In my last post, I talked about some of the considerations I make when considering which conferences to attend. In this post, I will outline how we pick conference to attend for trainees. As always these days, n=me, and this time, my trainees.

The disclaimer: I am in my third year as a PI in the US. Start-up is still fine, but diminishing rapidly. I have limited trainee attendance to one conference per year, and I require that they have an abstract accepted in order to attend. I make exceptions for invited talks and funder-mandated conference attendance. My trainees include trainees at the postdoc and graduate student level. Some of my trainees are very new to conference attendance; others are old pros with a network at certain meetings. This is my approach for picking conferences for trainees, so your needs and goals for your trainees may be different.

The assumptions: All this advice is based on the assumption that your trainee wants to attend a conference. If your trainee does not want to attend a conference, it might be time to ask some questions about why they would prefer not to do so. In my experience, the trainee feels their data is not yet ready, and that is an acceptable reason, at least for a year. If it is something else, it is important to identify the reluctance and try to find a solution. Conferences are a critical aspect of trainee development, and it is our job as mentors to make sure trainees attend and benefit from attending.

Value: The most important aspect for me is the value of the meeting for the trainee. Trainees have many conference options, but with a limit of one per year, picking the right meeting can be daunting. Here are some of the questions that we address.

Is this meeting directly related to the trainee’s research? This should go without saying: if the meeting has nothing to do with our research it is not a great meeting for us, especially if the trainee is junior and has little data to present and/or is not yet comfortable networking in a new environment. There is some room to negotiate here for trainees with established projects who are branching into a new area of research and need to expand their horizons.

Could the scientists at this meeting be reviewing the trainee’s papers and grants? Another thing to consider is whether the attendees of the conference could be reviewing our grants and papers. If so, there is tremendous value in having the trainee present their project during a poster session, get some feedback on the data, and (hopefully) impress these researchers with their brilliance and potential.

Are the senior scientists accessible at this meeting? One of the downsides to the giant meetings is that it can be challenging to secure face time with scientists working in the field. While there is something powerful about thousands of attendees working towards a goal of curing Terrible Disease, it can be overwhelming and less useful. For trainees, I prefer smaller meetings where they can interact more with established scientists in the field rather than stand in a giant poster hall and hope they pass by.

Will attending this meeting broaden the trainee’s network? This is trainee-dependent. Some trainees are happy to network at large meetings and seek out these opportunities. Other trainees are still developing this skill, and again, smaller meetings are preferable.

PI attendance: Another point we discuss is if I have attended this meeting in the past or if I will be attending it.  I tend to favor recommending meetings that I have attended, as I can better evaluate how useful they will be, how accessible the established scientists are, whether the environment is supportive of trainees and so on. I expect as my research program grows, this will change, and senior trainees will be attending new conferences. For now, some of them lean heavily on my introductions into my network and sending them into a new environment where I do not know anyone is not necessarily the best use of their time. For new trainees, by and large, we attend meetings together where I can introduce them to my colleagues and they can spend time with other trainees as well.

Opportunities for trainees: When I am debating sending a trainee to a conference, we also look for opportunities for them to present their work and an environment that supports their development, such as trainee affairs symposiums or career development talks. I am very impressed with the Gordon Research Conferences, for example, that have associated Gordon Research Seminars, which are daylong events for graduate students and postdocs to present their work and hear about career opportunities.

Travel awards: While we are always appreciative of ways to offset travel costs and bolster trainee CVs, securing a travel award is not required for meeting attendance. I expect all my trainees to apply for travel awards, if available, but I do not make meeting attendance contingent on their award.

Expect pushback: Unsurprisingly, trainees want to travel more and attend more conferences. I would like that as well, but it is not feasible financially. I have had trainees offer to pay their own way, but this is not fair to trainees that cannot afford to pay out of pocket, so this is not permitted in my research group. Having some of these policies in writing has helped me stick to my one conference per year rule, and I would encourage you to have a travel policy in your on-boarding document.

These are our attempts at deciding which conferences trainees should attend. Sometimes the answer is obvious, and other times it is less so. In my next post, I will outline how I handle trainee travel and conference expectations. Stay tuned for more tales!

Did I miss an important point? Do you have questions or concerns about the post? Or perhaps an anecdote to contribute! Feel free to send some electrons my way in the comments, via Twitter @PipetteProtag, or through traditional electronic mail pipette.protagonist@gmail.com

It has been a long road to get here, but after all the applications, the interviews, the thank you notes, and agonizing waiting game, you are finally the recipient of your very own offer letter! If you, like many new faculty I know, are a little disappointed in the offer, do not fear. This is just the start of the negotiation process. Although today’s post includes some general experiences of our cohort, the negotiation portion is limited to my experiences (n=some) and the fantastic expertise of those whose articles I have linked. Unlike always, this time n=mostly me.

Ask for time: The most important thing to do when you receive your offer letter is to say thank you and then promptly ask for more time to evaluate it. You need to sit down, identify what is missing, what needs negotiating, and if what is being offered is enough.

What your letter should include: Your offer letter should include your salary and start-up package, along with the space allocation, expiration date of the start-up, and general expectations (the big ones: percent salary covered from grants, tenure, teaching/clinical expectations). When most of us were negotiating, we believed we needed to have everything in writing. While I still strongly advocate for having most things in writing, and believe offer letters will be honored completely, more senior faculty will tell you the offer letter, from the perspective of the institution, is less ironclad. In my experience, most principal investigators (PIs) and departmental chairs use their offer letters as a reference document.

Get feedback on your offer letter: As a trainee, evaluating the quality of an offer can be difficult. How can you make sure your offer letter is competitive with an appropriate salary and start-up? If you are a K99 recipient, your program officer (PO) will happily tell you when the start-up or support is not enough. Otherwise, identify a couple of individuals (former trainees who are now new faculty, newer faculty in the department, your current departmental chair, and even your mentors) to share the letter with and get feedback. Again, public institutions post salary data, but private institutions do not, so additional work is required, either through Glassdoor or AAMC. Some people recommend asking faculty in the hiring department about start-ups and salary, but to my knowledge, no one in our cohort did that.

Negotiating 101: After you have analyzed your offer letter and received some feedback, it is time to negotiate. Our cohort has no expert negotiators in its ranks. I hate negotiating and bartering in all its forms, so getting comfortable negotiating was a particular challenge. The following advice is an amalgamation of the advice I have received, some of it described here, here, and here.

Set a positive tone and reiterate agreed upon terms: Thank the person with whom you are negotiating for the offer. Communicate your excitement about the opportunity, your interest in the institution, and admiration of their leadership. Follow that with a “but” statement, stating you have a couple of issues you would like to further discuss. As you work through your short list, make sure you reiterate items which you have agreed upon. At the end of the discussion, thank the Chair/Dean for their time and confirm a time when you can expect to receive an updated offer letter.

Identify three to four things that need to be addressed: In your offer letter, identify a couple of things that need to be addressed and order them in degree of importance. Usually the most important is salary or start-up size, and the other two are less important. Always lead with the hardest ask, usually salary, and then move into the easier requests. For example, I wanted to move my start date back, which was fairly easy to accommodate. I saved that request for last.

Picking the counter offer: Salary: Our cohort was split between data-driven counter offers (i.e., the average salary of an assistant professor) and ego-driven (I deserve a salary of X). Always ask for a little bit more than your desired salary, so there is room to come down and still hit your dream salary. Always negotiate salary. Ask for an amount outside of your comfort zone. Mostly it was the women in our cohort who worried they were asking too much–they were not. My recommendation: ask the most self-assured post-doc or new faculty you know what they requested for salary and go with that. If the Chair/Dean says no, they say no. Do not worry: they have invested too much time and money to throw out your offer because you (firmly and politely) requested a higher salary. Start-up/space/teaching: I found these easier to negotiate because they were not focused on what I wanted (to make more money) but what I needed to be successful (a certain amount of money for capital equipment, more protected time to write my R01, etc). If you phrase most of these negotiation points as problems that you and your Chair/Dean can solve together, it runs more smoothly. For example, if everyone in the department works with mice, it might make more sense to invest in tissue processing equipment than paying the Core to process and section the tissues.

Reports from my negotiations: I negotiated several offers. I worked from a bullet-point list of statements for each offer. I negotiated with Directors, Human Resources (HR, for salary), and Chairs. The negotiations with HR were always the most challenging, since their job is negotiation and their salary recommendations are guided by some black box algorithms/rubrics/compensation analysts. At one institution, when I countered my salary and start-up, I was flatly told both were enough; my PO disagreed that the start-up was sufficient and I walked away from that offer. At another institution, the Chair was limited in increasing the salary by institutional averages, but I was able to increase my salary up to the limit. The start-up was capped by the Dean or Director in other institutions. Extensions on start date and time to decision were granted by all negotiators. One institution had a limit on capital equipment, so I negotiated vouchers for Core use instead.

An important point: At the end of the day, if you accept the offer, you will have to work with your Chair/Dean for a long time. Fight for the things you need, but be ferociously polite and accept there are things that cannot be increased. Although there are things you can do to salvage an insufficient offer, sometimes the offer is too weak and you have to walk away.

Once you and the institutional representative come to an agreement, and you sign your offer letter, it is official: you have completed the arduous task of your first faculty job search. The coming months will be a whirlwind of activity as you move your life and science to a new institution and grow into a new role. While this post is the final entry into the job search series, my next series will focus on navigating your new appointment, from setting up the lab to navigating departmental politics. Stay tuned for more tales!

Still have questions? More confused than when you started? Need to vent about the process? Feel free to send some electrons my way in the comments, via Twitter @PipetteProtag, or through traditional electronic mail pipette.protagonist@gmail.com

More Resources

• Asking for What You Need: Intentional Negotiation
• Negotiating for Your First Academic Position

For the past three years, I went to all the meetings and conferences by myself. I love traveling, and going to conferences provides me with the opportunity to go to new places and visit friends.

When I was in grad school in Spain, I usually went to the meetings with all my lab teammates or at least with a couple of colleagues. I was never alone in a meeting, so I didn’t have the urge to talk to strangers, as my mother always warned me against doing as a child. It was easier to hang out with people I already knew and I felt safer staying in my comfort zone.

Needless to say, the word “networking” was not in my vocabulary. I did not know how important and valuable it could be. Looking back, I regret not making the most of all those experiences by meeting more new people. But to be honest, I was not that confident about my skills as a scientist or a communicator.

Now that I know how to push myself, I enjoy going to conferences and flying solo for several reasons.

Putting science in context

As my research involves several topics, I am interested in diverse conferences. For me, science is a puzzle and I need to find all the small pieces that are missing. Yet, sometimes, I realize that I am looking at the project too closely and that I can’t see the bigger picture. Listening to other scientists working in those disciplines gives me a fresh perspective. I can better understand how the field is evolving, and how this can have an impact on my own investigation. Going to conferences by myself allows me to be open-minded and critical, without any external opinion.

Nowadays, I am also trying to develop my own line of research. These conferences are the perfect place to brainstorm new ideas. I like to look at my current projects and give them a twist far away from my PI’s lines of research. Finding new methods and useful tools is also a plus.

Networking, of course

Let’s be real: if I am going with all my teammates, there is no need to talk to anyone else. Why the effort? But as I grow in my career, it seems that collaborations and connections are key, and without the comfort of teammates around, I have to force myself out of my comfort zone by approaching and connecting with different people.

For example, when you are in grad school, you can meet your future postdoc mentor. If you are interested in a particular lab, you could email them and see if they have some time to chat with you. This works nicely, especially if you live in a different country from this particular lab. In-person networking gives you the chance to meet people in person, avoiding going through Skype interviews as your first impression.

My favorite time for networking is during poster presentations. It is like a one on one interview, so it makes communication easier than in a big group. I was lucky to have my poster presentations the first day of meetings, which allowed me to make the first connections early. Thus, the upcoming days I always had a familiar face to chat with.

Breakfast, lunch and coffee breaks are also a good places to start connecting. Talking about how good or how bad the coffee is can be a great conversation icebreaker. After that, everything else flows.

Me time

I am an extremely social person. I like to chat and be surrounded by my colleagues, friends, and family. But sometimes this can be exhausting and it is hard to find time for myself. Being away for 3-5 days at a conference allows me to take a break from my daily routine. I can finally read that book that was gathering dust on my nightstand. Or I can binge-watch a whole show on a red-eye flight. But I can wander. I usually indulge myself with some shopping and tasting the local food. I love to walk around a city and discover its people, its secret places, and the best coffee shops.

This free time, it is like fresh air to me. It resets my brain and recharges me. It gives me the opportunity to put my thoughts in order, prioritize them and breathe! To be with myself and listen to what I need/want is fundamental to me. Some call it mindfulness. I call it survival.

Always challenge yourself

Sometimes we need to get out of our comfort zones. It allows us to do more than we think we can. Don’t limit yourself. Go to conferences, meetings, and workshops where you can meet people and enjoy a new environment. The worst-case scenario is that you will go back home and will have learned something new. But it’s likely you will come back home with a new colleague, collaborator, mentor or idea for a project.

What are you waiting for? Choose your next conference and enjoy flying solo!  

For more tips on how to network at conferences, check out these Edge posts:

5 Step Guide To Successful Networking At In-Person Events

Protips for Networking and Collaborating

Networking for People Who Hate Networking: A Field Guide for Introverts, the Overwhelmed, and the Underconnected

Not that Kind of Conference: Attending Clinical Conferences as a PhD

Match your outer awesomeness to your inner awesomeness

Conference season equates to visibility. Who you are in person is a key part of your personal brand. We hear often that early career researchers find the transition from invisible student-type to networking professional raises wardrobe questions. In response, we’ve got five solid conference wardrobe tips and a BONUS packing list.

• Mix and match: Wear the same base piece more than once over the course of a conference. It’s easy to change up the other items you wear with it, like tops and jackets, and is a budget-friendly way to stretch your wardrobe. This also allows for last minute changes in case of spills or accidents.
• Casual wear: Relaxed evening events (planned or unplanned) and daytime team building activities may come up, so you’ll want to bring casual wear that’s a step up from your typical weekend gear.  Dark jeans or casual slacks and a sweater or top are good core items and can double as your airplane outfit. Even when not attending conference events, it’s best to maintain a polished and professional look because you never know who you meet in the elevator or coffee shop.

Disclaimer: Casual wear is NOT suitable for conference attendees, presenters, or speakers. However, since formality of conference attire can vary by group and research discipline, ask around for additional dress code insights, or Google the conference for photos from prior years to calibrate. If no info is available consider that it’s always better to be noticed for being slightly overdressed than to stand out because you wore lab clothes when everyone else was in a suit.

• Comfortable shoes: Don’t feel pressured to wear dress shoes, or styles you typically wouldn’t. And don’t be tempted to break in new ones. Consider the amount of walking when events are held at large hotel venues and seek out comfort shoe options. Many brands and styles offer a classic look but with more support and cushion, though these will probably be a bit shinier than the comfort shoes you wear in lab (Crocs and lookalikes should be banned at conferences, please).
• 

  Professional Dress

  Colors: White or lightly-patterned, mostly-white dress shirts make it easy to match any color of jacket and men’s trousers. Black is always a classic base for women, and while you shouldn’t feel limited to only black, it’s simple to accent with nearly any color or patterned top. Gray trousers work well with almost any outfit for anyone, and navy blazers are classic. A simple and clean color scheme helps with the mix-and-matching and allows your wardrobe to be easily updated with new pieces as you progress in your career.
• Accessories: Smaller pieces and accents like ties and pocket squares can customize a look for men, while women may find creative statement jewelry or scarves a personalized accent which, as a bonus, can double as a shoulder wrap for over-air-conditioned conference rooms.

BONUS! Packing list for 2-Day Conference:

To fit in one carry-on bag

• one suit jacket or blazer
• two co-ordinating bottoms
• one dress (optional)
• three tops
• three undershirts
• one outerwear (check weather)
• three accessories (ties, pocketsquares, jewellery or scarves)
• one pair nice shoes (good for day or evening)
• one pair closed-toe flats (comfortable for walking)
• 4 pair of hosiery or socks
• one briefcase (for laptop, tablet, etc)
• one tote bag (if needed for conference materials. snacks, etc)

Optional (business casual outfit): 

• pants (no lab clothes, no faded jeans, no yoga pants)
• top (skip t-shirts and camisole-style tops)
• sweater (no hoodies)
• shoes (no mud stains)
• sports gear to burn off tension in gym or on the run

Do’s and Don’ts of Conference Attire:

DON’T!

Skip fashion trends that don’t translate to the world of academia; you don’t want to be be a clone or an exhibit.

DO!

Fitted and flattering pantsuits are professional and practical. If you can’t find off-the-rack that fits well, consider tailoring for adjustments. Remember to add a touch of personality.

DON’T!

This is not campus. Err in the direction of leaving distressed jeans and t-shirts (no matter how beloved and/or sciencey) at home or for socializing with peers.

DON’T!

Matching suits, especially in loud or obnoxious patterns, should stay where they came from unless you are perpetrating performance art. And fit is everything, be sure to try on that suit that’s been hiding in the back of your closet for who knows how long. Don’t wear slacks that are too short, or shorts of any kind, period.

DO!

Find a suit in a flattering shade that is professional without being over the top. Classic grey or navy blazers look great with light colored tops and nearly any color tie. And if the fit isn’t great, ask your dry-cleaner for help as they often have tailoring services on site and can get that suit looking fitted and you looking sharp with a quick turnaround.

Additional resources: 

• Conference With Style: What You Should Wear to a Scientific Conference
• How Not to Be a Jackass at Your Next Academic Conference
• How to Dress for a Conference Like a Fashionable Lady Scientist
• What to Wear to an Academic Conference
• What To Wear To a Conference: Packing List & Outfit Ideas
• 24 Of The Best Places To Buy A Suit Online
• Guide to Basic Women’s Suiting
• How Can I Create a Work-Friendly Wardrobe on a Budget?
• What to Wear to Work, From Women Who Have It Figured Out
• Conferences & Dressing Sharp | Always Create Strong First Impressions

For a funny read about science fashion with little to do with actual fashion advice:

• Dress to Profess: What Should Scientists Wear?

Scientific poster creator Nicole Zaleski shares her design hacks for using Power Point to design posters like this Drug Repurposing poster titled Accelerating Precision Drug Development and Drug Repurposing by Leveraging Human Genetics for 2016 Personalized Medicine Day.

Starting Out

Start by exploring and making a few practice designs.  A familiar set of tools with flexible functionality is essential to professional quality design. Basic Power Point skills and design sense are all that’s needed to use the built-in template and tools to create the various components of a visually exciting poster.

Look at the data and consider the best visual representation of the information by seeking inspiration from other posters which have been done well. For ideas about how to display data, check out Zaleski’s favorite book,  Effective Data Visualization, written by sought-after speaker, designer, and researcher Stephanie D. H. Evergreen. Create Excel charts and graphs that best communicate data findings in this comprehensive how-to guide for conveying data for maximum impact, written in a humorous and approachable style.

DESIGN TIP: Find a model you like and use that as a guide for your work. Look at the colors or layout used, and then make it your own. Even with all these digital tools, often an idea for an image or graph comes first in the form of a sketch (which is then created digitally).

But where does that first idea come from? Zaleski revealed an example of an actual prompt she received from a project lead for one particular assignment (hooray for email archives), seen in Figure A:

“Idea for a graphic: study flow diagram where participants join study, contribute data, share preferences for what kind of data they would find valuable to receive back, researchers analyze data and convert/transform it then return that value back to participants, who then experience benefit (increased learning, increased sense of engagement, better understanding of how their data fits in the big picture, etc.) Participant has a lightbulb and smile?”

The Design Process

With a prompt and a sketchpad, the first draft of the design concept is created. Using Power Point tools, the graphic can be brought to life digitally with simple text boxes and shapes. Look like a pro by using design techniques like layering, transparency, gradients, high quality stock photos and icons. Just be cautious not to overdo it, a clean and clear design is always a classic.

• Search for free Photos on Hubspot’s 20 of the Best Free Stock Photo Sites To Use In 2017.
• Find icons at Flat Icon,the largest database of free icons available in PNG, SVG, EPS, PSD and BASE 64 formats (free images but must credit image source).

Once the overall layout is achieved and the right data is displayed in a way that makes sense and is visually interesting, complement the design with custom colors.

To discover a coordinating color palette look at the project’s logo, get inspiration from the world around the work being done, or check out the built-in color families within Power Point.

• Find complementary color palettes with Adobe Kuler while wasting time, I mean, taking a break from working on the poster design.

Zaleski, the Power Point ninja that she is, found a sweet color in one of the icons she downloaded and wanted to use that as the foundation for her color family. Using a tricky technique, she pulled the colors from the icon and used it to coordinate the other images and text boxes to match.

• RGB Hex converter takes input in the form of values for Red, Green and Blue ranging from 0 to 255 and then converts those values to a hexadecimal string that can be used to specify color in html/css code.

Using the dropper tool it’s possible to copy and view a color from one image, which appears as RGB. Using this site allows you to convert that RGB code to Hex, which may be useful for custom colors in other icons or programs.

Final Considerations

Before calling the poster “final”, a few informal hallway focus groups with individuals unrelated to the project can help identify potential issues with the data visualizations and layout. Always print a proof (as many times as it takes) and review it (and have another trusted person review carefully) before sending the final version to print.

To be sure the printed quality matches what’s on the screen, increase the DPI on PowerPoint before exporting to print. Double-check settings especially for grant figures which may require 300 DPI settings.

• How to change export resolution on power point slide

Adjust the brightness of images with Power Point.

• Change the brightness, contrast, or sharpness of a picture

Warning: Designing a super-sleek and professional scientific poster may cause others to seek out your skills for their next poster (or blog post).

About Nicole Zaleski

Nicole is a Project Coordinator and Research Analyst within the Vanderbilt Institute for Clinical and Translational Research (VICTR) where she works with large, interdisciplinary teams that focus on utilizing human genetic data to drive drug discovery, translational research and clinical research projects in a broad range of therapeutic areas. Within the Drug Repurposing Program, she uses design skills to translate complex ideas into attractive visuals for grant proposals, peer-reviewed manuscripts, printed materials, and Power Point presentations for diverse audiences.

In a recent talk to the Women on Track group, Dr. David Raiford, Chief of Clinical Staff for VUMC and Senior Associate Dean for Faculty Affairs, offered some advice for cultivating your professional reputation. Women on Track is an organization that hosts seminars throughout the year to promote the retention and advancement of tenure-track women in medical science. Some of the key points are listed below:

• Identify your talents and passions and make sure that your activities and your rewards (i.e. how you are recognized, compensated, promoted) are aligned with those interests. As an example, a junior faculty physician-scientist who is trying to develop a research career while being adept at treating disease X may be in high demand as a clinician. However, to be successful as an investigator, she needs to be careful that clinical duties don’t require more than 25% of her effort.
• Actively engage your mentors and senior leaders in thinking of ways to serve or hold leadership roles (e.g. editorial positions, participate in organizing committees for scientific conferences). Ask your mentors, “Do you think I am qualified enough to be considered for participation in the organizing committee of meeting Z?” However, if the mentor does not feel that you are ready, then ask “What do you recommend that I do to help improve my qualifications?”
• Promote your career, but do so with humility and a desire to further your own learning and provide service to the field. Think about and discuss opportunities in terms of the contributions you hope to make rather than the accomplishments you hope to put on your CV.
• Be respectful of senior mentors’ time but not afraid to approach and ask for career-advancing opportunities. When approaching mentors, make sure that you are discussing opportunities at a convenient time (“Is this a good time to talk about X…”).
• Utilize your mentor committee but don’t be timid about reaching beyond the committee to get advice.
• Expand your professional network by reaching out to others at national meetings with similar interests. Pay attention to the leadership structure within your field (e.g. conference organizing committees) to look for opportunities to become more involved.
• For promotion, do not assume that the committee will recognize the importance of your accomplishments, particularly if in a different field. Cover letters or letters of recommendation from senior faculty can be used to interpret items on your CV for the Promotion Committee members. For example, they can highlight how rare and highly valued a particular award, talk, or invitation is in your field.