BGS Career Development

Making It Count!

Career: Research (academic)

Science: “Explore the skills that can open career doors after your doctoral training”

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This Science article discusses a survey of 3,803 science and engineering Ph.D.s working in various industries. Survey respondents revealed that while many believe they began developing important professional skills while in grad school, there are a number of skills that they have found very important at work that were not a central focus of their Ph.D. training (for example, personnel management.)

The article’s authors developed an interactive graphic based on the survey’s data. It compares the extent a skill is developed in grad school with its importance in 12 career sectors, including research, consulting, teaching, and more. It is intended to give doctoral students an overview of the day-to-day duties and responsibilities of jobs in a variety of sectors and to shed light on which skills should be prioritized, either within their Ph.D. training or through extracurricular activities.

ASBMB Webinar: “Image is Everything: Preparing your figures for publication”

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Ready to write up your paper? Worried about potential pitfalls in image acquisition and figure preparation?

Come join us for a webinar as Kaoru Sakabe, Data Integrity Manager for ASBMB, discusses best practices in figure assembly. You’ll learn tips and tricks on how to put together unassailable figures and showcase your hard-earned data. (Via ASBMB)

Speakers

Organizer: Jenna Hendershot, Ph.D. Cayman Chemical

Speaker: Kaoru Sakabe, Ph.D., ASBMB

Moderator: Danielle Snowflack, Ph.D., ASBMB

When: Thursday, September 20, 2018 from 1:00 – 2:00 PM

To register, click here.

Video Series: “Background to Breakthrough”

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iBiology’s Science Communication Lab (SLC) has produced a three-part video series titled, “Background to Breakthrough,” featuring Dr. Esteban Burchard of the University of California, San Francisco. The series details Dr. Burchard’s own research and the influential role his own ethnic and cultural background has held in his career path. The series explores the consequences of underrepresentation in research and medicine and ultimately questions, “How can we ensure that the future of biomedical and clinical research is inclusive?”

Nature: “Why a new lab can be a valuable destination for postdocs and graduate students”

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In considering where to pursue postdoctoral research, an important factor is work culture and environment. Chris Woolston’s article in Nature explores the merits of newer laboratories compared to those that are more established. Woolston also acknowledges that new labs can be perceived as high-risk and provides tips for students and researchers to ensure that they will have a productive experience, such as checking the principal investigator’s publication history.

2018/2019 NIH-funded Research and Teaching Postdoctoral Position at Rutgers

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Please see the following announcement from Dr. Martha Soto of the Robert Wood Johnson Medical School:

INSPIRE (IRACDA New Jersey/New York for Science Partnerships in Research & Education) at Rutgers – Robert Wood Johnson Medical School provides unique training through an intensive, three-year program of research at Rutgers and mentored teaching at one of our three partner schools: Medgar Evers College – CUNY; New Jersey City University (NJCU), NJ; William Paterson University (WPU), NJ.  With a choice of 100s of research labs at Rutgers, INSPIRE Fellows are exceedingly productive in research and publish in high-impact journals. 70% of Fellows have obtained tenure-track positions in academia.  INSPIRE Fellows also expand educational and biomedical research training opportunities for undergraduates at our three partner institutions. Fellows develop and teach courses, promote summer research opportunities, and mentor undergraduates on how to apply for graduate school programs.

Eligibility: U.S. citizens or Permanent Residents only. Postdoctoral fellows with 0-1 years of postdoctoral training will receive preference. INSPIRE Fellows can be supported for up to three years at the NIH stipend level.

Application deadline: Rolling admissions with possible start date in fall 2018 or spring 2019.

 

Find program details and download application forms here.

Further questions, please email INSPIRE Program Support Coordinator Dr. Ping Xu

iBiology Courses Help Trainees Plan for Their Careers

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iBiology has two free, self-paced courses designed for trainees. The objective of “Planning your Scientific Journey” is to teach students “how to choose a good scientific problem and plan their journey ahead.” “Business Concepts for Life Scientists,” created in collaboration with the UCSF Office of Career and Professional Development and the WUSTL Graduate School, helps graduate students, postdocs and junior faculty who wish to gain a basic understanding of business fundamentals for both academic and industry career sectors. iBiology also has a new course coming out later this year, called “Designing Killer Experiments.” (Via the AAMC)