The Chicago Guide to Your Career in Science: A Toolkit for Students and Postdocs (Chicago Guides to Academic Life) - Hardcover

Bloomfield, Victor A.; El-Fakahany, Esam E.

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0226060632 ISBN 13: 9780226060637

Verlag: University of Chicago Press, 2008

Inhaltsangabe

Embarking upon research as a graduate student or postdoc can be exciting and enriching - the start of a rewarding career. But the world of scientific research is also a competitive one, with grants and good jobs increasingly hard to find. "The Chicago Guide to Your Career in Science" is intended to help scientists not just cope with but excel at this critical phase in their careers.Victor A. Bloomfield and Esam E. El-Fakahany, both well-known scientists with extensive experience as teachers, mentors, and administrators, have combined their knowledge to create a guidebook that addresses all of the challenges that today's scientists-in-training face. They begin by considering the early stages of a career in science: deciding whether or not to pursue a PhD, choosing advisors and mentors, and learning how to teach effectively. Bloomfield and El-Fakahany then explore the skills essential to conducting and presenting research. "The Chicago Guide to Your Career in Science" offers detailed advice on how to pursue research ethically, manage time, and communicate effectively, especially at academic conferences and with students and peers. Bloomfield and El-Fakahany write in accessible, straightforward language and include a synopsis of key points at the end of each chapter, enabling readers to dip into relevant sections with ease.From students prepping for the GRE to postdocs developing professional networks to managers of corporate labs, scientists at every level will find "The Chicago Guide to Your Career in Science" an unparalleled resource.The toolkit includes advice on: choosing a graduate program; speaking effectively; defending your dissertation; making the most of scientific meetings; writing fellowship and grant proposals; landing a job; pursuing professional contacts; and, choosing an alternative career.

Über diesen Titel

Über die Autorin bzw. den Autor

Victor A. Bloomfield is professor in the Department of Biochemistry, Molecular Biology, and Biophysics and a former dean of the Graduate School at the University of Minnesota. Esam E. El-Fakahany is professor of psychiatry, pharmacology, and neuroscience at the University of Minnesota Medical School. He is also former associate dean of the Graduate School. Together, El-Fakahany and Bloomfield established and directed the University of Minnesota's first office for postdoctoral affairs.

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THE CHICAGO GUIDE TO YOUR CAREER IN science

A TOOLKIT FOR STUDENTS AND POSTDOCSBy VICTOR A. BLOOMFIELD ESAM E. EL-FAKAHANY

The University of Chicago Press

Copyright © 2008 The University of Chicago
All right reserved.
ISBN: 978-0-226-06063-7

Contents

Preface.................................................................viiAcknowledgments.........................................................ix1. Introduction: Thinking about a Research Career.......................1PART I. THE STAGES OF A RESEARCH CAREER2. Pursuing Graduate Education..........................................153. Advisors and Mentors.................................................344. Choosing and Conducting a Dissertation Project.......................535. Effective Teaching...................................................646. Designing Your Postdoctoral Experience...............................797. Preparing for Your First Real Job....................................958. Diversity of Career Choices..........................................1059. Tools for Successful Job Searching...................................119PART II. CONDUCTING AND PRESENTING RESEARCH10. The Meaning and Responsible Conduct of Research.....................15111. Keeping a Notebook..................................................17012. Working with Others.................................................18113. Creativity and Problem Solving......................................19514. Staying Motivated...................................................21315. Managing Time.......................................................22716. Finding and Managing Information....................................24017. Communicating.......................................................25418. Going to Scientific Meetings........................................25819. Poster Presentations................................................26420. Speaking............................................................27121. Writing.............................................................28622. Tables and Graphics.................................................30023. Writing and Defending Your Dissertation.............................31024. Writing a Journal Article...........................................32325. Writing Fellowship and Grant Proposals..............................335Index...................................................................355

Chapter One

INTRODUCTION THINKING ABOUT A RESEARCH CAREER

Do you want to do scientific research? If so, this book will help you answer two big questions:

How can you prepare for a career in research or for an alternative career that uses a background in research?

How can you conduct and present your research most effectively?

These are complicated questions. But whether you're a beginning researcher or just thinking about going into research, this book will take you through them systematically, pointing out the choices and best practices that will make your career as successful and rewarding as possible.

Graduate students and postdoctorals (researchers with a PhD who are seeking further training before embarking on independent careers) learn many specific techniques and scientific concepts, but they don't always acquire the general tools of the trade that are crucial for success in research. A visit to any bookstore will reveal dozens of books concerned with finding the right job, boosting motivation, improving time management, organizing records, communicating effectively, and behaving ethically. These books, often shelved under the heading "self-help," are commonly shunned by students and their professors, but many contain ideas that we believe are valuable-and that are, in fact, evident in the working styles of the most successful researchers. Our intention is to translate these ideas into precepts directly applicable to the life of the scientist.

Although our primary audience is novice scientists-those still in training-we hope that more experienced researchers will also find much of interest here. Few of us, at any age, use all the tools available to us to maximize our effectiveness.

This book is well suited to self-study, but it could also serve as a textbook for courses on research skills or career paths. Indeed, we believe that universities should be offering such courses to their graduate students and postdocs. The book is divided into two main parts. Part I (chapters 2-9) discusses the various stages of a research career and the choices that must be made at each stage. Part II (chapters 10-25) addresses the many tasks involved in doing research and how they can be accomplished in an effective and responsible manner. In this introductory chapter, we provide a brief overview.

The rewards of a research career

Our modern society depends on research to cure diseases, abate pollution, increase supplies of food and energy, and provide insights into our relations with nature. The activities research entails can be mentally and emotionally engaging, among the most absorbing and fulfilling of human occupations. And researchers are generally adequately compensated, work with intellectually stimulating people, and enjoy high regard within society at large.

Some people have jobs in which they do nothing but conduct research-for example, working in a government or corporate lab. Some combine research with other activities: members of university faculties teach and administer programs, and physicians at university hospitals are also involved in clinical work. Still others work in nonresearch jobs that nonetheless utilize their scientific background and skills: as journalists, teachers in liberal arts or community colleges, and managers in enterprises ranging from biotech start-ups to large technical companies. All of these people can benefit from the knowledge, skills, and habits of mind acquired in pursuing a research career.

The challenges of a research career

HISTORICAL PERSPECTIVE

Educational and career opportunities in the sciences have changed over the years. A National Science Foundation report on U.S. doctorates in science and engineering in the twentieth century found rapid growth in both doctoral education and federal expenditure for research and development (R & D) in the middle years of the century (Thurgood, Golladay, and Hill 2006). During the 1970s, however, the economic impact of the Vietnam war led to severe cuts in R & D funding. This, along with a saturation of the academic labor market in most fields, caused a decline in the number of doctorates awarded. Since then, gains in R & D spending and a defense buildup have fostered a renewed increase in doctoral degrees in the sciences and engineering.

There have also been shifts in the types of employment sought by new PhDs. The percentage taking academic jobs declined from 67 percent in the early 1970s to about 50 percent by the end of that decade and stayed at that level for the remainder of the century. In contrast, the percentage of PhDs who chose industry more than doubled, from 12 percent in the early 1970s to 27 percent in the late 1990s. The last three decades of the past century also saw a significant increase in the proportion of PhDs who continued their training as postdoctorals, both because postdoctoral experience increasingly became a requirement for good professional scientific jobs and because the number of qualified applicants for such jobs outstripped the demand.

The past decade has not been kind to the career aspirations of many young (and older) researchers. The poor economy has not only depressed industrial and government hiring of scientists but also-by lowering endowment yields and state tax revenues, and perhaps encouraging older faculty to delay retirement-reduced the number of faculty positions offered by private and public universities. Fortunately, the economy now appears to be improving, and with it employment prospects. Even so, difficulty in finding a suitable job remains a common frustration-often resulting in a prolonged period in relatively poorly paying postdoctoral positions. In this book we present a variety of ways in which you can maximize your chances of escaping that holding pattern and finding a rewarding job.

FINDING THE RIGHT JOB

Research can be deeply rewarding, but if you don't enjoy the repetition, uncertainty, frequent failures, and delayed gratification-or at least understand their inevitability in pursuit of your higher goals-it can also be frustratingly tedious. You may find, as many have before you, that although you love science, you become disenchanted with the routine of research. Fortunately, there are many other things that you can do with a research degree, but the sooner you decide that research is really not for you, the sooner you can start on another path. According to Monster.com, people these days change jobs an average of eight times by the age of thirty, and perhaps twenty times during their working careers. While too many jumps may cause employers to wonder whether a potential employee will stay long enough to justify their investment in training, some changes of direction are not unusual. For this reason, we'll tell you not just about research careers but about other careers for which your research training will provide the right start.

COPING WITH THE DEMANDS OF A LIFE IN RESEARCH

The main task in research is generally clear: complete the project, finish the dissertation, write the paper. But making time for thinking, reading, experimenting, observing, interviewing, analyzing data, consulting with colleagues, going to lectures, traveling to meetings, presenting talks and papers, and writing grant applications can leave the most dedicated young researchers baffled about how to fit it all in. Frequently they plow ahead, gathering data but neglecting other of these crucial activities. And there are invariably other demands on their time and energy, from outside the research project: class assignments, work as a teaching assistant, family responsibilities, recreation, and perhaps an outside job.

In this book we present strategies for planning and organizing your time so as to make your research efforts as efficient and fruitful as possible, while not neglecting the other important parts of life. This advice is aimed at beginning scientists at crucial stages of their careers: undergraduates considering graduate school; new graduate students choosing thesis advisors and research projects; graduate students already engaged in research, some of whom are also writing their theses or dissertations; and postdoctoral fellows, fresh from graduate training and eager to learn another area of research before embarking on independent careers as academic, industrial, or government scientists.

Each of these stages entails great changes in one's life. New graduate students face a transition from a relatively structured, learning-oriented undergraduate environment to one involving fewer courses and exams, greater and more varied responsibilities, less overt or explicit guidance about how to fulfill those responsibilities, and an emphasis on making original contributions to the field of study. Postdoctorals enter a period in which they are free to do nothing but research, which might seem to be an ideal situation. They may, however, receive little direction, and evaluations of their success will be based almost entirely on how productive they are in research. This can cause a lot of stress. In addition to these work-related changes, many young researchers have family obligations or relationships to which they should devote some attention, and they all need to maintain their physical fitness, to get a few hours of sleep each night-in short, to have a life!

Organization of this book

EARLY DECISIONS IN A RESEARCH CAREER

In preparing for your career, there are several points at which you should revisit the fundamental question of whether the life of a researcher is for you: first, when you decide whether to pursue a PhD, a necessary credential for most research positions; when you choose whether to continue your research training as a postdoctoral; and finally, when you complete a postdoc and must determine what sort of employment to pursue. At each stage you have other options. The decision calls for deep soul-searching and consultation with friends and mentors.

The chapters in part I address these and other choices that must be made as you embark on a research career, and will help you to prepare for alternative careers should the straight research path not seem the best choice.

Should you get a PhD? If you want the option of doing independent research, you will need to have a PhD. But getting a doctorate will probably require four to six years of your life, working hard for low pay. It's a big investment if you don't think it will serve as the basis for a satisfying career. In chapter 2, we analyze the options.

If you decide to get a PhD, your next important decisions are which graduate program to join and who within that program you will work with. You'll want to consider many factors: Is the program strong in the research specialty that interests you? Are faculty members in that specialty likely to be available to supervise your research? Do they have a good record of mentoring and placing their students? Will there be adequate financial support while you work on your degree? We discuss these and many other considerations in chapter 3.

Once you've enrolled in grad school, started your course work, and chosen a research advisor, you'll have to choose a project for your dissertation. One of the most striking things about research, which differentiates it from other work that may require equivalent intelligence and training, is that it involves exploring the unknown: one can discover something new, something no one else has previously realized or thought about. This can be a great thrill, but it also presents a challenge. Asking the right questions-guessing what will be a productive problem to investigate-is probably the skill that best differentiates the most successful researchers from the others. We discuss strategies for choosing a productive research project in chapter 4.

In graduate school you'll likely spend some time as a teaching assistant. Not only will this provide financial support, it will also give you valuable training should you decide on a career as a professor. In chapter 5 we examine strategies for successful teaching.

Should you take a postdoctoral appointment? As you approach the end of your PhD program, another big choice awaits: Are you sufficiently happy with what you've learned about life as a researcher that you want to continue down that path? If so, you should probably take a postdoctoral position, which will broaden your scientific horizons and make you a more viable candidate for a career in research a few years down the road. If not, then this is the time to look for a career that uses your training in other ways. If you can't immediately find the kind of job you want, or if personal relationships or other constraints preclude moving to take a job, you may proceed with a postdoc in any case. Selecting a postdoctoral program involves choices similar to those you made in relation to graduate school: which institution, which mentor, and which research project? Now, however, you'll have a much better idea of the scientific direction you wish to pursue and of leaders in the field whose prestige and connections may later help you to get a top-rank job. In addition to university positions, you can consider postdocs in government or industrial research laboratories, which may pay considerably more. Chapter 6 addresses these issues.

Should you choose an academic or nonacademic career? As you near the end of your postdoctoral stint, you'll need to decide whether the life of a researcher still enthralls you and, if so, whether to try for a position at a research university, at a smaller college that encourages research with undergraduates, or in industry or government. Chapters 7-9 will help you sort out these options and tell you how to go after the job you want.

DOING RESEARCH WELL

Doing research well is not easy. Like any other important activity, it requires training, discipline, attention to big principles and small details, and a willingness to stick with it through some difficult patches. If anything, it's probably harder now than it was when some older university faculty members were beginning their careers. Beginning scientists now are more likely to have significant family responsibilities, the literature is much more voluminous, competition for grants and recognition is more intense (there are a lot more researchers now, for better or worse), and research funding and regulations require more paperwork. In part II of this book, we offer guidance for coping with the many demands of professional and personal life.

RESPONSIBLE AND EFFECTIVE RESEARCH

Ethical conduct. Too often research ethics is glossed over as obvious or is accorded less importance than spending long hours at the lab bench, giving spellbinding talks, or publishing in prestigious journals. But unless you're satisfied that your work has been done as well as you can do it, and confident that you and your research collaborators have done nothing that you would be ashamed of if it were publicly disclosed, then you've not done justice to science, to the society that supports it, or to yourself. We discuss the responsible conduct of research in chapter 10.

The research notebook. If there is one thing that characterizes good scientific work, it is the keeping of a careful notebook. A notebook is not just a place to record raw data; it's a place to analyze the data, reflect on their meaning, and plan new experiments. It documents the details of an experiment, which allows you to repeat it, or to defend it if your results are challenged. It's the key repository for evidence of an original discovery or idea if you find something worth patenting. Bound paper notebooks have been the standard, but electronic notebooks are now sometimes used, and this use raises complex issues. Chapter 11 examines the many facets of keeping a good research notebook.

(Continues...)

Excerpted from THE CHICAGO GUIDE TO YOUR CAREER IN scienceby VICTOR A. BLOOMFIELD ESAM E. EL-FAKAHANY Copyright © 2008 by The University of Chicago. Excerpted by permission.
All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.
Excerpts are provided by Dial-A-Book Inc. solely for the personal use of visitors to this web site.

Details zur Ausgabe

• Verlag: University of Chicago Press
• Erscheinungsdatum: 2008
• ISBN 10: 0226060632
• ISBN 13: 9780226060637
• Einband: Tapa dura
• Sprache: Englisch
• Auflage: 1
• Anzahl der Seiten: 336
• Kontakt zum Hersteller: Nicht verfügbar