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Hi. My name’s Belle. And I’m a recovering postdoc.
Maybe you think it will never happen to you. You were a successful graduate student. You got along with your dissertation adviser and your committee members. Your project progressed, and when it was stalled, you had something else to work on. You worked, you published, you defended, and you moved to the postdoc position of your dreams.
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One way or another, we’ve all ended up in science. As you talk to fellow scientists about how they got to where they are today, the answers are as diverse as the projects we work on. Some were influenced by a great teacher, some by their friends and others, it seems, were just born with a passion for science.
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Dear Dora,
I finished my PhD with a single publication, which was based on one of my 4 projects. The other projects were not completely finished, but I still generated useful data. My boss does not want to publish them. Can I go at it alone?
– Md Sha
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To illustrate the value of the H-index, we turn to a classic educational movie…Caddyshack. The uptight and competitive Judge Smails (played by Ted Knight) asks his new competition, Ty Webb (Chevy Chase):
Judge Smails: Ty, what did you shoot today?
Ty Webb: Oh judge, I don’t keep score.
Judge Smails: Then how do you measure yourself with other golfers?
Ty Webb: By height.
As scientists, we’re always looking for new ways to analyze, measure and compare things – including our own performance as scientists.
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Occasionally, we need to drop the assay, turn off the HPLC, freeze the cells and take a vacation. At first pass, disconnecting from lab sounds easy- as research seems like a profession in which making progress is heavily dependent on physically being in lab. After all, it’s hard to express and purify protein (other than melanin) while sitting on a beach in Aruba. Yet there are always papers to read, emails to respond to or friends to keep up with – and the internet has made it very hard to escape these responsibilities.
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I was trying to make a plasmid that had various parts from five other plasmids. Normally, I’d say “good luck” to anyone trying a three point ligation and so I considered a five point ligation to be a bit beyond mere mortals such as myself. But with the isothermal assembly reaction, the lab downstairs has had good luck with three and four point ligations. So it was worth a shot…
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Dear Dora,
I am a first year PhD student from a foreign country, and I work 12 or 13 hrs a day in a molecular biology lab. I get no guidance from my advisor and the people around me are unfriendly. I used to cook and play the ukulele but now I work all the time. I am exhausted and feel guilty, because I do not get good results. I am doubting this career choice, wondering whether I can do it, and approaching first year burnout.
A hopeless PhD student
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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?
