Category Archives: Collaboration

Building bridges among lab groups

Posted on August 17, 2015 by

Some of the comments on lab group separation, mostly on Twitter or Facebook, not here, hoped for an explanation of the reasons for separation, or thoughts on the fixes for this. Here’s an effort in that direction. We might think … Continue reading →

Posted in Collaborating, Collaboration, Department politics, Managing an academic career | Tagged , , , , | 1 Comment

Why is your lab group so separate from your department?

Posted on August 15, 2015 by

Few things in research are more exciting than watching ideas build as one person augments the thinking of another. Each can arrive at a place unanticipated and impossible from lone thinking. I feel almost euphoric when this happens. It may … Continue reading →

Posted in Collaboration, Creativity, New ideas, Scientific community | Tagged , , , , | 1 Comment

How to creatively work the room at an NSF meeting

Posted on April 23, 2015 by

You’ve arrived at NSF, or NIH, or at any kind of small meeting with a job to do. You walk in the door, see the big table and find your name plate. Do you sit down and get to work, … Continue reading →

Posted in Collaboration, Grants, NSF, Scientific meetings | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

How to increase research creativity: work differently!

Posted on June 22, 2014 by

Isn’t it too bad there isn’t a simple formula for having the best ideas? Isn’t it too bad you can’t easily find the best thing to study, something easy, fun, high impact, and easily published in PNAS? It may seem … Continue reading →

Posted in Collaboration, Creativity, Grant proposals, Workshops | Tagged , , , , | 1 Comment

How to collaborate successfully

Posted on June 21, 2014 by

Successful collaboration is essential for a productive research career for most people. With collaborators we can tackle bigger problems. With collaborators we can see old problems in new ways, or find a path where before were only cliffs. With collaborators … Continue reading →

Posted in Collaborating, Collaboration, Mentoring, Scientific community, Teaching, Workshops | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

What to do when a postdoc isn’t working out

Posted on April 23, 2014 by

Your postdoctoral years should be glorious. You’ve proven yourself with a Ph.D., showing you can master your field and find something new to solve, often in collaboration with an adviser, solve it, write it up, and publish it. You have … Continue reading →

Posted in Collaboration, Managing an academic career, Postdocs | Tagged , , , , | 1 Comment

The problem with describing author contribution

Posted on April 16, 2014 by

Did you ever read the author contribution box on a paper you have contributed to with horror? Did you not realize you were hardly a part of the study, that someone else is claiming the idea, the analysis, or all … Continue reading →

Posted in Collaboration, Ethics, Publishing your work | Tagged , , , , | 4 Comments