Hello Phd

There’s no denying it: science is hard work. After a long week of 3AM time-points, contaminated cell cultures, and the ‘simple PCR’ that failed for the fifth time, you might lose sight of why you got into this business in the first place. But, with Thanksgiving on the horizon, we decided to pause and consider all of […] The post 061: Why We LOVE Grad School appeared first on Hello PhD.

Dear Dr. Scientist, I’m writing to tell you how much I admire your work in the field of science that you study.  Your lab has done some tremendous work researching very important topics of significance.  I just loved your latest research article and I’m sure it made your university or institution proud! In any case, […] The post 060: The Right (And Wrong) Ways to Contact Potential Postdoc Advisors 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 appeared first on Hello PhD.

On those days when you manage to take a break from bench-work and call home, you will almost certainly get ‘The Question:’ “So, how is your research going?” If you’re new to grad school, you might make the mistake of telling your parent or loved one exactly how your research is going. “Well, I was up […] The post 058: How to Be Truly Unhappy in Grad School appeared first on Hello PhD.

When we imagine what life is like for people who are blind, our first reaction might be paralysis. We consider just how difficult our lives would be without sight; preparing breakfast, dressing for work, and navigating from home to the lab sound like insurmountable obstacles. And if those trivial tasks seem daunting, consider your work day.  Could you […] The post 057: “I’m a scientist. And I’m blind.” appeared first on Hello PhD.

When we think of scientists, we often think of the lone researcher plodding away at the bench late into the night.  We imagine Alexander Fleming scrutinizing his penicillium molds or Einstein pondering the latest equation he’s written on the chalk board. We go a step further when training new scientists: we ask them to complete an […] The post 056: Team Up for Speedier Science – #modernPhD Part 3 appeared first on Hello PhD.

Today, a graduate student will make a terrible mistake. He’ll blindly commit to a long-term relationship that will make him miserable.  He’ll be too shy to ask his partner the painfully awkward questions that could predict their ultimate failure as a team. Does this person have time for me?  Is she enthusiastic about helping me succeed?  Do […] The post 055: Four Ideas to Modernize Mentorship – #modernPhD Part 2 appeared first on Hello PhD.

Scientific training has its roots in the ancient world.  From Aristotle’s natural philosophy to the modern biomedical research lab, science training has relied heavily on an apprenticeship model. Senior scientists take promising young students into their labs and train them, hands-on, in the practical activities of research. The assumption has always been that the aspiring […] The post 054: The 5 year PhD – #modernPhD Part 1 appeared first on Hello PhD.

It’s a compelling promise: take a few drops of blood, and tell the patient what hidden diseases are lurking in his body.  If only we could have an early warning system for cancer, Alzheimer’s, or myriad other diseases, then we could treat them before they took hold. This is the narrative of Theranos, a company that […] The post 053: Why more testing from Theranos won’t prevent cancer appeared first on Hello PhD.

It’s official: the Hello PhD podcast is one year old! In honor of our birthday, we’re taking a look back at our favorite episodes and moments from the first year of the show. Stay with us… Cheers, Mate! We start the celebration with the Alpine Beer Company Hoppy Birthday Session […] The post 052: Hello PhD Year in Review appeared first on Hello PhD.

Jessica was finishing her third year of grad school when she finally decided she had had enough. Funding had gotten tighter, and her PI had basically checked out.  Many of her lab-mates saw the writing on the wall, and left their projects behind to find other work. With no support from her advisor or peers, she […] The post 051: Should I change labs or quit grad school? appeared first on Hello PhD.

We’ve all had bad days in the lab: you throw out the supernatant you were supposed to save, or contaminate all the cells in tissue culture. It hurts, but the next day, you can start over and try again. Today on the show, we hear the true story of a woman who dropped a tube and splashed […] The post 050: Lab Fail – Radioactive Tritium Spill appeared first on Hello PhD.

As a second-year grad student, Craig was making progress on an exciting project in a new lab. Then, one morning, the PI called Craig into his office. “I got a really generous offer to move the lab to Sweden.  Do you want to come with me?” Should I stay or should I go? You might think of […] The post 049: My advisor is moving, but I don’t want to go. appeared first on Hello PhD.

Shhhh!  There he is.  Behind that rack of Eppendorf tubes…. The elusive ‘Postdoctoral Fellow’ in his native habitat! If we’re quiet, we may be able to observe him as he completes an experiment, writes a few paragraphs in a grant proposal, and nurtures his young (i.e. graduate students.) Postdocs are difficult to study in the wild, […] The post 048: Where the (Wild) Postdocs Are appeared first on Hello PhD.

It sounds like a simple question: how many postdocs are there in the United States? Maybe you want to know because you ARE a postdoc and you’re thinking about what kind of competition you’ll face for a faculty position. Maybe you’re a program manager at the NIH, and you’d like to direct extra funding toward […] The post 047: How many postdocs are there? The answer may surprise you! appeared first on Hello PhD.

You’ve worked hard in your biopharma job, and you really love the position.  The team is passionate and dynamic, the product is starting to make an impact in the market, and you begin to imagine your long-term relationship with the company. But there’s one problem: it seems like no one with a Bachelor’s Degree can move […] The post 046: Do I need a PhD to advance in my industry job? appeared first on Hello PhD.

Postdocs are some of the most productive scientists on the planet, but you wouldn’t know it if you looked at a pay stub.  For years now, postdoc salaries have remained stagnant in the low $40,000s, causing many young scientists to find other careers in other industries. But a recently announced bill from the Department of […] The post 045: Finally, some good news for postdoc salary! appeared first on Hello PhD.

We know that stepping from academia to industry is met with scorn for the person ‘selling out’ and leaving the university, but there’s a subtler form of bias against those scientists who actually like to teach. The moment you consider applying for a university teaching position, your advisors and peers will come out of the woodwork to […] The post 044: 5 Myths About University Teaching Jobs That YOU Probably Believe appeared first on Hello PhD.

Every day in a research lab is spent forming hypotheses, designing experiments, and examining data.  So it might surprise you to know that the scientific method is only rarely applied in the classroom. Wouldn’t it be transformative if the methods that professors use to teach science were tested and proven to be effective? Well, you’re in […] The post 043: A Scientific Approach to Teaching Science appeared first on Hello PhD.

The good news is that your research project has gone well over the last few years, and you got your paper published. The bad news is that you published everything in that one paper, and you’re out of ideas. And you’re five years into the program. And your PI doesn’t want to help you anymore. How, […] The post 042: I’m a Fifth Year, and I’m Stuck in a Rut appeared first on Hello PhD.