- Balancing on the Edge
As academics, most of us are in overdrive—racing from meetings to emails, writing to teaching, and maintaining some semblance of a balanced life.
Two fallacies about how we operate ourselves in overdrive:
I can multitask: Multitasking is a misnomer.1 When we multitask, we...
- Building Resiliency with Hypnosis and Mindfulness
“Stressed?” Of course. We are all stressed. We are carving out an identity in academia, developing our research focus, writing grants, papers, and talks, all while attempting to have some “balance” in our lives. In fact, it would probably be a little concerning if you were not st...
- Harness the Immense Power of Nosiness in NIH RePORTER
As a manager for our career development programs, many questions I get from trainees and faculty can actually be answered by using NIH RePORTER. You can find out all kinds of nosy things like:
Who else on campus has the kind of grant I’m writing (so I can ask if they’d shar...
- “Modifying the Current Flow from Negative to Positive (Data!)”
Scientists are experts at asking questions, analyzing, and critiquing. We are also taught that while there are rules and facts in biology, exceptions to rules exist - in fact, we expect them. I’m going to talk about critiquing to the point of publishing, about negative (but impor...
- Planning to Plan: Gathering Materials for Your Grant Pacing Plan
You’ve decided that maybe a plan for doing your grant submission is a good idea. Check! But how to start?
Here are four concepts (borrowed from the project management profession) to help you get started: 1) assessing feasibility, 2) timelines, 3) milestones, and 4) work breakd...
- What You Really Need from Mentors
Notes from a panel with Dr. Gordon Bernard, Dr. Tina Hartert, and Dr. Kevin Johnson of Vanderbilt University
Want this in a sweet downloadable, printable format? Click here!
A mentor should…
You should…
Be a coach, teacher, advisor, sponsor, agent, role model...
- Spring Conference Season Essentials
The weather is finally warming up, and we’re now into spring conference season. Go prepared with this grab-bag of tips and tricks from across the web.
Seduction in the Poster Session – Tips and tricks for making sure your poster gets noticed in a crowded room. Chronicle Vita...
- You Need Mentors – Noun, Plural
Unavailable mentors, or those who do not provide enough freedom, or who do not provide feedback, or who don’t take concerns seriously, are often anchored in one problem: Having a single mentor. You need a mentor panel.
We believe in diversified mentoring so strongly at our ins...
- #*@*! Plan Is Not a Four-Letter Word.
Writing a grant proposal? Do you have a plan for how you will get it written, reviewed, and submitted on time?
A PLAN? Yes, a plan.
What can a plan do for you? A plan will:
Eliminate your running around with your hair on fire trying to meet the submission deadline.
...
- Acing Your Observational Research Aims
All research proposals – grants, dissertations, internal funding – must ace the description of aims. Many scientific questions are interesting. Not all are useful. You must persuade your readers that the proposed aims/hypotheses to be tested and the related analysis will f...
