Recent Posts

Synthetic Biology: Improving Photosynthesis

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Evidence suggests that crop breeding programs have not optimized photosynthesis making it an attractive target for improvement. The last few years have been an exciting time for photosynthesis research with several groundbreaking studies that have afforded huge advances in both our understanding of…

Alternate careers after PhD

Part of the "Self Reflection" series by and for early-career researchers These chapter of the “Self-reflection Series” was conceived to provide an insight for early-career scientist into options after defending their PhD dissertation, especially because many natural science degrees are (almost)…

Zombie Donkeys and the Modern Science Ph.D. Degree

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By Andrew Hanson In George Orwell’s masterpiece ‘Animal Farm’ Benjamin the donkey tells the other animals "Donkeys live a long time. None of you has ever seen a dead donkey”. The point: history had hit him hard and often, so he could foresee outcomes. As a non-dead (zombie) academic donkey…

Pathways not pipelines

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Reflections on a Plant Science Research Network Workshop from an Early Career Scientist by Nikki Forrester It was a quiet morning in August. I sat in my apartment, sipping coffee and sifting through emails. “We are seeking early career scientists . . . who are eager to participate in…