Tag Archives: academia

Is Wikipedia anti-intellectual? Compare athletes to academics and the answer is yes.

Posted on February 4, 2017 by

Recently some of my students have been writing biographies of scientists for Wikipedia. They wrote one for a research scientist who made a discovery so major she was on the phone with reporters for a week. The discovery was that … Continue reading →

Posted in Wikipedia | Tagged , , , , , | 6 Comments

Why hard money is better than soft money – what are they anyway?

Posted on October 16, 2015 by

You might think that hard money is more difficult to get than soft money. But anyway, isn’t money just money? What are these terms in academia? Actually, it is quite simple. The terms are usually used for funding of salaries. … Continue reading →

Posted in Managing an academic career | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

Quick tip for picking a great graduate program: look to the postdocs!

Posted on August 9, 2014 by

What if there is one simple way of assessing a program, something that is flexible, responds rapidly to increasing and decreasing quality, something that applies to the whole place but can also be used to understand one potential investigator over … Continue reading →

Posted in Graduate school, Postdocs | Tagged , , , , , | 2 Comments

Bring on your questions! I’ll answer.

Posted on March 22, 2014 by

Some of my readers in ticklish academic dilemmas have emailed me with questions. I answer these questions, privately first, and sometimes I then address the topic with a general blog on it. I do this later and without giving any … Continue reading →

Posted in Mentoring | Tagged , , , , , | 1 Comment

Is tenure failure a social failure, not an individual failure?

Posted on March 16, 2014 by

A great piece by Cin-Ty Lee in his blog, Down to earth questions, makes the wise point that tenure denied is a problem from many levels other than the individual. It could be a hiring problem, a mentoring problem, an … Continue reading →

Posted in Tenure | Tagged , , , , | 1 Comment

Don’t say “that’s a good question” after your seminar!

Posted on February 18, 2014 by

A good presentation will have questions afterwards. All too often, the speaker answers by saying “That is a great question,” or something like that. It may seem like you are congratulating the brave questioner for their brilliance, so you may … Continue reading →

Posted in Seminars, Talks | Tagged , , , , , | 8 Comments

Guest post on the tenure talk by Liz Haswell

Posted on January 13, 2014 by

The Unique Nature of the Tenure Talk Here is Liz Haswell‘s take on talking for tenure. The Tenure Talk. If your department has these, you’ve known it’s on the horizon for years—but it can be terrifying once you actually start … Continue reading →

Posted in Life in a biology department, Seminars, Tenure | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment