career development

Two recent announcements caught my eye and I thought they might be of interest to some of you. Plus, I'm always pleased to see universities taking seriously the issues career development and training future faculty. Opportunity 1: Washington State University Summer Doctoral Fellows Program Opportunity 2: Rochester Institute of Technology's Future Faculty Career Exploration Program Details below the fold. Opportunity 1: Washington State University Summer Doctoral Fellows Program Washington State University invites applications from doctoral candidates who are nearing completion of their…
I've been to another workshop presented by the same group and I highly recommend them. Preparing for an Academic Career in the Geosciences: A Workshop for Graduate Students and Post-doctoral Fellows July 16-July 19, 2009 University of Nevada, Las Vegas Application DEADLINE is March 18, 2009 http://serc.carleton.edu/NAGTWorkshops/careerprep09/index.html Preference will be given to those entering or soon to enter the academic job market. The workshop will include faculty panels on academic careers and the academic job search, short presentations on various topics, structured discussions, and…
We're really fortunate here at Terra Sigillata World Headquarters to have a strong, dedicated readership. But I'm always tickled when we attract new readers and attention to the views we express here. Late yesterday I received a very nice e-mail from Andrew Plemmons Pratt, Managing Editor of Science Progress, a blog of the well-known liberal think tank, Center for American Progress. In his post, Don't Bury the Next Generation of Researchers Under Billions in NIH Funding, Andrew notes my enthusiasm in our 23 Feb post for being sure that junior investigators already in the pipeline not be…
Over the weekend, Comrade PhysioProf at DrugMonkey posted on the details of American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) stimulus funds distribution for the US National Institutes of Health. For some unusual reason, the letter that was sent to NIH investigators and posted on the NIH website has now been removed and replaced today by the statement: The announcement from the Acting NIH Director will be issued later today. We are making every effort to get this vital information to you as soon as possible. This page was last reviewed on February 23, 2009. From the DrugMonkey post and an article…
Coolio! I think I would've applied for this. I assume NCI means either recent MS or PhD graduates: Applications are now open for the July 2009-January 2010 National Cancer Institute's (NCI's) Health Communications Internship Program, a 6 or 12-month program for graduate students or for persons who have recently completed a graduate degree interested in a career in science writing. Applications close March 3, 2009. For additional information or to apply, visit: https://hcip.nci.nih.gov. The NCI, the Federal Government's principal agency for cancer research and training, invites qualified…
I've been terribly behind on a billion things lately, most importantly spending time with my family and calling PharmSis and PharmMom. However, DrugMonkey's post on Mentoring 101: Let's Talk About the Money drew from me a comment I feel I should post here despite coming after 60+ other comments there. The bulk of the discussion was on 1) what do you do to educate your lab on the actual budget of running the show, 2) do NIH research grants really support graduate and postgraduate education? and 3) does recovery of indirect costs (ICRs) represent a boondoggle for university administration, an…
Well, PalMD and I have been working tirelessly on putting together a plan of discussion for the upcoming ScienceOnline'09 session on Anonymity and Pseudonymity - Building Reputation Online. Over the last several months, we have had a tremendous outpouring of comments on our own blogs and numerous other blogs that gives us far more fodder than could be discussed in a 75 minute unconference session. (Pal, I foresee a palcast on pseudonymity.). I still contend in all seriousness that the following 18 October 2008 quote from PhysioProf (cross-posted on his solo site) deserves to be the opening…
In preparing for the ScienceOnline'09 session on Gender in Science - Online and Offline, one planned discussion point will be how to enlist allies representing the dominant power structure to enhance equality and diversity in the STEM disciplines. No one ally can do it all but a combination of like-minded people can make a huge difference. Here is a terrific example of an ally, written by superb higher ed reporter, Eric Ferreri, of the Raleigh (NC) News & Observer, on Dr Henry Friedman and CAPE, the Collegiate Athletic Pre-Medical Experience: Georgia Beasley was practicing her jump shot…
I absolutely love the Scientiae blog carnival, established originally by and for women in the STEM blogosphere (but has occasionally accepted the blatherings of us with Y chromosomes). What I enjoy most about this carnival is that the host puts out a call for posts on a specific, usually introspective topic related to being a woman in science. Since the carnival is monthly, it gives the bloggers sufficient time to really reflect and develop a solid series of wonderfully-written posts. This month's carnival is up at Thesis - With Children, the blog of acmegirl, a graduate student whom I…
I see you - I've been there. You're sitting in the lab the day before New Year's Eve looking at what you've done over the last year - or last six years - and thinking about how you're ever going to turn this postdoc or extended grad school period into some gainful career. The economy is for hell no matter where you live and you're wondering if this is all worth it. Well, as I've said before, don't limit your options until you explore them. The US drug, medical device, food, cosmetic regulatory and safety agency, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), can provide a really satisfying…
We had one of our most active comment threads the other day when I posted my thoughts on drdrA's own superb post about what is most important to her in being a woman in science. I noted my own desire to listen to and understand as completely as possible the issues of my women colleagues and discuss, in an upcoming ScienceOnline'09 session with Zuska and Alice Pawley (Sat 17 Jan, 11:30 am, session C), how they can enlist academic allies who have the traditional power and resource structure (i.e., white guys like me) to establish partnerships in working toward fair and equitable treatment of…
DrDrA at BlueLabCoats has returned with an outstanding post, entitled, "I want you to hear me, I don't care what you see...," that she wrote out longhand during her recent travels: In my absence I picked up a whiff of a lot of chatter about what women scientists wear to work... or talk/write about wearing .... going on in the blogosphere. . . You see- the struggle I'm in daily in my own life and career is not about appearances, and it is not about symbolism or femininity- and it is not about who I am as a person, my likes and dislikes etc. It is a struggle to be heard and taken seriously…
Nobel Prize month also means that Denver's 5280 magazine has announced the annual results of their top 270 medical professionals in 79 specialties. While the picture here is the cover of last year's issue featuring my dear colleague, Dr John J (Jay) Reusch, the good doctor was again named among the top six physicians in Cardiovascular Medicine. Our other compatriot, Dr Daniel (Dan) Bessesen was named for the sixth year among the top specialists in Endocrinology, Diabetes, & Metabolism. Even my former pulmonologist, Dr James (Jim) Good, made the list - for his 14th year! The Pulmonary…
I am about to lead a discussion of science and medical blogs with a group of journalism students in a course entitled, Medical Journalism. While many of the students are specifically majoring in medical and science journalism in a master's program, some are undergraduates in general journalism and mass communications looking to get a flavor for medical writing for print and broadcast. My question to the valued readers of this humble blog is: What would you tell these young, knowledge-seeking minds about how science and medical blogs and bloggers might contribute to their future careers as "…
DrDrA just posted on a currently 37-comment-long thread of a post by PhysioProf at DrugMonkey based on a quote from a post by Dr Brazen Hussy (opening sentence almost as long and convoluted as the title, eh?). The short summary: postdocs and other academic job candidates are disqualifying themselves from even applying for certain positions because: 1. they don't feel they meet the job description in the ad 2. the job is at a "lesser" institution or department 3. the job is in a place (they think) they'd never want to live 4. they'd feel bad about turning down a position at a place they know…
Any of you working in academic programs that offer forensic sciences training are well aware that CSI has been a boon this multidisciplinary area of biology, chemistry, engineering and materials sciences. However, we don't yet have any television programs glorifying a career in pharmacology or biotechnology. I've just spent a few hours on YouTube, BSCS, Bio-Rad, and a bunch of other science education sites but I can't find what I am looking for. What I need: A 10-12 minute video for high school students that demonstrates career opportunities in biotechnology and/or the biologicals side of…
Dr Ernest Eliel, a past-president of the American Chemical Society, passed away in Chapel Hill, NC, on Thursday evening. Dr Eliel was 86. His obituary notes: Born December 28, 1921, in Cologne, Germany, Dr. Eliel was the son of the late Oskar and Luise Tietz Eliel. He moved to the United States in 1946, and received a Ph.D degree from the University of IL at Urbana-Champaign in 1948. Dr. Eliel lived in South Bend, IN, where he taught at the University of Notre Dame from 1948 until 1972, at which time he moved to Chapel Hill, where he was the W.R. Kenan, Jr. Professor of Chemistry at the…
When one serves on NIH grant review panels, or study sections, one must now register with the US government as a government contractor in order to get reimbursement for hotel and meals, plus the staggering $200 honorarium for each day of the meeting (for which you have spent between two and four weeks of reading, writing, and prep time.) As a result, you get on e-mail lists for all sorts of federal solicitations for bids on all kinds of projects, or "federal business opportunities." I chose not to opt out of these e-mails because, well, you just can't have enough e-mail, right?. In all…
You are an assistant professor in the biomedical sciences and are three or four years in, trying to really hammer on your productivity before the tenure dossier goes in a couple of years from now. Professor MegaMentor, editor of your society's second-tier journal (impact factor of 2.5), approaches you to write an invited review article on the state of your field. You take a look at the promotion and tenure guidelines for your institution and find that review articles are not counted as "original, peer-reviewed research publications." Professor MegaMentor has been very good to you since she…
I'm sure this question has been addressed in the educational literature to which I do not currently have electronic access. The question for the day is whether a department that has, say, a 10-year record of awarding tenure to every faculty member who has come up for evaluation is one that has standards that are too low. One might argue that such an outcome would be the result of outstanding and prescient recruiting of new faculty. Alternatively, superb resources and an enriching collaborative environment might promote such a culture of success. Another reason might be that underperforming…