It was a dark and stormy night. Annette was bored with Angry Birds and was dreaming of a way she could expand her horizons, advance her skills and learn more about a particular subject. She was especially interested in working with a certain genius in her field and wondered to herself if there was a fellowship or grant available for which she could apply to aid her in attaining her goal. She did some online research, but lo, there was no grant to be found. Read more [...]
Recently, a newly minted science doctorate asked me for some help finding a job. He had applied for hundreds of advertised openings, both postdoc and non-academic positions, but to no avail. So I asked him about his networking strategy. “What networking strategy?” he replied, clueless to what I was referring. I spent the next hour emphasising the importance of networking in finding hidden job opportunities and communicating your value to decision-makers. I outlined for him a customised networking plan which would enable him to meet and interact with professionals who have the power to hire him for the jobs he so desperately wanted. When our meeting concluded, I asked for feedback on the career consulting session – “Did you find our discussion helpful?” I inquired, thinking I was up for a major pat on the back. “No,” he said instantly. “You didn’t tell me where I can apply for a job or places where there are more advertisements for jobs.” Read more [...]
Do you know your value? Do you know what special talents you have, what kinds of problems you solve, what expertise you bring to an organisation? Most people, even scientists, just don’t know this about themselves. We may think we know, but ask someone to encapsulate their true value within a 30 second self-commercial, and their mind melts to mush. Read more [...]
As the Mac platform increases in popularity (Apple currently claim 20% of laptops sold are Macintoshes) it should come as no surprise that there are increasing numbers of students turning up to university with Macintosh laptops. Recent figures from the Apple-blogosphere suggest that around a quarter of new US students arrive with a machine running Mac OS X, and around half are planning on buying a machine from the company in Cupertino in the future. Some of these students will eventually make the move into postgraduate studies, and it makes sense that they'll want to use the computers that they've become comfortable using. The Apple website has it's own science section , with people using Macs to do everything from 3D medical imaging to submarine paleo-seismology. Read more [...]
So you've got a theoretical PhD... but what next? There are some career possibilities which combine the advantages of university and industry. Read more [...]
The Scientist’s web survey of the Best Places to Work in Academia this year must certainly have added another feather to the cap of European science. Of the International Institutions making the top ten, five were European. Read more [...]
Aarathi Prasad, freelance science journalist, interviews Claire McNulty, Life Sciences Adviser at the British Council, at the Vitae Conference 2010. Read more [...]
One of the recurrent themes at the Vitae Researcher Development Conference 2010 was how to better facilitate the movement of researchers throughout the European Union. Representing the British Council, Dr Claire McNulty’s conference workshop, Research as an International Career, broadened the discussion to how to encourage and make easier the transition for scientists moving between continents, as well as between countries that are geographically, but not politically European nations. Read more [...]
Be brave and aggressive, be prepared and be a good merchant. These so called “Viking Laws” are, in a nutshell, the advice of Zsolt Kajocsos, Deputy Director of KFKI, for young researchers who want to be successful in science. In the ESOF session on “Structured doctoral training and postdoctoral mobility” different approaches to university management of high quality academic education, research and innovation in Europe were discussed. Young researchers were encouraged to be strong and learn how to sell themselves and their research despite how their university manages doctoral training. Read more [...]
European science conversations by the community, for the community
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