Hello Phd

It’s that time of year again – summer days are growing shorter, your friends are trying to fit in one last trip to the beach, and the backpack aisle at Target is about to be cleared out to make way for the Halloween costumes. Yes, it’s back-to-school time. From toddlers to teenagers, this time of […] The post 119. Ten Tips to Crush Your First Semester appeared first on Hello PhD.

Wouldn’t it be nice if you had a crystal ball that could reveal your grad-school future? You might look forward to see if that next experiment will work out, or if your research will eventually make the cover of Nature. What you should do with the power of foresight is to take a deep look […] The post 118. Find a Better Mentor with GradPI appeared first on Hello PhD.

In some jobs, one day at the office looks a lot like the next. You could look through your calendar and optimize your meeting schedule and to-do list without much thought. But working in a lab is different: your projects are in constant flux, experiments lead to other experiments, and you need to balance bench […] The post 059: Simple Tricks for Time Management – The Focus Funnel (R) appeared first on Hello PhD.

For most graduate students, the list of potential careers runs something like this: Research Faculty Teaching Faculty Industry Researcher Science Writer …. ummmm… But the truth is that there are other, less talked-about careers that can be a perfect fit for scientists who may love learning but not working at the bench. Raison d’Liaison Listener […] The post 117: Bridging The Gap as a Medical Science Liaison appeared first on Hello PhD.

Ten weeks is not a long time. It feels even shorter when you’re tossed into the deep-end of a top-tier research lab. If you’re spending your summer as a Research Assistant between semesters, or you’ve graduated and want to get some summer experience before grad school, we have ideas to help you hit the ground […] The post 116: The 7 Habits of Highly Effective Summer Students appeared first on Hello PhD.

It’s no secret that post-secondary education is a rough road to walk. Graduate students rack up debt for the privilege of working long hours for an unpredictable number of years with very little faculty support. Well, that might be true in much of the Northern hemisphere, but in a land where mammals lay eggs and […] The post 115: PhDown Under – 4 Ways a PhD is Better in Australia appeared first on Hello PhD.

Here’s a controversial idea: what if graduate school finished on a predictable schedule the way (checks notes) every other academic training program does! Since kindergarten, your education has had fixed milestones. You knew it would take 12 years to graduate from high school, 4 for college, and 2 for a masters or an associates degree. […] The post 114: Grad School Should Have a Time Limit appeared first on Hello PhD.

Sometimes, a graduate school education follows the strait and narrow path through dissertation, postdoc, and faculty position. And sometimes, it sprouts wings and takes you somewhere else entirely. That was the experience for Isaac Childress. Isaac began his career as a physics PhD studying high-energy particles. But “Plan A” didn’t turn out exactly as he […] The post 113: All Work and Some Play – Isaac Childres on Following Your Passion After a PhD appeared first on Hello PhD.

It’s that time again… Let’s open the mailbag and see what you, our listeners and friends, have sent in! You asked for it… We start out with a couple of questions from David, who is considering going back to grad school for computational biology after a successful career as a software developer. He wants to […] The post 112: Listener Mailbag – Leaving Home, Avoiding the GRE, Finding Collaborators, et al! appeared first on Hello PhD.

It looks like a cross between an anteater and a hedgehog, but don’t let that description fool you into believing it’s easy to spot an echidna in the wild. These denizens of the Down Under know how to hide. “They’re really understudied in Australia because they’re hard to find in the wild,” says Tahlia Perry, […] The post 111: Empowering the Impossible with Citizen Science appeared first on Hello PhD.

You might believe that because you’re in grad school and receiving a research stipend, you don’t really need to worry about paying an income tax.  You don’t have a ‘real job’ and no one asked you to fill out any paperwork so you’re off the hook, right? Wrong.  Utterly, expensively, illegally wrong. The Tax Man Cometh […] The post 033: It’s Tax Season – Here’s What You Need to Know (R) appeared first on Hello PhD.

After a tough day of negative results and an ornery PI, it can be nice to come home to someone who thinks you’re amazing, loves you unconditionally, and wants nothing more than to cuddle with you on the couch. Of course, we’re talking about pets; dogs, cats, gerbils, rabbits, birds, horses and, I’m told, snakes […] The post 110: The Secret Life of Pets (in Grad School) appeared first on Hello PhD.

It’s been an exhausting journey, but you’re nearing the end. You slogged through reams of application forms, personal statements, and letters of reference. You gave up every weekend for two months, traveling to interview at different schools. But the blessed day has finally arrived when your inbox ‘dings’ with the sound of a grad school […] The post 109: HelloPhD Guide to Grad School Applications – Understanding Your Offer Letter with Dr. Emily Roberts appeared first on Hello PhD.

It’s Monday morning and you arrive in lab a little late. No worries, you drop your tissue culture media into the warming bath, turn on the hood, and head down the hall while things ‘warm up.’ Next stop is the -80 freezer. You dig through the drifting piles of frost and snow, around the boxes […] The post 108: My Green Lab with Allison Paradise appeared first on Hello PhD.

When you’re a graduate student, your conception of ‘industry’ has a lot in common with your understanding of a black-hole. First, you’ve been told it’s a scary and unpredictable place. (“Did you know they can just change your project or fire you at will?”) Second, it’s a one-way trip. (“Once you step off the tenure […] The post 107: Industry Insights – Career Evolution at 23andMe appeared first on Hello PhD.

See our previous episodes in this series: 101: HelloPhD Guide to Grad School Applications – Knowing When, and Where, to Apply with Dr. Beth Bowman 102: HelloPhD Guide to Grad School Applications – Crafting the Perfect Personal Statement with Dr. Brian Rybarczyk With most jobs, you’ll need to submit a polished resume along with a […] The post 106: HelloPhD Guide to Grad School Applications – Acing Your Interview with Dr. Beth Bowman appeared first on Hello PhD.

Well, you’ve done it again… Our inboxes are full-to-bursting and it’s time to answer your questions in this week’s episode. We start with some feedback on episode 098: I’m in Grad School and I’m Pregnant! How to Have Kids AND a Career in Science. Listener Sara shares her experience of being pregnant while working with some dangerous […] The post 105: Listener Mailbag – Grad School Readiness, Paper Critiques, and More! appeared first on Hello PhD.

It’s a tragic fact: many jaw-dropping, eye-opening, and heart-pounding research results never makes an impact on the scientific community. And it’s partly your fault. By “your,” of course,  I mean all of us.  Because when we waste the opportunity to share our results in their best light at a scientific conference or poster session, our […] The post 104: How to Give a Perfect Poster Presentation appeared first on Hello PhD.

Life in grad school may not have many horror-movie freak-outs, but there are plenty of harrowing and traumatic experiences to thrill even the most stoic scientist. In celebration of Halloween, we asked our listeners about their lab and grad school horror stories! The post 103: Laboratory of Horrors! appeared first on Hello PhD.

Please recount your life story, all of your future plans, and why this graduate program is uniquely suited to fulfill those dreams.  Limit your answer to 140 characters. Okay, okay, the typical “Personal Statement” prompt on your grad school application is probably not that outrageous, but they CAN feel both cryptic and overwhelming. Here’s a […] The post 102: HelloPhD Guide to Grad School Applications – Crafting the Perfect Personal Statement with Dr. Brian Rybarczyk appeared first on Hello PhD.