Career Paths

Jason
Sherwin
The Hot Word Today
Information seems to be the hot word today. It’s one of those slippery concepts that exists in a somewhat definable way in mathematics and science – particularly in information theory – but it is a hot item with or without a precise way to define it. Just look at finance, media, or a zillion o...

Kate
Sleeth
The PhD Comics Movie
I was excited to receive a personal invitation to attend the premiere screening of the first live action film based on PhD Comics! They had spotted this very blog and thought I would be interested in the film and also letting everyone know about it.

Jason
Sherwin
Having a little bit of fun
This posting is about having a little bit of fun – but serious “fun” – in neuroscience. The reason it is fun is because we get to use the pop song “Eye of the Tiger” by Survivor (featured in Rocky III) as a stimulus set for experiments in neuroscience.

Kate
Sleeth
The Deaths of Two Important Pioneers: Lessons to Learn
The week beginning from the 30th September 2011 has been a sad one in the worlds of science and technology. The passing of Ralph Steinman and Steve Jobs, both pioneers in their own fields, have brought a few things into perspective. Strangely both men succumbed to the same disease – pa...

Ray
Wang
The Project Killer
When I was in grad school, in a well funded research center, I never thought about what could kill a project. Every project last for 2-3 years, or even more. I stayed in the same DOE project throughout my whole grad school career. However, when I came to an industrial/business job, I saw all kinds o...

Maida
Taylor
Breast Cancer: The Empress of All Maladies
October was Breast Cancer Awareness Month, and I felt totally immersed in a paper storm, an overload of information on the topic. Making my immersion even deeper, while preparing two breast cancer talks, I was also in the thrall of an amazing book, “The Emperor of All Maladies: &...

Nathan
Fisher
My Tie is my Combat Patch
I don't particularly like ties in their own right. They're uncomfortable. Ties aren't required by my employer and not many of my colleagues wear them regularly. Still, I wear a tie every day, even on “casual Friday.”

Xiaoli
Du
Pursuing a career in Consulting
In the traditional perspective of postdoctoral training, fellows are expected to apply for faculty positions after several successful postdocs in institutes or universities. However, this classic career pathway meets a lot of challenges today in terms of the limited position openings and tight econo...

Wenny
Lin
It’s worth it to have it all
Last week in Boston, I attended a professional advancement session at the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) Frontiers in Cancer Prevention Research conference. Judy Garber, M.D., M.P.H., current president of the AACR, addressed the young research investigators and trainees in attendanc...

Maida
Taylor
Just what do you do: medical affairs job description
One of my last postings was called “keeping Ken and Barbie out of jail,” an attempt to define some of the tasks involved working in medical affairs at a pharmaceutical company. One reader pointed out that I really did not define the job very well, and I promised to describe just what the j...