lab skills Archives - Page 3 of 5

139. Back to School During a Pandemic

August 17, 2020August 17, 2020 Daniel Leave a comment

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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.

116: The 7 Habits of Highly Effective Summer Students

June 17, 2019June 17, 2019 Daniel Leave a comment

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Ten weeks is not a long time. It feels even shorter when you’re tossed into the deep-end of a top-tier research lab.

If you’re spending your summer as a Research Assistant between semesters, or you’ve graduated and want to get some summer experience before grad school, we have ideas to help you hit the ground running.

088: 15 Transferable Skills PhDs Can Use In Any Career

February 13, 2018March 13, 2018 Daniel Leave a comment

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But I have no skills! At least no skills employers would be interested in!

As a career counselor, Melanie Sinche heard grad students and postdocs voice this concern nearly every day. She looked at these talented scholars and saw the ability to think critically, analyze data, and solve problems. To her eye, these were transferable skills very much in demand outside the research lab. Why couldn’t the students see it?

“I felt frustrated by that comment, and motivated to conduct a research study around skill development. I would argue that scientific training, by its very nature, lends itself to the development of LOTS of skills.”

081: Data Science Will Accelerate Your Research – with Joel Schwartz, PhD

October 17, 2017October 17, 2017 Daniel 2 Comments

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As a graduate student, Joel Schwartz developed an immunofluorescence assay for neurotransmitter transport. To quantify his results, he needed to circle the cells in each image so the computer could measure the intensity.

By the time he graduated, Joel had circled over 10 million individual cells.

Over the years, Joel discovered a better way: he taught computers to do the repetitive, complex, and confounding parts of data analysis.

And now he trains other scientists to do the same.

069: Five Ways Scientists SHOULD Be Using Twitter

March 23, 2017March 24, 2017 Daniel 2 Comments

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Traditionally, spending time on social media was a great way to make your PI angry. Your job is to finish experiments, read papers, and present your work at conferences, not to upvote and share the latest blue-dress illusion.

But there are some unexpected benefits to the Twitter network that could help your science and your career.