Air travel is a thing of the past, or at least it has been in the past couple years. Nowadays conferences are attended from the comfort of our closet home-office. Although there are undeniable advantages in not being in the USA (please keep me out of there!), Sadia wonders: How to stay awake until 3am to present your poster at a virtual US conference? Dear Sadia, You are talking about a possible c ...[Read More]
The Sassy Scientist – Bend Or Break. Or Boost?
Ruggero has travelled a tough PhD journey. Foraging for his last bits of energy to continue onward on the treacherous odyssey of academia, he murmurs: How can I (re)gain some confidence after it has been shattered during my PhD? Dear Ruggero, Ciao bello. Does that help? Never mind. Just kidding. I cannot imagine how badly your confidence was shattered during your PhD. That’s a pretty tough d ...[Read More]
The Sassy Scientist – The Doctor Is In
There are no stupid questions. How many times have we heard that from colleagues and in classrooms? Obviously an exceedingly sizeable chunk of our community does not receive stupid questions often enough. Even silly questions have their merits though, and obviously they deserve an answer, at least to avoid them being asked in the future. My very busy mailbox has recently seen a staggering increase ...[Read More]
The Sassy Scientist – Chill Pill Refill
Angela is one to stress out just a wee bit every time a conference is right around the corner. It’s almost like she consistently doesn’t prepare in time. Ever so slightly concerned, her office mate asks: How last minute is too last minute when preparing for a conference? Dear Angela, Just take a breather and come down from your academic productivity high! It’s an untenable situat ...[Read More]