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.
Flyceum: Your Science. Your Career.
We’re following in the tradition of open discussions among scientists that has resulted in important advances in both science and society.
12 Reasons to Establish a Collaboration (or Not)
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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.
Graduate School by the Numbers: Interviews
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I survived graduate school interviews this year because of one very important mindset: they’re not just interviewing you; you are interviewing them.
In preparation for my four consecutive recruitment “weekends” (read: 15 days, 27 interviews, 2 committee meetings, 3 states, 6 flights), I scoured the interwebs for guidance. My favorite resources were Philip Guo and Neurotypical. And in the real world, I was fortunate to have the invaluable advice of my boss, our post doc, and the handfuls of graduate students currently enrolled in my programs of interest. As is my nature, and that of many type-A research personalities, I over-prepared [read: way over-prepared]. In hindsight, it came down to three things:
Sensational Science: Truth Behind the Headlines
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Ever see a news article title and have to do a double take? Below I’ve outlined a couple of recent examples of how the headlines that the popular press shares with the public don’t always match up with what the scientific press actually reports. Or, as in most cases, how the report is twisted in such a way to make for a good “story”.
Are Fatty Acids the Cure for PMS?
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Last week on 30 Rock Liz Lemon (Tina Fey) and her show came under attack for playing into feminine stereotypes. A flashback to several sketches showed the punchline for each relying on PMS, with Jenna (Jane Krakowski) suddenly proclaiming she got her period and turning into a crazed and irrational human being. And then Liz followed suit, screaming at her writers “I just got my period, you’re all fired!” Maybe if she’d taken her fatty acid supplement she wouldn’t have experienced these symptoms, new research shows.
5 Reasons Every Scientist Needs a Homepage
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“Just when I thought I was out, they pull me back in.” – Michael Corleone, just after trying to delete his Facebook account.
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The days of passively searching the Internet are over. We’re now expected to be active participants – try living without an email account – or risk looking like someone writing a check at a grocery store. As our online activity and number of accounts across the web grows, managing our presence feels a lot like herding cats. Fortunately, there is a simple solution that every scientist should examine – creating a homepage.
Innovation: The Value of Your Ideas
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So you had a great idea and you think it might be worth a few bucks. That’s excellent, but your intuition will probably not be enough to move forward with the idea. Not to mention that you may have to spend a few thousand dollars on IP protection before you move forward, so you’ll probably want to be somewhat certain your idea has value worthy of commercialization before you go spending that kind of money. In order for you to ballpark the value of your invention, I’m going to give you some guidelines to perform your own very rough market research using nothing but your analytical capability and the tools you probably use everyday.
