Career Paths
Ping
Xiao
3 tips for a successful job search for a Ph.D.
We are our own inner architects. As a PhD, it is not hard to understand an equilateral triangle base is the least requirement for a stable frame, and the broader that triangle is, the higher the building could be. Skill, Interest and Value are the three sides of triangle, which are necessary f...
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Wenny
Lin
Foreign postdocs at the NIH
During my first meeting with the planning committee for the 2011 NIH Career Symposium, I learned that more than 60% of the postdoc fellows at the NIH are non-US citizens or residents. Briefly judging from the accents heard around the room that day, I estimated that possibly 75% of the planning commi...
Xiaoli
Du
From Beijing to Washington: dream and reality
“Hi, my name is Serena, nice to meet you!” I feel this was a kind of introduction of myself a long time ago, which sounds formal and exotic to me. “Oh, nice to meet you! What is your Chinese name? My name is Richard.” “My Chinese name is Xiao-Li. Sorry if it is hard to pronounce, jus...
Sarah
Pick
Interviewing Skills for a Scientist
The key to a successful job interview is to apply the same analytic skills process as you do for your research. A potential employer is interested in your broader expertise – excellent writing and communication skills, leadership skills (ability to create a vision and set goals), and project...
Jason
Sherwin
When can we consider “significance” significant?
Statistical significance is one of those things that comes up quite often in medical research. Many people are fond of p-values, i.e. probabilities that the results could have been obtained by chance, being less than 5%. There are many types of tests for validating experimental findings that use thi...
Matthew
Hight
Finding the Right Career Path
I can’t think of a witty one-liner to start off my first blog entry, so I’ll just skip that part and jump right into things. I received my BS degree in chemistry and, like most undergraduates, was unsure of what to do after college. I was unsure of the job market and of what career path I wa...
Wenny
Lin
Scientists and social media – are we behind the curve?
In the October 2010 issue of The Scientist, Associate Editor Richard Grants noted in his editorial that “only a fraction of researchers in the UK make frequent use of social media tools.” I suspect that is also the case here in the US.
Mike
Chang
THE MASTER PLAN
In my past blogs, I had lamented on the lack of career planning as I was going through my education. At this stage in life, I recognized the deficiency and immediately proceeded to over-compensate on the solution. I made a significant decision during my apprenticeship at UC Irvine. I had d...
Clement
Weinberger
Do scientists really need social networks?
The short answer is “yes.” Of course they do. But the best networks would probably not be Facebook clones. Why not? Well, because Facebook helps people find people. Scientists need networks that help people find information. The label “Scientists” is a very big one and includes a lot of ...
Jennifer
Reineke Pohlhaus
How I did it: Changing Careers, Part II
Last time, I gave the basics about how I prepared for the AAAS Science & Technology Policy Fellowship so that my application was competitive, which began my career transition into science policy. In this post, I’d like to give you three more tips that might not have been so obvious from ...