As the light at the end of the grad school tunnel gets brighter, our thoughts move towards our post-graduation plans. For many of us, the next step in our research career involves postdoctoral research- yet finding the right opportunity can be complicated to say the least. Do we stay in the same field? Should we consider working for a competitor? Is that seriously how much a postdoc makes?
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Selecting a Postdoc: Should I Stay or Should I Go?
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Words Your Boss Will Never Say
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Studies have shown that regardless of the industry, more than seventy five percent of employees list dealing with their immediate boss as the most stressful part of their job (Sutton, 2010). When asked to ‘rate your boss‘, we found over sixty percent of scientists would give their boss a C grade or worse. With a work environment like this, it’s obvious there are a few phrases most of us will never hear from our boss- ever.
Group Meeting Bingo!
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“If I have to sit through a group meeting or seminar and hear ‘Today I’d like to talk about’, ‘Preliminary data suggest’ or ‘So in conclusion’ one more time, I’m gonna… shout ‘BINGO’?!”
Ask Me One More Time… I Dare You.
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Scientific research is fueled by a desire to answer questions – What is the molecular basis of disease? Can we use individual DNA sequences to personalize medical treatments? Does the world really need another ‘male enhancement drug’? But as we find out over time, not all questions are created equally…
Poverty Nutrition III: Empty Refrigerator Contingency Plan
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So the only things in the refrigerator are jelly and ketchup. Again. Despite the best intentions, sometimes eating home-cooked meals as a grad student seems even more hopeless than finding a time when all the members of your thesis committee can meet together.
How Long ’til Your Resolution Implodes?
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This holiday season, in honor of that elusive ‘work-life balance’ concept, we shut the doors at BenchFly and took a rest. While it’s always sad to see the holiday season end, we couldn’t be more excited about getting back to work because of what 2011 holds in store. In fact, in the next couple of weeks we’ve got some great contributed articles we’re eager to share as well as a couple of exciting announcements!
The Grad Student’s Holiday Party Survival Script
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What do the holidays mean to graduate students? Time to take a well-deserved break from the lab. Time to step back from the bench and take a hard look at their project. Oh, and time to have the same, depressing conversation with family and friends who don’t really understand the process of grad school but feign interest once a year.
Best. Cashews. Ever. (Is That Rosemary?)
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‘Tis the season of holiday parties and get-togethers. Therefore, ’tis also the season of figuring out what to bring or serve that is unique, inexpensive and easy but will make a great impression. Luckily – unless you’re allergic – you’ve just found your dish.
How Long Should Grad School Take?
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How long does it really take to properly train a PhD student? Two years seems short and 25 years seems on the long side, so the right answer must lie somewhere in between.
POD: Toaster-Oven Pie on Demand
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I am always in search of good ideas to steal from. The other day, trolling for recipes, I came across this post and immediately fell in love (and seriously started considering whether or not I need to change the title of this blog, considering how often pie comes up!) At any rate, the idea is simple – you make single-serve pies in mason jars, bake them off (or not, in the case of fruit pies) seal them up, freeze them and then heat them up as needed!
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