Awesome Things About Life in Research
Building a list of awesome things that come with life in research, one quirky, funny, inspiring piece at a time. Missing your favorite awesomeness? Or have The perfect image? Add in comments or tweet @edgeforscholars to share your personal twist on why science rocks. #JoyOfScience
104. Spending my life’s work pursuing something other than the bottom line in a society that is solely obsessed with the bottom line what’s more punk than publicly funded science?
103. Having your NIH Program Officer say, “I am cautiously optimistic about funding your application”
102. Coming up with crazy ideas with my friends and then actually getting them funded!
101. Making a difference for people and advancing care/improving outcomes
100. Vortexing
99. Working with trainees/students
98. Travel!!
97. I get paid to read and think about cool stuff
96. I’m my own boss
95. Pipetting is fun
94. Things change color
93. Holiday gift baskets in the break room
92. Lab holiday spirit
91. Funny tweets from serious scientists
90. Uploading grades at the end of the course
89. Discussing a new project with a person who challenges the way I think
88. Embracing the unpredictable
87. Having the exact number of pipette tips left that you need
86. Using lasers as light sabers
85. Mice don’t page you at 3 AM
84. Flexible time
83. Mother Nature telling you a secret before anyone else
82. Community that comes to the rescue
81. Dry ice in Eppendorf tubes
80. Collaborations
79. It is the most rewarding job
78. Having the whole lab to yourself
77. Hearing patient perspectives
76. Getting paid to ask ‘why?’
75. New & immediately useful info in journal club
74. End of a semester
73. Start of a semester
72. Having lab animals in my life
71. Reward for being ADHD
70. Chairs who go to bat for faculty
69. NIH supplements
68. Congratulations from a distant colleague
67. Spontaneous science nerd discussions over lunch
66. JIT requests
65. Media coverage that gets it right
64. Perfectionist biostatisticians
63. Travel funds
62. Color coding OCD is normal
61. Upgrade of computing power
60. Invitation to serve on grant review panel
59. Seeing the twinkle of understanding in a student’s eyes
58. (Safe) lab pranks…dry ice in eppendorf tube under you labmate’s chair
57. Genuine breakthroughs
56. Your own brand-new lab equipment
55. Your first student’s first publication
54. Desk copies of textbooks
53. Cures
52. Labs that believe in parties
51. Reviewing an amazing and well-written paper
50. Academic kindness
49. Upbeat program officers
48. New knock out/in created in record time
Cat-o-meter via @icedarkroast47. Science communication
46. Science advocacy
45. Congratulations on your science received in public
44. New data visualization tools
43. Playing with the infrared thermometer.
42. Catching up with old lab buddies at meetings.
41. Coming home inspired.
40. Going to scientific meetings.
39. Fellow post docs starting their own labs.
38. Science & umbrella drinks (aka destination conferences)
37. Anticipation before settling down to analyze data set. Christmas for adults!
36. Minor revisions to resubmit
35. Gorgeous results from immunofluorescence assays
34. Finding your ‘invisible’ splinter under the microscope
33. Getting to draw on the windows
32. Dunkin Donuts naming scientists #1 consumers of coffee
31. Cold room on a sweltering day
30. Celebration stickers for lab notebooks when folks crush their experiments
29. Fact that scientists actively rebel against meetings
28. Dancing and pipetting with headphones
27. Seeing science in everything
26. Joys of liquid nitrogen and latex gloves
25. Being in charge of my own schedule (and not just because I don’t have an assistant).
24. Celebrating null findings
23. Finishing the last analysis for a paper
22. NOGAs
21. A tweet about your recently published paper
20. Running with slides
19. On time participant who holds their breath for their MRI
18. Permission to ask incessant questions
17. Curing cancer in mice
16. Mass spec works for seven days straight
15. Big donor (where are these?)
14. Grant funding
13. Confirming the drug binds the target in humans
12. Drying my shoes in a dessicator
11. Creating science fiction tools in real life
10. Statistical significance
9. Unlimited access to dry ice
8. Free lunch/dinners with strangers (aka applicants)
7. Working outside in the sunshine
6. Isoflurane contact high
5. Quoting your favorite science tweeps
4. The fume hood is free
3. Seeing the microscopic world
2. The model converges
1. Zillion uses for Parafil
3 Comments
Having your NIH Program Officer say, “I am caustiously optimistic about funding your application”