Career Paths

Aníbal
Valentín-Acevedo

How to set yourself apart from the rest? The importance of your social skills and attitude in the job

For every job available out there, no matter the discipline, we can find hundreds of applicants equally qualified who can fill that position. A colleague of mine, who worked as Dean of Administration at an academic institution, once told me that no matter how good we are at our job, there will al...


Clement
Weinberger

Making a journal short list

At some point, you will have to choose journals to submit your articles to. Finding the right journal is important because if your article isn’t published in a timely fashion, say within a year of a congress presentation, no one will know about it, and a delay will make someone ask, “why di...


Fabian
Zanella

Try to get your weekends back: A tale of stem cells and their intensity

I read this very interesting article in Forbes, and saw many take always and good advice. So I decided to share it, combined with my own experience. Your postdoc period should be the most intense and productive time of your scientific career. I have heard this phrase many times in the past, an...


Michael
Salgaller

Are you diminishing yourself and your accomplishments by using these two words?

Are you diminishing yourself and your accomplishments by using these two words?Science as a discipline and career path is, by its nature, highly hierarchical. That is, chances are strong the organization you work with is structured vertically. There is a clear pecking order, a clear chain of command...


Robert Cory
Bernhards

Postdoc Job Advertising for Military Research Institutes

Ever wonder why you never hear about postdoc job opportunities at military research institutes?  One reason is that adequate job advertising is severely lacking or completely absent for most military research postdoc positions.  As a result, most prospective postdocs have no idea where to ...


Andrea
Habura

The Bones Beneath the Skin

One of the best things about a science education is that it teaches you to see the bones beneath the skin. In some cases, literally (hello there, anatomy people!), but mostly in the sense that we learn to see the hidden processes that drive the physical world. Being a scientist means you’ll n...


Lamar
Blackwell

When transitioning from academia to pharma, academic scientists need their C.R.E.A.M! - Energy

There is something very attractive about a listening to a person excited about what they are saying.  Many times, the conversation is more interesting and enjoyable because there is an energy that is associated with the person talking.  You want to leave this type of impression with pharma...


Robert Cory
Bernhards

Academia, Industry, or Government?

The major question almost all graduating PhDs face is whether to pursue a career in academia, industry, or government.  I’ll discuss pros and cons of each along with some common misconceptions.Many graduate students are under the false impression that most PhDs go into academia.  This is...


Lamar
Blackwell

When transitioning from academia to pharma, academic scientists need their C.R.E.A.M! – Analysis

When transition from academia to pharma industry, you will be hired to solve problems.  There is a reason that they are looking to hire someone.  The company has a problem of some type.  Maybe it’s because that they have more work than can be completed by the staff at hand.   M...


Renda
Hawwa

Starting out in a Startup

Two words that can evoke either feelings of pure excitement or pure fear: Startup Company. Startups are common in the biotechnology world, as there are many brilliant scientists and business savvy people with innovative ideas and plans of how to implement them.