It’s Christmas! Time for celebration! Time to write your EGU abstract! Time to unwrap your presents! And for some, time to start writing yor PhD dissertation! Rudoplh is one of the lucky ones! But he has a question: How should I start on my PhD dissertation? Dear Rudy, What better time to get started on …[Read More]
Iiris is a bit indecisive. On the one hand, she wants to get as much science as she can into her thesis. On the other, she wants to actually finish her thesis in time, before unemployment inevitably comes knocking. She sighs: Should I do that one extra research project for my PhD, or just start …[Read More]
In a previous post I gave a cristal-clear explanation on what to write in a “teaching statement”, an essential document in your tenure-track application package. In this post I shall offer invaluable insight on an even more obscure document required for academic job hunters, by answering Inessa’s question: What should you include in your “diversity, …[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 …[Read More]
Long (mostly self-inflicted) working hours, low pay, one short-time contract after another and no long-term guarantee whatsoever. That is academic life for you, in case you haven’t noticed. Sooner or later all academics start to ask themselves the same thing that Gabby asks: What are the nicest alternatives to academia? Dear Gabby, My personal favourites …[Read More]
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 …[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, …[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 …[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 …[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 …[Read More]
