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]
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]
Giusy is throwing some deep dives into the trenches of scientific literature. Deep they are indeed. Almost running out of oxygen whilst frantically flapping through the murky waters near the surface, she comes across a not-yet-published paper (or better: a non-peer-reviewed paper) that’s floating around the internet. Apparently well-written and soundly researched, she goes looking for more a ...[Read More]
