Whoever invented the slow cooker (aka, crock pot) must have been a scientist… “How can I set up my meal in five minutes so that when I get home tonight, around 12 hours from now, an incredible meal will await?” Well we should all take a moment to honor that genius, because without their invention, deliciousness like this wouldn’t be possible…
Slow Cooker Magic: Italian Beef
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Become a Scientific Expert in Five Years
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Graduate school is undoubtedly a key training period in which we learn to carry out independent research in preparation for our future career. The postdoc is considered an essential step on this pathway. But what determines when we’re ready to step out on our own? When do we officially become a scientific expert?
Why Do We Still Publish Scientific Papers?
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This question is directed towards people who think that ranking ~24,000 scientific journals according to a negotiable, irreproducible and mathematically unsound measure is a practical way of sorting the wheat from the chaff. The specific uselessness of Thomson’s IF aside, if this ranking were done in the best possible way, what would be a consequential way of using it?
Choose Your Lab Superpower
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Reducing Bumping on the Rotovap
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The bump guard lesson is usually learned one of two ways: A) someone teaches you, or B) someone doesn’t. The former is ideal and you may have no idea how lucky you are. The latter looks like this…
Own a Pet in Grad School? Consider this first…
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Pets can prove to be a good choice in graduate school. In fact, studies have shown that pets (mostly dogs) can help to battle loneliness1, reduce stress2, and improve mood3, three areas that any grad student could use a little help in. However, if you don’t do your research first, you may feel the opposite of these effects. That’s why we are providing a guide to deciding whether a pet is right for you at this stage in your life.
I’ve Found a Job – the Final Steps of Grad School
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(From the archives of an almost-real email correspondence…)
Dear Tim:
The Widget Company would like to inform you of the following job offer, as head of scientific development, working on the discovery of our next generation widgets….
The email then goes on to state your compensation and your start date. And that’s when the joy of your sweet new salary turns sour…
Government Science Budgets 2009
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The government is a key funding source for most academic labs, so it’s not a bad idea to know how much money is actually out there. We’ve looked at the 2009 budgets at four of the major funding institutions, the National Institutes of Health (NIH), the National Science Foundation (NSF), the Department of Defense (DOD) and the Department of Energy (DOE), in order to reveal the current budget numbers.
The Importance of Goals in Science
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Although fall is not traditionally thought of as a time of new beginning, it does represent the start of both the new academic and fiscal years. Viewed in that light, it seems we’re missing an opportunity to take a step back and start a new tradition based upon what we always do at the turn of a new year: no, not make a fool of ourselves at the office party OR drink too much OR lay around and watch football… It’s time to make some New Lab Resolutions.
Working at the Interface: Matt Bogyo
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Research at the interface of disciplines has spawned entirely new fields, like Chemical Biology and Chemical Neuroscience. These burgeoning fields are ripe with opportunity for scientific discovery. We spoke with Matt Bogyo, Ph.D., Associate Professor at Stanford about his journey to chemical biology and academics, both of which followed a winding path.
