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Choosing a lab for your graduate or postdoc research is one of the most important decisions you’ll make. Most people read papers and abstracts to find the coolest science. Or they favor the big labs with lots of people and solid funding.
But those features can distract you from the real secret of scientific success.
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When Dr. Kenneth Gibbs talks about diversity and inclusion in the sciences, it’s not just a cause célèbre. It’s personal.
“For those of you who don’t know me, I am a Black man. A descendent from enslaved Africans here in America, so my family has been here for hundreds of years. That’s part of my story.”
And while his grandfathers had 4th and 8th grade educations, his parents were able to go college in the 1970s because of public investment in programs like Upward Bound. He and his sisters were able to go to graduate school.
“I had a PhD from Stanford by the time I was 27,” Dr. Gibbs recalls. “You can see that arc, but you can also see that when I got that PhD, I was the only black man in my building for that five years that wasn’t a mailman, janitor, or technician.”
He finishes, “There’s nothing wrong with any of those jobs, but I said, ‘There’s something kind of “off” here.'”
Now, he’s working to fix the system, and to make science look more like society.
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In March 2020, the world shut down.
International borders were sealed. Businesses shuttered. Schools locked their doors and students were sent home to learn ‘remotely.’
At the same time, many universities and research labs also closed down for the summer of COVID-19. While a few labs remained open as essential research continued, many scientists froze down samples, trashed cell lines, and went home to spend some quality time with PubMed.
But now as summer wanes, the research labs are thawing out.
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It’s 6 AM and you wake up as the crickets grow quiet and dawn illuminates your tent. After cooking breakfast over a campfire, you load a backpack and hike seven miles into a canyon.
That’s when the science begins…
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Most PhD students attend traditional academic institutions of higher educations. It’s the world of classes, campuses, and mortarboards you probably think of when you think about a University.
But there’s a less-traveled path to a PhD that may actually hold some benefits for certain students, including those coming back to school after working for awhile, or those with families.
We’re talking about research institutes, and it’s possible you’ve never even heard about this alternative path to a PhD.
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