This newsletter is distributed the last Thursday of the month and contains a variety of resources, links, and reflections on graduate-level career & professional development, higher education, and an occasional detour into neuroscience topics, the area I formally trained in as a graduate student and postdoc.
Missed the inaugural newsletter from January 2021?
Our experience of our lives and the world is through our perceptions of both external "realities" and our internal beliefs. One's mindset is powerful and can influence most of how we interact with and impact the world. Thus, we must overcome our biological tendencies to focus on the negative and the poor habits of distraction and excessive consumption in order to move through the world with greater self-confidence and the belief that positive things can happen to and through us.
A recent paper published in Natureillustrates a precipitous decline in disruptive scientific publications and patents from 1950 to 2010. A variety of hypotheses as to why this decline in "innovation" has occurred are offered from the explosion in the sheer amount of knowledge that has to be sifted through for modern scientists to understand the current state of their field to incentive structures that unwittingly encourage incremental, "fundable" science be performed.
Joseph Barber provides an overview of many of the excellent Carpe Careers column pieces from 2022 focused on advice and resources to assist graduate students and postdoctoral scholars with their career and professional development.
Programs Worth Promoting
National Postdoctoral Association Resources
The NPA's SmartSkills program returns in 2023 featuring webinars on a variety of topics related to postdocs' career and professional development and well-being.
And check out the NPA's Resource Library for more guides and resources including a guide to the postdoc timeline, mentoring, and more.
This course on Lab Management & Leadership is designed to equip postdocs and junior faculty in the biomedical, physical, and life sciences with the professional competencies to lead innovative and productive research programs. Online attendance available to all.
I discuss the importance of engaging with others and adding value without expectations for an immediate return on investment. Cultivating your relationships and reputation can pay dividends down the road. From January 2022.
