Don't Miss the Deal Breakers: Nine Questions for New Lab Staff Hires

Fighty Squirrel, PhD, Awe.Some.

Hooray! You’ve set up a lab. You have a scale and everything. Now the applicants are pounding down your door looking forward to helping you get the Nobel Prize. …

Go Pee. Academic Management Lessons I Learned from Audie Cornish.

Fighty Squirrel, PhD, Awe.Some.

This is Audie Cornish. Audie is my 1-year old Shiba Inu/Rottweiler mix who never has to pee. This is odd, because most larger mammals have a pretty pressing need …

How to Interview the Hell Out of Academic Job Candidates

Fighty Squirrel, PhD, Awe.Some.

One of my favorite parts of being a faculty member is interviewing students, fellows and future faculty members. For reasons that elude my tiny Fighty Squirrel brain, folks think if …

Productivity Tip #7: Reclaim Your Meeting

The Edge for Scholars

How often do you hear a colleague say, "I’m so excited to attend today’s group meeting," or a student remark, "How is it possible that my group meetings …

Managing a Budget as a New Investigator

Rebecca Helton

Got your R and the realities of budget management sinking in? Want to prepare yourself financially to get to that R? Three newly independent investigators at Vanderbilt shared their wisdom with Newman Society members today.

Nine New Year's Resolutions for Academics

Fighty Squirrel, PhD, Awe.Some.

Think, write, teach, discover and read. These are the things we love and why we joined this great profession, but so many things are in your way and killing your …

Why I LOVE Quartzy and You Should Too…

Amy Palubinsky

You know all of those crazy excel files of chemicals and reagents and that ever-growing binder of MSDS sheets? Well that information can all be accessible to lab members with …

Up Your Academic Gift Game - Your Worker Bees Will LOVE This

Fighty Squirrel, PhD, Awe.Some.

Ho, ho, holy cow...it's the most stressful time of the year. The one where you look at people in your group, realize that they are 20 years younger than you …

The Puzzle of Motivation

Rebecca Helton

This TED talk is a few years old, but if you haven't seen it yet, and especially if you manage anyone (including yourself!), you need to. He presents a case for why the sweetest carrots and the sharpest sticks pale compared to intrinsic motivation.

End of Summer Academic Sanity Saver: Post Undergrad Lab Jobs Now!

Fighty Squirrel, PhD, Awe.Some.

Get a head start on fall by knowing what you want from undergrads and what they can expect from research experience. My 8-point listicle of making it a great experience.