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In golf, a horrible tee shot can often be remedied by a mulligan – a do-over – that gives the offender a chance to improve upon the recent catastrophe. Knowing how the first shot ended up, the golfer will usually make the proper adjustments to avoid repeating the same mistake. The result is usually a better shot that allows the golfer to keep moving forward, as opposed to searching for their ball in the woods for 15 minutes. Here, we’re issuing a mulligan for your dissertation research…
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Now three weeks into fall, gone are the warm summer BBQs and refreshing salads. We’re in soup season now and while that usually doesn’t mean much to me, this deliciousness made me a convert. Furthermore, between the pepper and ginger, this soup packs a spicy punch that’s great for fighting off the impending cold and flu season.
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The recent update to the National Academies’ 2005 report to congress, Rising Above the Gathering Storm, paints a bleak picture for the future of science in the classroom should nothing change. The World Economic Forum ranks the United States 48th in quality of math and science education. Ouch. It’s clear that fundamental changes in our educational system must be made beyond cutting a check and crossing our fingers. We must revitalize our approach to science in the classroom in order to effectively educate and inspire future generations of scientists. But where do we even begin?
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Recently, we asked whether labs should operate more as a family unit or as a group of individuals and the overwhelming majority of respondents came down on the side of family. It seems people do best in a lab environment where ideas, questions and support can flow freely among members for the good of both the individual and the group. However, while it’s easy to say things should be like a family, our reality in the lab may prevent it.
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This week we’re excited to celebrate the one year anniversary of the Dear Dora column! We’ve been extremely fortunate to have worked with Dr. Dora Farkas and are thrilled she’s been a part of BenchFly from the early days. We sat down with Dora to find out if there was any advice she’d like to take back, if her own grad school experience was a breeze and if there are particular challenges that she sees facing students and postdocs in the coming years.
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Had Kenny Rogers been an academic, the refrain to his legendary song, The Gambler, may have turned out differently as The Grant Writer: “You’ve got to know when to write ’em, know when to spite ’em / Know when to walk away, know when to run / You never count your funding, till it’s written in your ledger / They’ll be time enough for counting, when the deadline’s done.” Of course, that version of the song probably wouldn’t have vaulted Kenny to the wild success that ultimately gave us Kenny Rogers Roasters – and that’s a lose-lose for everyone.
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As kids, a trip to the zoo is like steroids for our imagination. We walk around in wonder and awe of the incredible animals – Where did they come from? Do they ever sleep? Why does that one seem so cranky? What’s that smell?!
And then we become graduate students and it all makes sense…
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Following-up on What Makes a Great Student in the Lab?, we asked our panel of experts about specific actions we could take to set ourselves up for a successful graduate career. The PIs help set our expectations for how many years we should plan to be in school, how much initiative we should take and what to expect if we decide to leave the bench.
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If we could jump in Michael J. Fox’s Delorian and travel back to 1950 to share the list of major scientific discoveries to come over the next 60 years, we’d sound crazier than new grad students who think they’re going to graduate within three years. Since Watson and Crick first published their helical model for the structure of DNA in 1953, the pace of biochemical research has been astounding. We sequence entire genomes, we clone live organisms and we have multiple drugs on the market to help old men get erections. Ah, modern science.
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Dear Dora,
How many postdoctoral fellowships do most people apply for when starting their postdoc?
– Dom, grad student
