If you haven’t heard of social media by now, you may want to sit down for what we’re going to tell you next: Astronauts have landed on the moon! We’re at a point where it’s hard to ignore social media – for better or worse. (When Metamucil has a fanpage on Facebook, it’s clearly getting out of control…) However, what may be less obvious are the personal and professional implications of using social media for scientists.
Social Media for Scientists – What’s Most Popular?
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Only MacGyver Could Make a Gourmet Quiche With Fewer Ingredients
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The weekend is here and let’s face it, the same bowl of cereal or piece of toast that does the trick during the week just ain’t gonna cut it on our days off. The weekend is a time to wake up leisurely, walk around in a robe and read the paper while enjoying a veritable cornucopia of delicious brunch food. Well, that would be nice. Unfortunately, we may have to go into lab, we don’t have time to cook, we don’t have money for expensive ingredients and we don’t own a robe. That leaves us with only one question: WWMD (What Would MacGyver Do)?
Seven Steps to Successful Summer Student Supervising
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As finals wrap up in colleges everywhere, graduate students and postdocs across the country can now be overheard exclaiming, “this summer’s going to be so awesome! I’m going to have an undergraduate student working with me and with four hands instead of two, this project is going to take off!” Oh, it’s going to take off – in what direction is the real question…
Superstition Doesn’t Affect Experiments (Knock On Wood)
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Maybe you think twice before starting a new project on the 13th, or perhaps a pinch of sodium chloride flies over your left shoulder at the beginning of every experiment. It can be tough to get experiments to work and when they do, it’s not unusual to repeat every detail – from the reagents used to the underwear worn. And thus, the birth of superstition in the laboratory- but who’s to say all of those details don’t actually matter…
Is it Career Suicide to Work for a Competitor?
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Dear Dora,
We always seem to be competing with this one lab, but they do really good work and I like them a lot. Is it acceptable to do a postdoc with a competitor’s lab?
Gena, graduate student
Meet Your Search for Research Microgrant Winners!
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Last week the inaugural Search for Research competition came to an exciting conclusion. While there was movement all across the leaderboard, the eventual top two finishers battled it out for the top spot with over 1000 votes between them in the final 24 hours! Luckily, thanks to all of your support in downloading and using the toolbar, we raised enough money to fund both of them! So let’s meet the first class of Microgrant award winners.
Licensing Deals: Lab Treasure or Personal Pleasure?
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Ah, remember the glory days of the 20% NIH funding line? Or the feeling of seeing a lab grow? Or when people used to talk about those things called “jobs”? Well, those memories are fading for us too. Surviving tough times in the lab requires a bit of creativity and this is particularly true when it comes to figuring out how to pay the bills.
Choose Your Microgrant Winners While You Still Can!
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It’s like we’re at that point in a book where we’re dying to skip the last 20 pages to find out what happens. Or that part in a Keanu Reeves movie where you whisper to yourself “I can’t believe I seriously just sat through that.” That’s right, we’re at the end. At 11:59pm EST tonight, this competition will be history, so take one last minute to support your favorite proposals.
You’re a Grad Student: You Shall Perform, Even When Sick.
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My project is one of those studies where not coming into work is just not an option. I am looking at a phenomenon that requires me to make observations over time, and missing any of those time points introduces a serious gap in my data. Although it is a good project, there is one major flaw in the design: no back-up plan in case I get sick.
Full-time Student (and Part-time Employee?)
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Dear Dora,
I’m having a hard time making ends meet and am considering taking a part-time job in the evenings to help keep me afloat. If I’m enrolled full-time as a grad student, is that legal? I’m hesitant to ask our graduate coordinator since I don’t want to anyone to get suspicious.
M.J., graduate student
