Flyceum: Your Science. Your Career.

Dear Boss: I Want to Graduate. Let’s Talk.

• by Dora Farkas on

Dear Dora,

What’s the best way to get the conversation going about graduation dates with your PI?

- Henry, grad student

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Scared of Dropping the Soap? Worry No More.

• by Katie Pratt on

I realize that my audience here at BenchFly probably doesn’t contain a large number of prisoners, but I never claimed to cater to the majority. Also, you never know when you might end up incarcerated (wrongfully, obviously), so having a few science-y tricks up your sleeve is not a bad idea. And while this may not be a recipe for breaking out by dissolving the bars to your cell, it could make life on the inside a little better.

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Hiring the PI’s Spouse and the Effect on Lab Morale

• by Alan Marnett on

“In group meeting today, I’d like to welcome a new member to our group, Agent Zero.”

“Agent Zero?!” You whisper, leaning over to a labmate sitting next to you.

“What are you talking about? He said ‘Dr. McIntyre’ – it’s his wife.”

“Then why does she keep turning her head and covertly talking into her shirt sleeve?”

“That’s called covering your mouth when you cough. By the way, take notes on that one.”

“Something’s going on here.”

“Yeah, you need to step away from the solvents before coming to group meeting.”

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My Boss’ Spouse: A Spy or Civilian in Lab?

• by Dora Farkas on

Dear Dora,

My PIs wife just started working in the lab and it’s made things really awkward since everyone assumes she’s a spy for the boss. Is there anything we can do?

- biokid, graduate student

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Happy Holidays! See You in 2012!

• by Katie Pratt on

(click image for a closer view)

Thanks for making 2011 a great year! We’re going to step out of the lab for the next week to recharge our batteries and to prepare for a number of big announcements we have prepared for 2012! Have a happy holiday season and we’ll see you in the new year!

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Increase Your Lab Efficiency (and Make Henry Ford Proud)

• by Sean Seaver on

Becoming more efficient as a scientist is constant struggle. This post will touch upon a couple of methods to help increase productivity that only take a few minutes to setup, but can pay serious dividends – standardization and delegation.  While you may not find yourself in this exact situation, hopefully there is something you can take away.  If you have any tips, tricks or systems of your own you’d like to share feel free to leave a comment.

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Bullying in the Lab: Are PIs Guilty?

• by Dora Farkas on

Dear Dora,

With all of the talk about kids getting bullied in school these days, do you think the way some PIs treat their students would be characterized as bullying?

-Den, postdoc

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A Social Network for Food: Why Won’t Vanilla Friend Garlic?

• by Katie Pratt on

Having a well-stocked pantry has never been something I’ve had, a fact that is brought home to me every time I’m in my mum’s kitchen. She reaches into her baking cupboard and pulls out all sorts of spices and powders and sugars, and half an hour later has created a cake. Me, on the other hand? Well, I have half a bag of flour, a can of Dominoes granulated sugar, and some brand new baking powder and vanilla extract that I had to run out to the store and buy so I could attempt a batch of cupcakes.  By the end of the (two-hour) baking process I had wasted one batch of batter due to forgetting to add the egg before the flour, covered myself and the countertop in said flour, and generated nine slightly over-cooked cupcakes.

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What Came First: The Grad Student or the PI?

• by Dora Farkas on

Dear Dora,

I was wondering if you could settle an argument for me – what came first: the grad student or the PI?

-EJ, grad student

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Sensational Science in the Press Part 2: Are Newspapers Any Better?

• by Nick Fahrenkopf on

Right now I’m in “pre-conference crunch mode” along with “manuscript writing mode” so “digging through popular science posts” has taken a bit of a back seat. Please forgive me! I do have some good ones saved for next month, but for now I want to follow up on last month’s analysis of science in the media. Then I focused on the big TV network’s websites, and how the displayed science news. This month I’ve picked some of the top English speaking newspapers from around the world (four from the US, one from the UK, and one from India) to see how THEIR website’s fair.

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