Plant scientists call for renewed focus on empowerment of trainees
Blog, Careers, Careers - Blog, Education, Education General, Mentoring, Plant Science Research Network, Skills and Advice, Work-Life Balance, Workplace DiversityPreparing graduate students and postdocs for diverse careers
Changes in the workforce are challenging academia to prepare scientists to be adaptable and adept at communicating across boundaries. To meet these demands, the Plant Science Research Network (PSRN, plantae.org/PSRN) is shifting the focus…
Images for Impact – How-to tips. Created for the Plantae Seminar Series
Blog, Careers, Careers - Blog, Education, Education General, Science Communication, Skills and Advice, Writing/Reviewing/Publishing/Communicating
Earlier this year I gave a Plantae seminar on "Images for Impact" - simple, free tips about how to source and create images to use in your science writing and communicating.
Here is the text of the handout I created to accompany the seminar. You can get this as a PDF here. You can download the…
Ten simple rules for writing a response to reviewers
Blog, Careers, Careers - Blog, Skills and Advice, Writing/Reviewing/Publishing/CommunicatingAnother excellent entry in PLOS Computational Biology's "Ten Simple Rules" series.
Read "Ten simple rules for writing a response to reviewers" here.
Short version:
Rule 1: Provide an overview, then quote the full set of reviews
Rule 2: Be polite and respectful of all reviewers
Rule 3: Accept…
How Academics Survive the Writing Grind: Some Anecdotal Advice
Skills and Advice, Writing/Reviewing/Publishing/CommunicatingWords of Wisdom from Those Who Publish (and Do Not Perish)
By Helen Sword
A PhD student approached me after a writing workshop to recount his tale of woe. “I write these messy, incoherent first drafts,” he lamented. “They’re absolutely awful! Then I have to work on them for hours and hours…
Twelve easy steps to embrace or avoid scientific petrification by Stephen Campana
Blog, Careers, Careers - Blog, Skills and AdviceLooking back on his 40-year career gives author Stephen Campana the opportunity to distill very useful career advice.
Very briefly, here are his 12 steps, but we recommend you real all of this interesting and useful article, found here, from the ICES Journal of Marine Science.
Read, read, read
…
Combatting the Impostor Syndrome in academic science – you probably are as smart as they think!
Blog, Careers, Careers - Blog, Mentoring, Skills and Advice1 Comment
/
Rebecca Mosher is an Associate Professor in the School of Plant Sciences at the University of Arizona who studies small RNAs and epigenetics. You can reach her at @rm0sher .
Have you ever felt like you don’t belong in academic science? Do you think that you aren’t as smart as the people across…
How to Review a Manuscript, from MBoC
Careers, Careers - Blog, Skills and Advice, Writing/Reviewing/Publishing/CommunicatingA 2011 editorial from the journal Molecular Biology of the Cell (MBoC).
Any jackass can trash a manuscript, but it takes good scholarship to create one (how MBoC promotes civil and constructive peer review)
http://www.molbiolcell.org/content/22/5/525.long
Key points:
Review a manuscript only…
Life as a Scientist, a Woman’s Perspective | Christine Fleet | TEDxEHC
Blog, Careerpaths, Careers, Careers - Blog, Careers in Plant Science, Work-Life Balance, Workplace Diversity
Published on Apr 28, 2016
How do you juggle a toddler in a research lab? Very carefully. This talk looks at issues facing women (or any caregiver) in scientific careers, along with examples from women who have found ways to be successful as parents and as scientists.
As a member of the Biology…
Alan Alda's Experiment: Helping Scientists Learn To Talk To The Rest Of Us
Blog, Careers, Education, Education General, Skills and Advice, Writing/Reviewing/Publishing/CommunicatingAn NPR interview with Alan Alda about his efforts to help scientists learn to communicate.
"People are dying because we can't communicate in ways that allow us to understand one another," he writes. "It sounds like an exaggeration, but I don't think it is. When patients can't relate to their doctors…
Mapping a Mentoring Roadmap and Developing a Supportive Network for Strategic Career Advancement
Careers, Careers - Blog, MentoringBy Beronda L. Montgomery, Michigan State University, East Lansing, USA
From SAGE Open, Vol 7, Issue 2, First published date: June-03-2017
http://journals.sagepub.com/eprint/izCuY6fGpyIi7B5JREqZ/full
Abstract
This article presents a proactive, individual-centered mentoring model which meets…
Why can't scientists be better communicators? (SciAm blog)
Blog, Careers, Education General Public, Skills and Advice, Writing/Reviewing/Publishing/Communicating
Author Katherine Wu highlights some of the challenges that interfere with scientists communicating.
She says, "Both scientists and non-scientists must commit to not only communication, but also a drastic reassessment of how we communicate with each other. I believe mending the rift starts with…
8 things to consider for early career researchers (by Steven Burgess)
Careers, Careers - Blog, Finding Your Next Position, Postdocs, Skills and AdviceBy Steven Burgess, posted on Medium
"As I am coming to the end of my time as postdoc I have been thinking a lot about what I have learnt and perhaps wish I knew when I started out. Inspired by the German poet Rainer Maria Rilke’s ‘Letters To A Young Poet’, I am noting down some thoughts which…
Scientific integrity resource guide
Blog, Careers, Skills and AdviceAbstract
Scientific integrity is at the forefront of the scientific research enterprise. This paper provides an overview of key existing efforts on scientific integrity by federal agencies, foundations, nonprofit organizations, professional societies, and academia from 1989 to April 2016. It serves…
How to break down cultural and language barriers in the lab (C&EN)
Careers, Careers - Blog, Workplace DiversityVolume 95 Issue 20 | p. 30
Issue Date: May 15, 2017 | Web Date: May 9, 2017
By Chemjobber
The best science happens when all hypotheses are considered and all voices are heard. Not only that: If important safety information isn’t communicated among all lab members, someone could get hurt.
How…
Ten simple rules to make the most out of your undergraduate research career (PLOS)
Blog, Careerpaths, Careers, Careers - Blog, Careers in Plant Science, Skills and AdvicePLOS Computational Biology has a series of "Ten Simple Rules" articles.
Here is one for undergraduate researchers,
"Ten simple rules to make the most out of your undergraduate research career" by Megan Yu and Yu-Min Kuo
Here are the rules, read the article for elaboration
Rule 1:…
A community repository of plant illustrations
Blog, Research Blog, Writing/Reviewing/Publishing/CommunicatingGuest post by Erin Sparks, Guillaume Lobet, Larry York and Frédéric Bouché
It is midnight on a cold winter evening and you are scheduled to give a seminar at 8 am the next morning. All you are missing to complete your presentation is one last graphic to illustrate your conclusions. You wearily…
Plain-language summaries of research
Blog, Careers, Careers - Blog, Skills and Advice, Writing/Reviewing/Publishing/CommunicatingThe editorial team at eLIFE has shared some of their tips for writing about your research in an accessible way. In addition to reporting on the outcomes of their plain-language summaries (eLIFE Digests), they provide an excellent set of guidelines to help you write your own plain-language summary. All…
Communication: Antisocial media (Nature Careers)
Careers, Careers - Blog, Writing/Reviewing/Publishing/CommunicatingCommunicating about science (or anything) on social media sites can expose you to rudeness and worse. In this column by Amber Dance from Nature Careers, several high-profile scientists and science communicators share how they avoid and cope with conflicts.
Read more here.
How microaggressions are like mosquito bites
Workplace DiversityHere's a short video that uses a metaphor to explain what microagressions are.
Source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hDd3bzA7450
Opinion: Gender diversity leads to better science (PNAS)
Workplace DiversityIn this Open Access article, Wullum Nielsen et al. explore the "innovation dividend" that comes from greater diversity. They point out that "maximizing gender diversity’s benefits requires careful management." As examples, "motivating managers to voluntarily engage in the recruitment and training of…
Is your Professional Portrait a Picasso or a Da Vinci? (Bethany Huot)
Careers, Finding Your Next Position, General Information, Writing/Reviewing/Publishing/CommunicatingBethany Huot, founder and director of The COM (Community of Minds) / @ThePubClub, writes about the six steps to managing your digital identity. What do prospective employers see when they search for you online (and yes, they do...). Maybe its time to refresh your online profile.
http://thecomonline.net/is-your-professional-portrait-a-picasso-or-a-da-vinci/
A Beginner’s Guide to Establishing a Professional Online Presence (Inside Higher Ed)
Careers, Finding Your Next Position, General Information, Writing/Reviewing/Publishing/CommunicatingLesley McCollum writes about why scientist need to establish their profession identity online, including a description of popular sites (e.g., Twitter, LinkedIn) and how to use them. In addition to following her advice, we'd recommend you set up and maintain your Google Scholar site and register for…
The Value of Mentoring (Women in STEMM Australia)
Careers, MentoringThis article was originally published on Women in STEMM Australia. Read the original article
The Value of Mentoring
Posted on May 31, 2015 by Women in STEMM Australia
Trainees in science often express the need for ‘a mentor’. What does this mean and what should mentees and mentors expect?
What…
How to find success as a woman in science (The Conversation)
Careers, Careers - Blog, Mentoring, Skills and Advice, Work-Life Balance, Workplace DiversityKara Perrow (nee Vine), University of Wollongong; Amy Wyatt, University of Wollongong, and Martina Sanderson-Smith, University of Wollongong
As children we are encouraged to dream big, and many young people – including young women and girls – aspire to a career in science.
While there are role…
American Society of Plant Biologists (ASPB) and Botanical Society of America (BSA) are recruiting 20 PlantingScience Fellows to participate in Digging Deeper Project
Education General, Mentoring
Digging Deeper: Developing a Model for Collaborative Teacher/Scientist Professional Development
Are you passionate about science education? Would you like to build connections with high school biology teachers and their students? Are you excited about an opportunity to share what's so exciting…
Communicating Effectively with Graphics
Careers, Careers - Blog, Skills and Advice, Writing/Reviewing/Publishing/CommunicatingFrédéric Bouché, a postdoctoral research with Richard Amasino at the University of Wisconsin, recently caught our attention when he published a set of impressive visual abstracts to support his latest research papers. We invited him to share how and why he makes these images. -Editors
When you…
Resources for promoting diversity from Ambika Kamath Description
Careers, Skills and Advice, Workplace DiversityOne of the professional skills needed for a career in science (or any career) is how to promote and sustain a workplace that is supportive to everyone. Not everyone is trained in this skill though. Here is a list of articles that can help you to master the whys and hows of workplace diversity.
View…
How Women, Companies and Organizations Are Closing the Gender Gap
Careers, Skills and Advice, Workplace DiversityToday, women earn significantly more master’s degrees than men, and in a diversity of fields. Nonetheless, women continue to face challenges to higher education, and remain under-represented in a number of industries. Thankfully, many schools and organizations recognize these trends and are taking…
A history of black scientists
Careers, Skills and Advice, Workplace DiversityThe Feb 2016 issue of ASBMB Today focuses on the importance of diversity and inclusion in biochemistry and molecular biology. To accompany the issue, we put together a timeline highlighting some important achievements in the life sciences made by black scientists.
View resource
Bringing scientific rigor to issues of diversity
Careers, Skills and Advice, Workplace DiversityIn 2014, Hannah Valantine became the first chief officer for scientific workforce diversity at the National Institutes of Health. Her charge is to diversify the biomedical research workforce “by developing a vision and comprehensive strategy to expand recruitment and retention and promote inclusiveness…
Talking inclusion and diversity
Careers, Skills and Advice, Workplace Diversity"Poet and activist Audre Lorde said, “In our work and in our living, we must recognize that difference is a reason for celebration and growth.” She also said, “It is not our differences that divide us. It is our inability to recognize, accept and celebrate those differences.”"
"Although scientists…
Ten easy ways you can support diversity in academia in 2016
Careers, Skills and Advice, Workplace DiversityAn excellent list of suggestions that anyone can follow to support diversity.
View resource
Workload survival guide for academics
Careers, Skills and Advice, Work-Life BalanceFirst-person accounts by several UK academics on how they try to manage the ever-increasing demands of the academic workload. You'll share their pain and maybe learn a few tricks.
View resource
Seven posts to help you find the right work-life balance with children (Nature Jobs)
Careers, Skills and Advice, Work-Life BalanceJust in time for Mother's Day (UK): Nature Jobs has collected a set of posts with advice on how to achieve work-life balance with children.
View resource
Science-ing as a pregnant postdoc - blog post by Sarah Supp
Careers, Skills and Advice, Work-Life BalanceMany early career scientists wonder about the possibility of balancing children and their careers. This juggling act starts even before the child is born. One postdoc shares the story of how her pregnancy has affected her work and choices in the weeks leading up to birth. It's a useful first-person account…
Clickable Spreadsheet for Life Science Education Resources to Help Professionals, Educators & Students
Careers, Grant Writing, Skills and AdvicePSALSE resource inventory 2015
The Professional Societies Alliance for Life Science Education (PSALSE) offers an inventory that distills how PSALSE affiliates organize their program categories and activities. The spreadsheet provides specific links (URLS or emails, where available) for more information…
Ten Simple Rules for Getting Grants
Careers, Grant Writing, Skills and AdviceAt the present time, US funding is frequently below 10% for a given grant program. Today, more than ever, we need all the help we can get in writing successful grant proposals. We hope you find these rules useful in reaching your research career goals.
View resource
Beginnings – How to write your first grant proposal
Careers, Grant Writing, Skills and AdvicePreparation of a successful grant proposal generally requires the ability to communicate effectively with two entirely different audiences. You want to come across as knowledgeable to the reviewers who are experts in your area, but you also need to be understandable to those members of the review committee…
Writing a Winning Proposal (by Karen Kreeger)
Careers, Grant Writing, Skills and AdviceYoung, aspiring researchers often have to learn the hard way when it comes to writing a killer grant application. But a range of European initiatives aims to give them a helping hand. Karen Kreeger reports in NatureJobs.
View resource
National Science Foundation Proposal Guide
Careers, Grant Writing, Skills and AdviceUnless specified in an NSF program solicitation, proposals submitted to NSF must be submitted electronically via use of either the NSF FastLane System or Grants.gov. Further information on each system is provided below.
View resource
Write a research proposal
Careers, Grant Writing, Skills and AdviceSome tips for writing a successful grant proposal from Vitae.
View resource
Research funding: 10 tips for writing a successful application
Careers, Grant Writing, Skills and AdviceSecuring funding through grant proposals can be a long and difficult process. Experts share their advice on how to help your applications succeed.
View resource
Advice on applying to funding schemes
Careers, Grant Writing, Skills and AdviceThe following article was written for Research Fortnight by Dr Claire McNulty, Director Science and Research at the British Council, and provides advice on applying to funding schemes with particular relevance to the current call for workshop proposals under Researcher Links. The article first appeared…
General Tips on Writing a Competitive Grant Proposal & Preparing a Budget
Careers, Grant Writing, Skills and AdviceA federal grant is an award of financial assistance from a federal agency to a recipient to carry out a public purpose of support authorized by Federal law. Grants are subject to statutory, regulatory, and policy-based requirements, depending on the particular program. Federal agencies, including the…
BBSRC research grants guide
Careers, Grant Writing, Skills and AdviceInformation on all aspects of funding through the BBSRC research grants, including eligibility and application procedures. From the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC).
View resource
Art of Grantsmanship
Careers, Grant Writing, Skills and AdviceWriting a successful grant application is an art. Although the science is primarily being evaluated, presentation and respect for the requirements of the funding agency are key aspects that can make or break an application. In this article, Jack Kraicer, former Director of Research Grants at HFSP provides…
What Google Learned From Its Quest to Build the Perfect Team (NY Times)
Careers, Mentoring, Skills and AdviceNew York Times By CHARLES DUHIGG FEB. 25, 2016
Fascinating story of how Google approached the question of why some teams work better than others - by analyzing lots of data, they found evidence for whan many of us know intuitively, "What Project Aristotle has taught people within Google is that no…
Taking Ownership of Your Own Mentoring
Careers, Mentoring, Skills and AdviceExcellent article that explores the many different ways we all need mentoring - from sponsorship to emotional support. This article, derived form Earth Science Women's Network, explains the many kinds of mentor you need, their roles, and provides a worksheet so you can make sure you've got them all.
View…
When It Comes to Mentoring, the More the Merrier
Careers, Mentoring, Skills and Advice
Good article that explains why you need a mentor network and how to build one.
"Stop looking for a guru.
Sure, it’d be nice to have your own personal (Dr.) Yoda instructing you in the ways of the academic force. But the idea that one person can meet all your mentoring needs and guide…
Ten Simple Rules for Getting Published
Careers, Skills and Advice, Writing/Reviewing/Publishing/CommunicatingWhen you are long gone, your scientific legacy is, in large part, the literature you left behind and the impact it represents. I hope these ten simple rules can help you leave behind something future generations of scientists will admire.
View resource
How to write consistently boring scientific literature
Careers, Skills and Advice, Writing/Reviewing/Publishing/CommunicatingAlthough scientists typically insist that their research is very exciting and adventurous when they talk to laymen and prospective students, the allure of this enthusiasm is too often lost in the predictable, stilted structure and language of their scientific publications. I present here, a top-10…
How to write 10,000 words a day
Careers, Skills and Advice, Writing/Reviewing/Publishing/CommunicatingAt every Thesis Bootcamp we have run, at least one student will achieve this goal, and many write many more words than they thought they would. In a previous post Peta Freestone and Liam Connell wrote about the ideas behind Thesis Bootcamp. In this post I want to reflect on Rachel Aaron’s threefold…
How to get published in high-impact journals: Big research and better writing
Careers, Skills and Advice, Writing/Reviewing/Publishing/CommunicatingGetting your work published is about more than good science, it’s about good communication too, say Macmillan and Nature editors at the London Nature jobs Career Expo in September 2014.
How to get published in high-impact journals: Big research and better writing
You are ready for your close-up
Careers, Skills and Advice, Writing/Reviewing/Publishing/CommunicatingStep aside Neil deGrasse Tyson: Making videos related to science is no longer the purview of professionals. These days, any scientist can make and post videos online with little cost and much potentially to gain.
View resource
How to reach a wider audience for your research
Careers, Skills and Advice, Writing/Reviewing/Publishing/CommunicatingThis website is full of well curated ideas and tools for getting your research out to other scientists and the public. A must read for all researchers!
View resource
Getting the Word Out
Careers, Skills and Advice, Writing/Reviewing/Publishing/CommunicatingIn a shifting media landscape with a growing public interest in science, some researchers are doing their own PR.
Includes an overview of what to write and also a useful list of places to send your research summaries.
View resource
New Year's Resolutions for Would-Be Scientific Editors
Careers, Skills and Advice, Writing/Reviewing/Publishing/CommunicatingThinking about moving your career in a new direction? Here is a list of ways to start to prepare yourself for a career in writing / editing.
"There are number of different things you could be doing right now while you're completing your graduate or postdoctoral work to build a strong skill set that…
21 Proofreading and Editing Tips for Writers
Careers, Skills and Advice, Writing/Reviewing/Publishing/CommunicatingProofreading can be a chore, but if you send out your work full of typos and grammatical errors you won't be judged by the good quality of your ideas....
View resource
Peer Review 101: Advice for Trainees, Junior Faculty, and Mentors
Careers, Skills and Advice, Writing/Reviewing/Publishing/CommunicatingPeer review, meaning a critical assessment by experts within a discipline, is both a privilege and the responsibility of all scientists who seek to publish their research and compete for funding. Peer review also contributes to professional development: Many institutions consider peer review activities…
Small Changes in Teaching: The Last 5 Minutes of Class
Careers, Careers - Blog, Skills and Advice"Don’t waste them trying to cram in eight more points or call out as many reminders as possible"
One of a series of article by James Lang in the Chronicle of Higher Education on small changes that can make your teaching much better. The article includes links to his other columns.
View resourc…
E/quality and Diversity
Careers - Blog, Workplace Diversity
Recently, I was asked it if is ethical to give a job to a woman rather than to a man of higher quality. I replied, “How do we measure “quality”? This is the longer answer that I didn’t have time to provide. The opinions expressed are my own.
Achievement does not equal quality
Imagining…