It’s like we’re at that point in a book where we’re dying to skip the last 20 pages to find out what happens. Or that part in a Keanu Reeves movie where you whisper to yourself “I can’t believe I seriously just sat through that.” That’s right, we’re at the end. At 11:59pm EST tonight, this competition will be history, so take one last minute to support your favorite proposals.
Choose Your Microgrant Winners While You Still Can!
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You’re a Grad Student: You Shall Perform, Even When Sick.
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My project is one of those studies where not coming into work is just not an option. I am looking at a phenomenon that requires me to make observations over time, and missing any of those time points introduces a serious gap in my data. Although it is a good project, there is one major flaw in the design: no back-up plan in case I get sick.
Full-time Student (and Part-time Employee?)
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Dear Dora,
I’m having a hard time making ends meet and am considering taking a part-time job in the evenings to help keep me afloat. If I’m enrolled full-time as a grad student, is that legal? I’m hesitant to ask our graduate coordinator since I don’t want to anyone to get suspicious.
M.J., graduate student
11 Days Left to Make Your Votes Count!
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Lately, there’s been a lot of movement on the Search for Research Leaderboard. Not the kind of movement caused by prunes – we’re talking about the kind caused by votes. So coming into the homestretch, we’ll keep a close eye on how many votes separate the top contenders so we can help give our favorites the final pushes they need to win.
How Important are Scientific Conferences?
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Conference season is in full swing and many of our poster tubes have logged more mileage than Mark Hamill got from Star Wars. Coming off of the recent American Chemical Society (ACS) and American Association of Cancer Research (AACR) meetings, there is little rest before the summer Gordon conference schedule begins. Although a scientific conference rarely lasts for more than a week, we often prepare for months on end – performing last-minute experiments, designing beautiful posters and battling large-format printers. So how many times a year should we be putting ourselves through this wringer?
Search for Research: The Race for a Microgrant is On!
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There are exactly three weeks left in Search for Research and the proposals are fantastic! It’s going to come down to the wire so we’ve listed the top 20 entries to encourage people to vote for proposals they think deserve the money and to inspire them to submit their own ideas. The titles alone could be the names of books, Hollywood movies, kids toys or country songs, and the research proposed is even more interesting!
Isn’t Reviewing Papers My Boss’ Job?
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Dear Dora,
My PI asked me to start reviewing papers that are sent to him by journals- is this allowed? Isn’t that part of his job?!
– Suspicious in San Fran, Grad student
How Scientists Really Get Trained
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For novelists: books, imagination and Microsoft Word. For pilots: classes, flight simulators, and wingmen. For athletes: coaches, teammates, and addiction counselors… Developing into a true professional requires a few indispensable resources tailored to the craft. So what would we say “For Scientists:”?
Back-of-the-Envelope-Calculations (Should be on the Front of Our Minds)
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Science is an incredibly precise profession. Adding two, ten, or twenty times the amount of a reagent could be plenty to ruin an experiment. Yet despite the importance of details, calculating everything to the third decimal place can cause us to lose focus of the bigger picture – and losing perspective in science can be a very dangerous proposition.
How Big is the Tenure Carrot?
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First it’s “graduating”, then it’s “finding a job”, then it’s “get tenure”, and on and on… While the goalposts may shift over the course of our career, it’s clear that some of them are more important than others, at least to some people…
