Science Sisters is a lighthearted interview series where Iris van Zelst (postdoc at the German Aerospace Center) chats with lots of different people (with a focus on – but not limited to – women in science) to make some sense of the academic world. Filled with laughter and silliness, it explores different career paths, academic life, soft skills, and current issues in academia. At 15 t ...[Read More]
Good morning, dear readers, this is your editor-in-chief speaking. We are currently experiencing some difficulties in academia, but we ask you to stay calm and remain in your seats with the seatbelt fastened. In the event of loss of pressure, make sure to publish your own paper first (to increase the pressure on your peers). Yes, it’s me! Your favourite (and only) editor-in-chief! And because runn ...[Read More]
It’s the first time Stella is organizing a session at the upcoming, 2022 EGU general assembly. Tantalized yet nervous due to the possibility of a forced merger with another, uninspiring session, she exclaims: How do I get people to submit abstracts to my session? Dear Stella, Why don’t you write a post on this very blog? Oh wait, you’re not the first one to do that. Ugh. How uncr ...[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]
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]
Maddie is in the final stretch of her PhD track. Whilst finalizing the last couple of figures and jotting down the last couple of paragraphs for her thesis, she checks the institutional web pages for job opportunities ferociously. Coming up blank, she mutters: How important is a social network for obtaining a future job in academia? Dear Maddie, It is absolutely paramount. You don’t seriously thin ...[Read More]
This year, once again, the EGU General Assembly (GA) will be completely online. The 2021 GA will include all components of an in-presence EGU GA, such as sharing scientific content, connecting with your peers, making new contacts, attending short courses, etc. With the virtual GA looming in one week, it’s time for all attendees to finish (or start..) their scientific contributions and figure out h ...[Read More]
Despite finishing his experiments and writing up his thesis during a pandemic, Markus wants to keep climbing the academic pyramid. Reflecting on some of his choices during his PhD, he now asks: I didn’t spend anytime building my network during my PhD. Can I get a postdoc? Dear Markus, Of course! Academia represents the pursuit of scientific knowledge and the expansion of our collective under ...[Read More]
Tokío’s contract is about to expire. Confident she would convince someone to hire her through expert presentations, astute questions, insightful discussions and uncanny charm, she now frets: I was counting on networking at the EGU GA to find a new job, but now I can’t. What can I do? Dear Tokío, I’ve got a bad feeling about this. Don’t trap yourself in a panicking fit just ...[Read More]