Academia

Virginie
Adam

Inspired

“I am among those who think that science has great beauty. A scientist is not only a technician: he is also a child placed before natural phenomena which impress him like a fairy tale.”These words by Marie Curie resonate with me, as they accurately describe my feelings of awe and curiosity which...


Kate
Sleeth

Science Fairs

I was recently given the opportunity to judge a few middle school science fairs, and I jumped at the chance.  Not only because I have never been to one (as I am English I have never participated in one before, either as a contestant or a judge) so I was curious to see what it was like, but also...


Dr
27

27 and a PhD

Greetings dear reader. My name is Stephanie (not my real name). I’m a 30 year old scientist in NYC. Originally I started my blog (twentysevenandaphd.wordpress.com) two months prior to my thesis defense. I was 27 at the time, hoping that I’d defend before turning 28. My defense happened that summ...


Christine
Crumbley

Coming to a close

As I write this blog entry, I reflect on all the things that have happened over the last year.  I got approval to defend my thesis, then successfully defended said thesis in March. I started looking for potential postdoc positions last year, then went on interviews in April. The interviews were...


Liang
Zhang

Tips on networking outside of academia

One of the best ways to land a new job is through personal contacts.  As a scientist in academia, you have many opportunities to forge relationships within academia through seminars, conferences and more.  However, if you are interested in learning more about career opportunities outside o...


Kate
Sleeth

The National Postdoctoral Association Meeting 2012

As I have previously mentioned, I am an individual member of the National Postdoctoral Association ( https://www.nationalpostdoc.org/ ), and I recently attended my third annual NPA meeting in San Francisco.  This year marked the 10th annual meeting and was wonderful due to the attention to deta...


Meghan
Mott

Alternative Careers for Science PhDs: Part III – Science Policy

Postdocs have few years to identify career goals, strengthen CVs, and construct a professional network, all while working full time in the lab. Given the current situation in academia, most of us will end up in what used to be considered alternative careers. There is a long list of non-academic care...


Christine
Crumbley

Going to a Conference

I recently attended one of the largest conferences in my field, the Keystone meeting on NR in Whistler, British Columbia. The venue was gorgeous, there was even snowfall on the last night. In our group, the rule for conference attendance is that you can go if you have interesting data to present. Th...