Hello Phd

Choosing a lab for your graduate or postdoc research is one of the most important decisions you’ll make. Most people read papers and abstracts to find the coolest science.  Or they favor the big labs with lots of people and solid funding. But those features can distract you from the real secret of scientific success.   Your Mentor Matters […] The post 029: Tenure Tracker – Choose a Mentor, Not a Lab appeared first on Hello PhD.

If you have kids, you’ve experienced “the time shift.” Where you used to have hobbies, you now have a drive to soccer practice.  Where you used to have dinner out, you now have dinner, dishes, bath-time, stories, and bedtime, IN. And where you used to stay late in the lab to finish an experiment, you now […] The post 028: Making Time for Kids When Everyone Else Stays Late appeared first on Hello PhD.

In 2011, a whopping 36,000 science and technology grad students earned their PhDs.  That same year, about 3,000 faculty positions were created.  So why did you feel like a failure when you decided to step off the tenure track? Taking the high road Scientists aren’t always as rational as we seem.  A rational person would […] The post 027. The Road More Traveled: Stepping Off of the Tenure Track appeared first on Hello PhD.

When you’re worried about today’s experiments and tomorrow’s time points, it’s easy to lose sight of what’s really important for your career and your life.  Why not start the New Year with a new perspective? Looking Back and Moving Forward In this episode, we consider the advice of Robert J. Sternberg, PhD,  a self-described geezer and […] The post 026: Career Advice from A Successful Scientist appeared first on Hello PhD.

You’re busy.  Experiments, lab meeting, journal club, classes – you barely have time to sleep, let alone make it to the gym to exercise.  We’ll tell you about 10 creative ways other grad students and postdocs stay physically fit, and how it’s boosting their productivity and self-confidence. You don’t have time NOT to exercise The […] The post 025: Experiments and Exercise: 10 Creative Ways Scientists Stay Fit appeared first on Hello PhD.

Stephanie dreamed of becoming a scientist when she was a girl. She managed to maintain excellent grades while working in research labs throughout her college career. With her flawless CV, it came as no surprise when she was accepted into a top-tier pharmacology PhD program. Four years later, Stephanie walked into her PI’s office to tell him […] The post 024: Leave with a Master’s, and your sanity appeared first on Hello PhD.

A driving test shows that you’re ready for your license.  A pregnancy test shows that you’ve got a baby on the way.  So what does the GRE show? More often than not, it shows whether you’re a man or a woman, and the color of your skin. You can’t spell “regret” without GRE Identifying which students are ready for graduate […] The post 023: Seriously, can we ditch the GRE already? appeared first on Hello PhD.

Think about your first few months of graduate school. You moved into a new apartment in a new town, you met hundreds of other students and scientists, and you had to pick a rotation lab and classes for your first semester.  It’s an unbelievably stressful time for most students. Now imagine doing all of that […] The post 022: Science Overseas: Life as an International Student appeared first on 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.

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.