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Tag: grad school

194. Mailbag: Do I Have to Do Animal Research?

Daniel Leave a comment

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It’s no secret that biomedical research relies heavily on animal models. Our mammalian cousins share so many common genes and pathways that we can often make breakthrough advances in human medicine through the use of animal proxies.

But animal research is neither easy nor fun. Experiments are expensive, time consuming, and it’s often dirty, smelly work. Many scientists balk at the ethical implications of making animals suffer for human health, and no matter your views, the work imposes a psychic cost.

This week we hear from a PhD student who needs to choose a lab, and it seem like her options include animal work, or finding another field of research entirely.

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188. Grad School Time Management According to ChatGPT

Joshua Hall Leave a comment

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We get asked all the time about strategies for more effective time management during graduate school. Not surprisingly, some of our most popular past episodes deal with time management. While we have covered a lot of ground over the years on this evergreen topic, there’s a new expert on the scene who seems to know a whole lot about… well, almost everything! Therefore, we welcome to the show the AI chatbot sensation, ChatGPT, to determine if there’s anything this new technology has up its sleeve (?) for helping us be more effective with our time.

Will ChatGPT replace us as podcast hosts moving forward, or does it instead provide word jumbles that sound nice but lack real substance. We put AI to the test for your benefit, this week on this show!

Check out some of our past (AI-free) episodes on time management tips and strategies:

175. Four Research Traps (And How to Avoid Them)

162. Get More Done with LabScrum w/ Dr. Lisa May

158. Five Strategies for Defeating Distractions

059. Simple Tricks for Time Management – The Focus Funnel

015. Simple Tricks for Time Management: The Pomodoro Technique

186. Scientists Share Their Goals and Strategies for Attending a Scientific Conference

Daniel Leave a comment

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Since the pandemic, we can honestly say that Josh and Dan “don’t get out much.” But we broke out of that rut to attend the annual conference for the American Society for Cell Biology – Cell Bio 2022 meeting in Washington, DC.

A scientific conference is a unique experience AND opportunity. Thousands of academics, researchers, students, and vendors are all in one place in order to ‘talk science.’

There’s so much potential to build relationships and drive breakthroughs, but there are also plenty of pitfalls. A meeting with this many people can be chaotic, overwhelming, and well, just plain exhausting.

So we got out the mobile recorder, dusted off the microphone, and asked attendees for their advice on navigating a large scientific conference with the best chance of success.

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