Category Archives: career

Ambivalence, reluctance and the Jesus scale

Posted on 6 May 2024 by Erika Cule

About eight months or so ago, I started talking about the concept of a scale of faith in Christ. I christened it the Jesus scale. Here is a diagram: On the far left, you have antitheism, hard determinism, militant atheism, … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in career, careers, challenge, Clams, discernment, doubt, Faith, Life, PGF/TikZ, Prayer, the Jesus scale | Comments Off on Ambivalence, reluctance and the Jesus scale

Desires of my heart

Posted on 2 March 2024 by Erika Cule

Let the little children come to me 14Jesus said, “Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these.” — Matthew 19:14, NIV Once St Mary’s clocked that … Continue reading → Continue reading →

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I am evangelical about this

Posted on 14 January 2023 by Erika Cule

PhD students should* consider industry roles; academics should not dissuade them. Ten years ago today I began what I now refer to as my industry detour, a decade spent as a statistical consultant in the pharmaceutical industry. I went directly: … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in alternative careers, career, careers, conferences, Life, PhD, science careers | Comments Off on I am evangelical about this

Book reviews – Knowledge Translation edition

Posted on 11 May 2018 by Cath@VWXYNot?

I realised recently that the “everything I used to blog about is now on Twitter or Goodreads instead” trend of recent years means that I never got around to mentioning my new job! After ten years of grant writing and … Continue reading →

Posted in blog buddies, book review, career, communication, cycling, Knowledge translation | Comments Off on Book reviews – Knowledge Translation edition

A student’s guide to finding and securing a desirable PhD mentor in the biomedical sciences

Posted on 6 August 2017 by Steve Caplan

Several years ago I wrote a satirical article titled “How not to get a lab job.” In that piece, designed primarily for graduate students who were looking for post-doctoral positions, I tried to use real-life examples based on the types … Continue reading →

Posted in anxiety, career, career in science, education, faculty, graduate program, graduate student, how to find a mentor, laboratories, labs, large lab, mentor, mentors, mentorship, new investigator, PhD students, position, post-doc, postdoc, postdoctoral fellow, productivity, publications, Research, rotations, science, scientific career, stress, success in the lab, university, vetting | Comments Off on A student’s guide to finding and securing a desirable PhD mentor in the biomedical sciences

Are You Authentic?

Posted on 23 February 2017 by Athene Donald

‘Be true to yourself’ is a well-worn phrase, almost a mantra. I  know I pepper talks (and writing) with the phrase. I think I know exactly what I mean and had assumed others did too. I do not mean that … Continue reading →

Posted in career, choices, decisions, Science Culture | Comments Off on Are You Authentic?

How to pass your PMP exam

Posted on 22 December 2014 by Cath@VWXYNot?

It’s been a while, eh? Today’s the first day since early September that I’ve woken up without a long list of specific things to accomplish, and it is blissful! I’m on my sister-in-law’s sofa with a big cup of tea, … Continue reading →

Posted in blog buddies, career, conferences, furry friends, personal, science, why I love the internet | Comments Off on How to pass your PMP exam

I sense a problem with undergraduate education

Posted on 24 August 2014 by Steve Caplan

A lot has been said about job prospects of biomedical graduate students and the ever-declining percentage of Ph.D. graduates who are ultimately able to find academic faculty positions. Indeed, the importance of exposing graduate students to a variety of scientific … Continue reading →

Posted in academia, biomedical researcher, career, critical thinking, education, grades, graduate education, graduate program, GRE, IDP, individual development plan, Occam's underwear, Ph.D., PhD, Research, researcher, science, science career, science careers, science jobs, student, students, undergraduate, undergraduate education, undergraduate students | Comments Off on I sense a problem with undergraduate education

Things I learned at a funding agency’s “community engagement” session this week

Posted on 7 June 2014 by Cath@VWXYNot?

“Your stupid new metrics are irrelevant to my field of research” “It’s not fair that chemists get bigger awards, even though I acknowledge that their research is much more expensive than that of the other fields that fall under your … Continue reading →

Posted in career, grant wrangling, science | Comments Off on Things I learned at a funding agency’s “community engagement” session this week

Ectopic scribblings

Posted on 26 April 2014 by Cath@VWXYNot?

It occurred to me this week that I’ve written various things in other venues that I’ve never linked to from this blog, and that it might be a good idea to compile some sort of list to try and mitigate … Continue reading →

Posted in blog buddies, career, communication, personal, publishing, Writing | Comments Off on Ectopic scribblings