Hello Phd

Even if you’re not working on a paper or grant proposal today, you’ll probably communicate about science.  You’ll send an email to a colleague, chat with your PI, or present a paper at lab meeting.  In every case, you’re trying to convey an idea or change someone’s mind, and that’s why it’s so important to […] The post 021: The 4 simple tips that will make your writing stand out appeared first on Hello PhD.

As you near the end of your graduate school training, you will feel defeated, worn out, and ready to take a nice, peaceful job at that bookstore down the street.  But if your career goals include leaving the bookstore and returning to lab, you’re probably considering postdoctoral training.  Question is: do you really need to […] The post 020: Do I really need to do a postdoc? appeared first on Hello PhD.

The research is cutting-edge. The publications are top-tier. Funding is abundant. But this lab has a toxic secret that will make your life a living hell.   Hidden in Plain Sight This week, we answered a question from a first-year grad student who found himself in a lab that felt more like the gladiator’s arena […] The post 019: How to Avoid a Toxic Lab appeared first on Hello PhD.

If you wake up every morning excited to go to work, you’re ‘in-the-zone’ all day, and you come home refreshed and excited to start a new day, please stop reading now.  Everyone else, join me in paragraph two. A story for the rest of us Oh good, they’re gone.  It’s hard enough to work at a job […] The post 018: How NOT to choose a career you’ll love appeared first on Hello PhD.

Shocking Fact No. 1: If you put a woman’s name and a man’s name on the exact same job application for lab manager, the woman is described as less competent and will be offered less money. Shocking fact No. 2: If you show  the results of that experiment to faculty members in scientific fields, the men are less […] The post 017: Does science have a gender bias? It depends on who you ask. appeared first on Hello PhD.

During his first week as a postdoc, James was excited.  He stayed late to set up cultures and read a stack of papers.  The second week, he was surprised to notice he was the last one in the lab at 6PM – in his undergrad lab, you could expect to see people working past 10. […] The post 016: Working Hard, or Hardly Working? How lab culture affects your productivity. appeared first on Hello PhD.

Scientists aren’t like other workers.  There’s no 9 to 5 time clock with lunch and two fifteen minute breaks.  When you’re running an experiment, you have to make a plan days in advance, juggle each step and incubation period, and stay nights and weekends to hit your time points. That’s hard enough without the constant ping, […] The post 015: Simple Tricks for Time Management: The Pomodoro Technique appeared first on Hello PhD.

The moment you finish grad school, a weight is lifted from your shoulders.  You’re free to follow your scientific passion and publish your discoveries in top-tier journals.  But don’t get TOO comfortable, because we’ve already started the countdown on your temporary position… Last week, we asked postdocs what they loved and hated about their jobs.  This […] The post 014: Postdoc Straight Talk Part 2: PostTalk appeared first on Hello PhD.

If you met him on the street, you’d never suspect that mild-mannered Clark Kent was actually the indomitable Superman. And there’s a chance that you’re ignoring the real superheroes walking around your lab every day. They’ve escaped from graduate school Krypton and are flourishing under the yellow sun of independent research. They’re postdocs, and churning […] The post 013: Postdoc Straight Talk appeared first on Hello PhD.

If you believe the newspaper headlines, you’ll be ready to dismiss Jake as another statistic. After all, the odds of a soldier returning from war and getting an undergrad degree are not good, which makes his dream of earning a PhD sound like a pipe-dream. But don’t believe everything you read in the papers. The […] The post 012: How to help veterans succeed in science, and why it’s important to all of us. appeared first on Hello PhD.

Biomedical science is broken.  Funding is unpredictable, training programs drag on indefinitely, and some of our best scientists are drawn to careers outside of the university or drowned in paperwork if they stay.  Can anything be done to support research staff and boost lab productivity? Saving Science These topics are regularly debated in the literature, but a recent meta-analysis […] The post 011: The 8.5 fixes that will save biomedical science appeared first on Hello PhD.

Congratulations!  You just decided that you want to be a scientist, and spend your career doing research in a biomedical lab.  That would be great news, except that you’re past thirty and you have no training.  As the excitement fades and reality hits, you ask: “Am I too old to go back to school?” You’re never […] The post 010: Are you too old to go back to school? appeared first on Hello PhD.

It’s year two, and you’re just hitting your stride in the lab.  You’ve finally got classes behind you, so now it’s time to drop the books and make some magic at the bench, right!  Nope, now it’s time for prelims! Will Work for Fish That perennial favorite of graduate training rears its ugly head in this week’s […] The post 009: Research and Prelims and Quals, Oh My! appeared first on Hello PhD.

Imagine waking up on a Friday morning, grabbing a cup of coffee and sitting down to check your email.  What’s this?  A note from your employer stating that your healthcare coverage will expire in 13 hours and it’s up to you to find insurance.  Have a great day!  Hope you weren’t feeling pregnant! #Mizzou #GradInsurance That scenario played […] The post 008: Fight for Your Right to #GradInsurance appeared first on Hello PhD.

Some labs feel like a party – there’s music playing, post-docs chatting, and grad students running from bench to bench setting up experiments. But what if you land in a spot that feels more like a morgue than a living laboratory? Co-workers keep their eyes on their benches, every ear is covered by headphones, and […] The post 007: From Quiet Lab to Super-Fab! appeared first on Hello PhD.

It has happened to all of us: you finish a solid day of work at the bench,  and as you head out the door to your well-earned R&R, the PI catches you and lays on a speech about how you need to spend more time in lab. Everyone’s a critic In one instant, all that […] The post 006: Haters Gonna Hate; Dealing with Critics appeared first on Hello PhD.

Scientists are supposed to be objective, so why is it easier to publish your paper when you’re in a big-name lab?  Why do women and minorities get harsher feedback from reviewers than white men?  And more importantly, what can be done to make the process fair? When Peer Review Attacks In this episode, we uncover […] The post 005: Perfecting Peer Review appeared first on Hello PhD.

What makes two PhDs who escaped from grad school years ago want to revisit all the highs and lows of their training?  Short answer: Beer! But the long answer: Grad school is no cakewalk – classes are challenging, experiments fail, and sometimes, PIs seem like they’re from another planet. We made it through one day at […] The post 004: Why we podcast appeared first on Hello PhD.

You may like your job, your boss, and your co-workers, but what happens if a “Dream Job” lands in your lap? Should you leave the safety of your current gig to take a risk on something new?  What if it’s outside of the “norm” or in a slightly different field? The answer is rarely simple, […] The post 003: Should I take a new job or stay where I am? appeared first on Hello PhD.

The Obama administration has proposed some new rules that would give overtime pay to salaried workers making less than $50,400 per year.  Who cares?  Many post-docs who make the NIH recommended $42,840 seem to care! In this episode, we explore whether the new rules would apply to post-docs, and how post-doc salary has stagnated over the last […] The post 002: Post-doc salary, absent PIs, and the secret of landing industry jobs appeared first on Hello PhD.