We are all underpaid and underappreciated. That is almost the dictionary definition of academic jobs. We bounce from one barely acceptable contract to the next, hoping to finally land a tenure-track position that allows us to swim in money like Scrooge McDuck. But before that, science itself should be its own reward and sustenance. Sometimes though, we hear from a friend of a friend about a collea ...[Read More]
Mabi has seen a smattering of presentations at conferences. Some of those had the annotation “invited talk”. She wonders: How do you get invited to give a talk? Dear Mabi, Easy: get noticed. I don’t just mean that you should write a stellar paper. There might just be a chance that people miss it. Out of laziness, a crammed schedule or plain disinterest (wrongfully so, of course). ...[Read More]
Abasi really is in the final stretches of his PhD voyage. It’s time to pick the external member of his panel. This role is always a wild card: it could make your viva experience either a 1-hour short ego booster, or a 5-hours long living hell of questioning. He ponders: Who to choose as your external PhD committee member? Dear Abasi, Lots of variables to consider here, and potentially lots o ...[Read More]
Onnem is a big fan of a certain movie franchise about intergalactic space travel, heroism and self-development (with scenes that are depicted not very close by, and which did not occur recently *wink *wink). He smirks: Is there a dark side to obtaining a PhD? Dear Onnem, I think you’ve been spacing out a little too much these days. You’ve actually got things backwards: obtaining a PhD ...[Read More]
