A PhD pathway – what’s involved? Advice for people starting out in science Advice for experimenters in training – think inside and outside the kit! PUIs, R1 institutions, etc. – what’s what & what to consider “Dual enrollment” – you can take community college courses in high school (at least in the US) Some advice for college graduates (past, present, & future) & thoughts on communicating knowledge Imposter syndrome Preparing for grad school & what to expect Preparing for (and applying to) the emotional rollercoaster of grad school Grad school research topics and lab rotations Choosing majors and programs in college and grad school Getting involved in research as an undergrad Grad school interviews Making a strong grad school application – some advice Tips for writing strong personal statements for science grad school applications More of your grad school questions answered (deciding whether or not to apply, personal statements, lab choosing, hurdles, post-doc-ing, prof/or-not-ing, etc.) Grad school interview advice Who’s who in a lab Scientific conferences: what to expect & how to make the most out of them Some thoughts on reading while PhD-ing & PhD-ing in general Grad School Behind the Scenes: Journal club group meetings (& more “random” stuff about papers & Twitter) Why grad school timeframes vary & what’s involved in “graduating” from a PhD program Thesis committee meetings – prepare to make the most of them! Towards the end! Thesis-Related Posts Thesis-izing: a quick video on writing a thesis, what that means, & what I’ve found useful 1 month to my PhD thesis defense! Here’s why that event means so much for me… Thesis writing… fun? How to make your life easier when it comes time to write a thesis Thesis-submitted! Why I dedicated my thesis to Grammy, plus a call for senior citizen science outreach Thesis Thoughts: style, acknowledgments section, & how it feels post-submission (Hint: pretty good!) Thesis defense talk prepping Thoughts on the day before my thesis defense What my thesis defense was like The PhD hat – hat’s off to my amazing lab mates! Dr. Bumbling Biochemist, Postgraduate student. What’s that? What happens after your dissertation defense? Postdoc-ing (some of which is applicable to grad school too) Postdoc-ing: an intro (for me too 🙂 ) – week 1 Choosing a research topic, choosing a postdoc lab, & thoughts on the grad-to-postdoc transition Lab group meetings Take advantage of opportunities to learn from one another, & make sure to pay it forward Tips to help along the way A “Quick Start Guide” for starting off in research with good habits Some study suggestions for school Time- and thumb-saving lab tips Be notable! Lab notes and organization Experiment-ing: organizedly planning out, preparing for, performing, & writing notes for experiments Troubleshooting and optimizing lab experiments Reading science articles – some advice Reference management (focused on Mendeley) – and finding & managing the correct references! Practical advice on various things It’s not you – it’s science – getting through bad days in grad school Preparing and presenting scientific research talks – some tips and advice Finding, organizing, reading, & taking notes on scientific papers when starting a new project Staying up to date in science – setting up alerts & using RSS feeds Making the most of experimental methods sections Push past the self-doubt & seek out opportunities – it just might pay off! Keeping a detailed plasmid inventory Protein prep inventory-ing: keeping a detailed inventory of cell pellets and purified proteins My NCBI – an intro to why you should get an account, My Bibliography, SciENcv, & biosketches It always seems impossible until it’s done! General tips for daunting writing projects Why trainee bio-related scientists should learn basic programming (esp. command line, Python, & R) Abstracts: what they are and advice for writing awesome ones Explaining your research to other scientists (especially as a trainee) Reading science articles strategically – approach papers with purpose Slow & steady makes strong science (& scientists), so don’t give in to “lab guilt!”
