Diane is on top of her research. Not only that, her education is unparalleled and with this background she is therefore in a perfect position to adjudicate the works of others: A scientist I know published a paper drawing the wrong conclusions from their own research. How should I let them know? Dear Diane, As per the title of this very post, you simply write a comment. Submit this to the journal ...[Read More]
We all want our five minutes in the spotlight. It could be the long-awaited moment you finally get to give an oral presentation at EGU, in front of an audience eager to absorb every single word that comes out of your mouth and every single slide like they are solving all open issues in all the geosciences. But not all research fields are created equal and, let’s face it, some fields seem to ...[Read More]
Sylvester is continuously ogling new readers for his scientific communications. Pawing at several social media, he purrs: Do you need Twitter to spread your science? Dear Sylvester, Yes. Next question, please. I mean, it’s quite popular. Isn’t it? If you throw in a couple of tags to institutions, active members of the scientific social media community or even just some journals there&# ...[Read More]
Picture yourself in the office. You are finally cracking on that paper you have been meaning to read for a long time. Here comes that one paragraph upon which the understanding of the whole paper hinges. You are almost grasping it, when the smell of soup hits your nostrils, warning you that it is lunch time for your office mate. You know, the one that slurps when they eat. And obviously they think ...[Read More]
Jay likes to put in a couple of continuous hours on his project. No distractions. No students. No nothing. Nothing, but focus and progress. And then his supervisor wants to talk. Again. He grumbles: How often should you meet with your supervisor as a PhD student? Dear Jay, Unfortunately there is no one-fits-all answer to this here question. It simply depends on the PhD student. And the supervisor. ...[Read More]
Teresa has attended a conference or two. She published a paper or three, co-convened an EGU session or four and was ‘part of a research team’ or five (meaning: did most of the work and ended up as co-author number ‘who-cares’ in the list). Disillusioned she sighs: How do I get senior scientists to take me seriously as an academic? Dear Teresa, I know, right? One could almos ...[Read More]
We live in crazy times! Remember the times when we could just hang out with people without fear of being infected by a life-threatening desease? Me neither. Fasim asks a question that must be keeping a lot of us up at night: First day on new job in quarantine…what do I do? Dear Fasim, First of all, be happy you actually landed said job. In today’s market that is always good cause for celebra ...[Read More]
While savouring a refreshing beverage and browsing through news of [yet another] dystopian summer, Ethan keeps receiving notifications from his e-mail. It turns out that he is insistently being asked to review (again and again) a paper. Naturally, he turns to me to ask: How can I refuse doing paper reviews? Dear Ethan, A question as old as time academia! The increase in publication volumes in the ...[Read More]
Annalisa is in the final stretch of her PhD. Just a couple of paragraphs to jot down, an introduction to write and some final touches to finalize the figures. Whilst looking around for new opportunities, she comes across an opportunity in her own department. Struggling to decide what to do, she inquires: Should I do a post-doc as far away as possible from my PhD location? Dear Annalisa, Ad Maiora ...[Read More]
Winning a prestigious fellowship is the dream of any early career scientist. It provides the freedom to waste a couple years of public funding without having to answer for that to a supervisor. The first step to reaching this academic Nirvana is to write a proposal. Blerta dares to ask what’s on everyone’s mind: What is a great idea for a proposal? Dear Blerta, I would love to tell you that the pr ...[Read More]