- Having Difficult Conversations
No matter how in tune you are with your colleagues, at some point, you’ll find yourself in conflict and needing to have a difficult conversation. In my leadership roles at VUMC and elsewhere, I’ve had plenty. Here are some strategies for making these conversations less stress...
- Being Your Own Mentor Matchmaker
Career development grants typically describe how they select ideal mentors for the training program. This post unpacks those concepts as steps for individuals to use when seeking mentors for our own research careers.
Basics:
Don’t make assumptions based only on acade...
- Rekindling the Fire: A Review of The Joy of Science
For most of us, science begins with a rush of “Wow! This is super cool!” But the emotional fire can subside after years of hard work. Negativity in popular culture can make us forget the depths of our why. To rekindle our passion to see the universe’s beauty, physicist Roel Snied...
- Reframing Rejection: Changing ‘No’ to ‘Not Yet”
Current Application Status: Not Discussed
“Thank you for submitting your work to our Journal. It has been carefully reviewed by experts in the field and we regret to inform you that we must REJECT your manuscript.”
We’ve all been there, many times. Sometimes it can feel...
- Awesome Things About Life in Research
Building a list of awesome things that come with life in research, one quirky, funny, inspiring piece at a time. Missing your favorite awesomeness? Or have The perfect image? Add in comments or tweet @edgeforscholars to share your personal twist on why science rocks. #JoyOfSc...
- Enhancing Productivity with Roam Research
As a healthcare researcher and academician, my professional life feels like a labyrinth of ideas, data, and endless streams of literature I should be keeping up with. It's a realm that demands meticulous organization and a strategic approach to information management. If you're l...
- A Dynamic Daily Devotional of Mentoring
I love books whose contents far surpass their titles, and this one fits that bill to a tee. At first glance, it seems to have a gimmicky organization. I’m not a big personal fan of reading lists, and the thought of trudging through 75 short recommendations on mentoring frankly re...
- Leading a Lab: Compass Program for Leadership and Management Training
This fall I had the opportunity to participate in Compass (Wash U Compass: Elevating Biomed Professionals (researchercompass.org)), a leadership and management training and mentoring program for early career researchers. An NIH-funded program led by a team at Washington Universit...
- Order from Chaos
For the last few years I’ve been juggling more and more balls. I was barely able to keep up with the endless emails and tasks – both at work and at home – and I felt like I was on the verge of losing control. On top of that, my long-term goals remained vague notions and even ...
- Tools for Making Progress in Academic Life
This post is particularly focused for the population I work with – graduate students and postdocs – but can be helpful for any stage of an academic career – whether as the person struggling or someone trying to help them.
Academia attracts bright, ambitious high achievers capa...
