Category Archives: Undergraduates

You want to do research but how do you begin?

Posted on December 30, 2017 by

Dare I say every undergraduate should find a research home on campus? After all, don’t you want to learn at a deeper level how all the knowledge you learn in your classes is discovered? Don’t you want to go from … Continue reading →

Posted in Recommendations, Research, Uncategorized, Undergraduates | Leave a comment

The best job for an undergrad premed student

Posted on June 25, 2017 by

Before medical school in the USA, premed students can major in anything, provided they take a certain number of science courses and some other requirements. In addition to college, they shadow doctors, observe in clinics, and go on service trips … Continue reading →

Posted in Premed, Undergraduates | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

What can you give others at a scientific meeting?

Posted on June 19, 2017 by

My undergraduate advisor, Richard Alexander of the University of Michigan once told me that there was nothing I could do better for my career than to give a great talk at a national meeting. Unfortunately, the converse was also true, … Continue reading →

Posted in Scientific meetings, Undergraduates | Tagged , , | 2 Comments

An undergrad primer for attending scientific meetings

Posted on June 13, 2017 by

Undergraduates can benefit from attending scientific meetings even more if they have a plan. This plan should be focused around what you want to learn. The meeting overall will be broader than your specific interests, so it is good to … Continue reading →

Posted in Posters, Presentations and seminars, Scientific meetings, Travel, Undergraduates | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

What is your anxiety telling you?

Posted on March 29, 2017 by

Megan Duffy had a thoughtful post on not inducing anxiety in others. She mentioned the specific case of reducing anxiety in others by being really clear. Instead of saying something like meet me Thursday, say why. I agree that getting … Continue reading →

Posted in Managing an academic career, Mentoring, Social interactions, Undergraduates | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

What if the undergrads ran their own class with no faculty present?

Posted on October 2, 2016 by

Earlier this fall we had an excellent presentation about how to make physics classes more interactive. The legendary speaker, Carl Wieman, see this, talked about how students should think first, then get feedback, discuss, then perhaps the lecturer could move … Continue reading →

Posted in Teaching, Undergraduates | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

Do you have a lab philosophy?

Posted on July 28, 2016 by

Recently our lab group spent a bit of time deciding on exactly how we want to interact with one another. What is this  whole lab group business all about? What are the rules? What are the guidelines? Do we have … Continue reading →

Posted in Group leadership, Life in the DNA lab, Mentoring, Undergraduates, Your lab group | Tagged , , , , | 6 Comments