Some of you reading this article are about to start your first round of graduate schoolinterviews this spring. Many of these interviews will take place during what is known as recruitment weekend. However, this is a much different process than your standard job interview and you should be aware that there are some key differences between the two. While much of this advice comes from my own experience in the sciences and will vary according to your program, there are some basic themes to be aware of. Continue reading Rock Your Recruitment→
Mentoring a Demography trainee (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
One of the most important aspects of graduate school is choosing a good mentor. Who you choose can dramatically impact your experience in both graduate school and your ensuing hunt for employment or postdoctoral positions. How do students new to a department find those faculty members who will be good mentors? What makes a good mentor in the first place? These are important questions to have in mind before choosing laboratories for research rotations and your eventual thesis. Continue reading Picking a Good Mentor→
Bacteriophage attacking a bacterial cell (Photo credit: AJC1)
This week I received my first piece of reader mail and it contained some great questions from an undergraduate student at what I’ll call Big U. Here’s the background:
“I’m currently still working on my bachelors, but it is my ambition to earn my PhD, become a microbiologist, and research virology and bacteriology, topics which I have found articles on in your blog. However, I am new to the world of research, and I would love to be able to get some of your insights into a potential future in this field.”
This was written as a direct result of my first year in graduate school. I don’t hide the fact that I had an extremely difficult time with rotations and finding a lab that suited me. Thankfully though, I did learn a lot that first year and want to share what I took away from this experience in the hopes of helping others make it through similar situations. So head over to Gradhacker to check out my most recent article, I hope that some of you find it helpful.
Today I’ve been thinking about all of the influences that have made me so passionate about scientific literacy and effective science communication. As a global society we are challenged daily with obstacles that can most effectively be solved using our modern scientific understanding of the world. Yet for a variety of reasons much of the general public is unaware of the startling leaps and bounds generated by the modern global scientific community, aware but misinformed by sloppy reporting, to downright distrustful of science and those involved. While we could go into these various issues and their origins at length, I would rather take a moment and share some of the resources that have pushed me to share my love of science with the public in the hopes that I can spread my passion for scientific communication to others. Continue reading Passion for Communication→
Hello readers! I have started contributing articles to the Gradhacker website in order to share some of the things I learned in my first year of graduate school. This month I’ve written an article for those of you about to start graduate programs and how to choose the best laboratory rotations for your personality and interests.
K.D.Shives 