Being a professor is amazing: a lot of academic freedom to investigate and teach exciting subjects and a secure salary until retirement. However, obtaining this position can be pretty strenuous, and many young scientists do not know the requirements to qualify for such a position. In this article, I give you 10 essential parameters a selection committee will evaluate when selecting a new professor.
A huge body of scientific evidence shows that happy team members produce better results. However, most PhD students and postdocs are stressed by peer pressure, high demands from their supervisors, potentially insufficient supervision, and a high degree of uncertainty about their future careers. Is it better to make them all happy?
For many researchers, science is a passion and, for some, even a calling. However, the status of sciences as “something you do for passion” is often abused by supervisors and institutions to justify bad working conditions. Unveil some myths about ‘science as a job you should do for free’ – you may take them for granted without knowing it.
Are you nervous not to find a job? Does the insecurity nearly kill you? Are you sending out hundreds of applications without success? Stop wasting your time and change your approach. Intelligent job search and application costs time and effort but has a much higher chance of success.
Choosing the right place for a position as a PhD student, postdoc, or professor is always a critical career decision. Spontaneous advice from colleagues mostly tends towards big universities. However, there are good arguments for choosing small universities.
Postdocs are in a sandwich position between the crazy professor and other staff members. They need leadership and management skills to perform well. However, at most universities, there is no specific training to prepare postdocs for their current and future functions.
You see these big science stars who publish in Nature and Science. They have huge grants, a massive machinery of high-class technology, and a big team of highly ambitious postdocs and PhD students who hope to publish in Nature or Science. However, you are not like that. How do you handle feelings of inferiority when you compare yourself to these science stars? And how do you become better anyway?
Social media platforms like LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter, and TicToc are everywhere. Many scientists wonder whether they are missing out on something and ask themselves: “Should I create public LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter, and TicToc profiles as a scientist?” The surprising answer is “No”!
How to get more funding? Avoid these mistakes! Writing grant proposals in life sciences is tedious, and evaluating grant proposals is even more tedious. Quite often, the reviewers end up with a small number of outstanding proposals and a vast number of excellent proposals, which have to be ranked based on tiny differences in quality.
If you feel like you’re always walking on eggshells, your supervisor may be a narcissist and abuse you emotionally. Narcissists often use manipulation, control, and gaslighting to keep their staff members in line. Characteristic signs include micromanagement, excessive control, constant criticism, and put-downs. What can you do to get over narcissistic abuse?