Jesper has a lot of green on his mind. No not money, you capitalists. Nature. The environment. Basil and chives. With the recent advent of billionaires finding new ways to caress their egos, and in a totally-not-aiming-to-start-mining-other-celestial-bodies kinda way, Jesper has some troubled thoughts: Should we really colonize other planets? We are already destroying this one… Dear Jesper, Sure. ...[Read More]
Applying for tenure-track (or something close to that) positions is the very reason for many brilliant scientists to eventually run away from academia as fast as they can. Finding an opening, preparing your application and bracing yourself for the n-th `no thank you, but you should really try again!’ is a tedious, time-consuming, numbing, soul-destroying, kill-me-now process. Among the many ...[Read More]
Hilde has been ever so occupied with her research, especially finishing a manuscript for the first time. Submitting that paper was supposed to be some sort of closure, and mental solace, yet somehow there seems to be a predilection for progressive diffidence: When has enough time passed to send a reminder/enquiry to an editor if the paper is in the ‘decision with editor’-stage? Dear Hilde, DonR ...[Read More]
Scientists are starved for recognition. When that little compliment we have been fishing for does not arrive from our supervisor, but from an unkown benefactor, we tend to open our hearts to them. But we should be careful about our new email besties. Delfina asks: Publishers have approached me for a book deal. How do I proceed? Dear Delfina, For the vast majority of the times, ignore them. Chances ...[Read More]
Frustrated that her peers have won prestigious grants, while she has no money in the bank whatsoever, Bonnie asks: How do I win a big grant? Dear Bonbon, Everybody knows that the only way to win a grant is by having already won grants. Or awards. I’m not picky. And don’t think that I am joking about this. I am dead serious. At the very least you should have something on your CV that ma ...[Read More]
Worldwide scientific cooperations, international meetings, internet-based literature. In today’s world we are deeply interconnected and the leading expert on that obscure method or topic you need to make your proposal truly interdisciplinary is just one email away. After all, global problems require global efforts (and lots of cheap labor bright and motivated young minds). Fen has a question ...[Read More]
Whilst in constant debate with himself on how to address his own insecurities, Harry dabbles in the secret art of interdisciplinary studies. Specifically, mechano-thermo-chemical modeling with the input from experimental studies. Trying to move forward, he struggles: How can we combine all the uncertainties on experimental rock studies with modelling studies? Dear Harry, We can only try. Yours tru ...[Read More]
Writing a paper can be challenging. While it can be satisfactory to see your science coming together in a consistent story, writing a nice paper requires you to prepare appealing figures, a bullett-proof text and, potentially, dealing with co-autors. Mirja asks: How do I finish a paper? Dear Mirja, Interesting question: over (more than a) few beers I heard colleagues and peers wondering how to sta ...[Read More]
Mare needs to secure some funding. Trotting through previous successful applications, she finds a common denominator. As a purebred scientist, she bellows: How important is interdisciplinary research for a research proposal? Dear Mare, Very important. Realistically, you’ll not get funded in case you’re a one-trick pony. Who will hand over their pouch of gold nuggets to someone who will ...[Read More]
Postdoc appointments: the forgotten terrace of Purgatory. Where researchers are sentenced to linger till either a position opens in the Heaven of permanent contracts, or they realise that, after all, they are not interested anymore. This terrace is composed of different levels of various length. Nobody knows how many levels there are and how long they are, or should be. Raul asks: What is the idea ...[Read More]