If you already spend all day hanging out with other scientists, the last thing you might feel like doing is joining a professional scientific society. With today’s shrinking budgets, you might also start to question whether this line on your CV is worth the membership dues. However, joining societies has many career benefits in addition [...]

According to the philosopher of science Thomas Kuhn, experimental science relies more on  scientists’ emulation of each other as apposed to theoretical knowledge; e.g. it’s more like craft, which is transferred from person to person through teaching and observing, rather than anything else. Chosen by a group leader, a lab-management strategy is self-sustaining, so I [...]

The prospect of going into an interview for a post-doctoral position can be quite unnerving, however in my own experience the same sorts of questions come up time and time again. It is highly worthwhile spending some time before an interview preparing some sample questions and answers. Doing this combined with some investigation into the [...]

Whether you are looking for a PhD Studentship or your first postdoc position, identifying and approaching a potential mentor can be quite daunting and seem like a bit of a minefield. The following are a few tips to help make a first good impression. 1)      Tailor your CV and cover letter to the individual lab [...]

The viva voce, or the defense, is the final hurdle in becoming a doctor (of philosophy of course). It is also often the most feared part of completing a PhD, fueled by horror stories of evil examiners and 8 hour long exams. I drove myself crazy by reading stories of failed vivas on the internet, [...]

Merriam-Webster defines networking as “the cultivation of productive relationships for employment or business”. Less formally, networking is actively communicating with the other people you know (mostly scientists, in our case) for career advice and job openings, in addition to utilizing opportunities to meet new people for the same purpose. This is a core activity of [...]

“While I dance I can not judge, I can not hate, I can not separate myself from life. I can only be joyful and whole. This is why I dance.” – Hans Bos While in graduate school, I tried really hard to find an activity that would allow me to disassociate my body from my [...]

Some of the greatest ideas in scientific history have involved finding connections between widely separated fields. Take human genome sequencing for example: without the computing expertise required to crunch enormous amounts of data, the project would have never taken off. As we move from an era of specialists to an era of super-specialists, collaboration has [...]

Travelling the world attending conferences is arguably the perk of a scientific career. After many long, long hours in the lab, once a year (or twice if you’re lucky!) you get to hang up your lab coat and get out for a breath of fresh air, meet new people, share new ideas and see fantastic [...]

Sometimes, you just need to put your head down and get some work done.  But if you spend 100% of your work time in that intensely focused state that most people only find when under the threat of a deadline, you could be shooting yourself in the foot. That’s because although everyone needs to be [...]