After you have wrapped up your first year at university, you might ponder, “Can I transfer to a different university after my first year?” Whether it’s due to personal reasons, a change in academic interests, or just a craving for a new environment, transferring universities is a path tread by many. But how does this process work? What are the differences in different countries?
What are the essential strengths and weaknesses of leaders in science? Strong scientific leadership is vital in driving scientific progress and innovation. The scientific community needs leaders who inspire others, make ethical decisions, and effectively communicate their findings to experts and the public.
There are many good reasons to go abroad. However, there are also a couple of unpleasant side effects of mobility that nobody dares to talk about.
Many PhD students and most postdocs want to pursue a career in academia. However, is it a good idea to admit that you want to become a professor? Would you appear overambitious or pretentious? Or does it ruin your career to hide your ambitions from potential mentors and decision-makers? What should you do?
Scientists are often excellent in their fields of expertise, but they may lack the leadership skills necessary to lead teams and manage projects. A leadership action plan is an efficient method to develop the necessary skills to become a group leader and pursue a successful career in science.
Becoming a long-term postdoc – isn’t this attractive? When discussing career paths in life sciences with postdocs, we hear on a regular basis the wish to escape from the “rat race of the professors” by accepting a kind of long-term senior postdoc position in academia. The idea is to obtain a permanent position (and thus a safe job in economic turbulent times), which encompasses at the same time an intellectually stimulating and creative profession with some (but not too many) responsibilities. Is this what you want?
For any scientist pursuing a career in academia, bibliographic metrics such as impact factors or citations are essential for measuring the impact and relevance of their research. But which bibliographic metrics are relevant, and which are misleading?
In order to get grants or academic positions, it is often necessary to show scientific independence. But how do you do that? The following strategies will help young scientists to develop and demonstrate scientific independence.
Young researchers often ask: what is the ideal length of a postdoc? There are many different answers which depend on the field, the country, the university, the supervisor and funding institutions. To get good advice on the best length you should strategically investigate your field. Get some ideas here.
Everybody knows that high impact factors are essential for a career in science. However, young scientists often underestimate the value of citations. They provide a more valuable estimate of the quality of a scientific publication than other metrics, including impact factors. In this article, I provide 20 strategies to increase your citation counts.