Career Paths

Xiaoli
Du

Women in science

If we look at the graduate students and postdoc fellows around, it is easy to tell that more than half are female in the science field. However, the truth is the leaders of labs in academy or related companies usually have fewer women than men. The imbalance of the women in science and those who suc...


Wenny
Lin

Who’s doing research at the NIH?

Annually, NIH invests $31.2 billion in biomedical research for the health of the American people. Over 80% of that budget is awarded as competitive grants to the “extramural” world of research, including universities, medical schools, and other research organizations here in the US and abroad.Ap...


Mandy
Kendrick

How to use LinkedIn (or how not to use it)

Last month, I attended the Postdoc Conference & Career Fair in Bethesda, Maryland.  There were many talks regarding the transition out of academia into technology transfer, communications, and industry.  Going into the day I was not enthused about attending the industry talks.  I ...


Stephanie
Yeung

Six Degrees of Your Dream Job

The other night, my husband and I were so tired that we just wanted to watch something on TV. Somehow, we started playing Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon beginning from Sandra Bullock using the Netflix search menu on our Apple TV. If you are not familiar with Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon, it is a game base...


Andrea
H.

Adjusting to a new norm

The official transition from academia to industry had been incredibly enlightening.  I definitely appreciate those summer internships that we all completed at various pharma and tech companies (working on our “lab tans,” while our friends enjoyed the summer lifeguarding and developing real ...


Kate
Sleeth

Reaching out to the Next Generation

How to interest children in science, and keep them interested, is a commonly discussed topic.  Over the past decade I have been fortunate enough to participate in many different outreach programs specifically designed to do just that.  Recently, I represented the Association for Women in S...


Wenny
Lin

Commuting in the D.C. area

In preparation for the first day of my postdoctoral fellowship at the NIH, I mapped the route from my new apartment to the NIH campus. I inquired with the administrator ahead of time about the parking options. I had even driven to the office on the evening before my first day to make sure that I wou...


Jason
Sherwin

Narrative Networks

The topic here is ‘a conference on narratives in DC, the Hirshhorn Gallery on the National Mall and social faux pas in the scientific setting.’ Last week, I participated in the third workshop of a series hosted by DARPA (for those of you not in the working-with-the-government-on-science-can-be-c...


Clement
Weinberger

Not my problem.....

Don’t you see that flying saucer over there? No, I don't see it. Why not? – “because it’s not my problem.” Douglas Adams, from The Hitchiker's Guide to the Galaxy”Think back for a moment on how you found your first grad school mentor or thesis advisor. How did you get to work in that lab...


Jason
Sherwin

Finding what you’ve buried there

The theme of this posting is ‘finding what you’ve buried there.’  This is a common temptation in the research world. In fact, in science in general, we start with a hypothesis that we aim to prove or disprove. The problem though is that no one likes a depressing story, i.e., a disproved h...