The agonizing thing is that you ultimately have to make your own decision anyway.
In stark contrast to my first year of applying to graduate school, I was accepted this round to all of my programs of interest. As encouraging as it is to be wanted, I somewhat wish that I was left with fewer options. After a bit of grueling rumination, the decision came down to two programs.
