- Writing Science in Plain English: Clarity Rules
As one might expect from the title, Writing Science in Plain English is clear, concise, and very easy to understand. In fact, it's one of the best books on writing I've come across. If you only read one book on science writing, make it this one.
In short, digestible chapte...
- Not that Kind of Conference: Attending Clinical Conferences as a PhD
For a number of years, I attended one or two conferences annually, focused on my Terrible Disease of Interest, but at meetings largely composed of PhDs like me. More recently, I have started attending the clinical meeting relevant to the MDs who treat said Terrible Disease. The m...
- Negotiating for Your First Academic Position
You’ve just articulated your research vision and completed a series of interviews with potential employers. You’re in your office revising a manuscript and you get a text… It’s your first job offer! How do you proceed in a way that gives you the greatest likelihood of success? ...
- Salvaging an Insufficient Offer
Receiving a faculty offer that is financially untenable is the worst of both worlds: temporary excitement followed by a crash. It triggers disappointment at being led along the hiring path alongside explicit evidence that your value and needs were not understood.
Don’t ass...
- Helping Students Find the Focus of Their Manuscript
Learning how to write a research paper is difficult and takes time, yet it is an integral part of a PhD in STEM. Teaching your students and postdocs how to write good papers is an essential part of being a good supervisor and mentor.
Loose keys from a rainbow coloured comp...
- Asking for What You Need: Intentional Negotiation
Regardless of where you are in your career, it can be difficult to ask for what you need. For some this reflects a sense that you can’t or shouldn’t ask for more than what you have; for others, they don’t know who to ask or how to ask; and for some, they have had negative exp...
- Connecting on Twitter During Conference Season
Follow this guide for a quick reference of using social media to engage and interact during conference season (whether in-person or virtual).
Pre-Conference Tweeting
Set up your social media account, or refresh your current profile. That means -> Nice looking and current...
- You Can’t Always Get What You Want, But It’s Worth a Try
Today's post is from a K-level scholar who knows a lot about negotiation.
Ready to get your first job? Getting too much advice about negotiation? Not sure how to best advocate for yourself while still being reasonable? Here are a few tips:
Decide what you want. Do you want to...
- Build-a-Grant, Section by Section
In this round-up are building blocks for key grant sections gathered from Edge for Scholars blogs. Some sections are specific to NIH, while others generalize to many sponsors.
A Blueprint for Execution: Like any builder, you’ll benefit from a solid plan. Check out this overvie...
- 10 Tips on Providing Feedback to Students
This post is inspired by a tweet by @HaPhDsupervisor where she asked, “In your view, what is good supervisor feedback?”
The following 10 tips are based on responses to that tweet and my own experience as a supervisor (and former PhD student).
Ask questions and listen. Ask...