Transitioning away from the bench can be a scary proposition – especially when it’s difficult to get your head around what careers outside of the bench actually entail. We spoke with Carly Loeb, Ph.D., former Project Leader at Boston Consulting Group to help demystify one of the frequently referenced career options for PhDs: Consulting.
Careers After the PhD: A Primer on Consulting
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Sensational Science: The Death of Bin Laden and Space Medicine?
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Research is not the only area where headlines are blown out of proportion- take a look at the most recent global news story as an example. This month I decided to focus this column on some falsehoods and rumors circulating about and around the killing of Osama bin Laden. Of course, no Sensational Science column would be complete without at least one scientific story, so I’ve included one of my favorites headlines from the past month.
Mosquitoes Eating You Alive? Cheesy Feet Could be the Problem.
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Here in New England, spring has most definitely sprung. And what comes after spring? Summer. That wonderful time of year when we in the Ocean State hit the beach, have cookouts, and unfortunately get bitten by mosquitoes (when we’re not in the lab, which is obviously most of the time, honest). But recent research from a group of Dutch entomologists has provided new insight into how these evil beasts track us down.
What’s In a Name?
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A few weeks back, I was sending tweets back and forth with Alan. It started when Alan had asked, in reference to a previous BenchFly blog post, whether it was better to focus on a specific research field, or to be a jack of all trades. I joked that I preferred to focus on what I liked to think of as “interdisciplinary research,” a professional (and slightly nerdy) way of portraying one’s self as a jack of all trades. This prompted Alan to say that as a Chemical Biologist, one could do just that.
Curating Science, Genomes and a New Career
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If there was ever a “traditional” career path in science, we can officially throw it out the window. These days, scientists face many more options than the classic ‘Industry or Academia’ dilemma, but identifying those new opportunities can seem overwhelming at times. We sat down with Shirley Wu, Ph.D., Science Content Manager at personal genetic testing company, 23andMe, to find out how she paved the road to her new career path.
Working for Assistant Professors? Call Me After Tenure.
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One of the best departmental outings ever was a trip to the race track. Yes, The Track. Not so much for the horses, but for the sociological experiment that was inadvertently performed. As students and faculty lined up at the window to place bets, two clear populations emerged: those who bet a quarter per race and those who bet ten bucks. In other words, the risk-takers and the risk-averse. Interestingly, most of the risk-takers were also working for assistant professors.
WANTED: Your PI
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We’re working on a project here at BenchFly and would like your help to complete it! We will be showcasing PIs and would like to include yours in the mix. To be included in the final project, please submit a picture that adheres to the following basic guidelines.
Dirty Mouth? Clean It Up with Cancer Screening
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We can all tell when someone ate a piece of garlic bread, or just brushed their teeth, or should have brushed their teeth, but it turns out there is far more to learn from a person’s exhalation than what they ate for dinner last night. Indeed our breath exhibits an individuality that is almost on a par with our fingerprints.
Who Opened the Thiols? Oh- That’s Your Breath?!
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Dear Dora,
A new postdoc in lab has the worst breath I’ve ever smelled, but nobody knows him well enough to tell him to do something about it. What to do? Help!
– Jaime, graduate student
Sensational Science: Army Origami to Space Infections
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Another month, another list of sensational science headlines offenders. Below I’ve outlined a couple of other 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”.
