In her Chronicle Vitae article, Joli Jensen equates her daily writing time with walking the dog. That is, many people view their writing obligations as “wild beasts, lurking in the jungle, ready to pounce.” Jensen insists instead that you view your writing projects as pets, waiting to be walked every day. Sure, many days you […]
An assistant professor in the social sciences once described a group of tenure-track colleagues in his department as “the lamenting society.” Once a week they met for lunch to complain about, well, everything and everyone. At first, attendance at this conclave of the irate exhilarated him: He felt better knowing other people were as unhappy […]
Many of us were trained to avoid reporters like the plague. We were told that our words would be misconstrued, our colleagues would judge us as being ‘showy’ and that we would be beseiged by the public if we engaged with the media. As academics hid from the limelight, the national stage for medical and scientific […]
Much has been written about how much time an assistant professor should spend on “service” work and what types of service might be important for career advancement, as opposed to a poor use of time, not to mention soul-destroying. The typical advice is: “do some but not a lot.” Once you have tenure, those questions […]
Sitting with a stack of 40 grants to review is a sure way to get focused on what makes a grant submission strong. The following pointers are from Dr. Chris Eischen, a multi-R01 funded cancer investigator and Associate Professor at Vanderbilt University Medical Center. Listen up. As a grantsmanship heavy hitter and NCI study section […]
It’s easy to spot when people are lying to themselves—like when a co-worker confidently starts a huge project at 4:30, but has a 5pm deadline. “Who’s he kidding?” you might chuckle. But when you’re telling lies to yourself—well, that’s another story. When it comes to productivity, you may think you have it mastered. You check […]
Have you ever received unsolicited, off-target advice? Some people just instinctually offer solutions when they see someone in need. But what if their understanding of what’s wrong is, quite frankly, wrong? Should you politely listen, or can you help them help you? From the Harvard Business Review: When the Help You Get Isn’t Helpful
Do you love going to events, but find yourself stranded during happy hour, tongue-tied and tucked in a corner? Initiating and maintaining conversations while networking is a necessary skill, and one you can easily improve with these simple tips. Mastering small talk will help you find common ground to create a mini-bond with new contacts. […]
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.
Former Secretary of State Colin Powell offers leadership advice through storytelling in this collection of anecdotes and true tales. Each short chapter derives a lesson from an incident encountered in his military and political service, and occasionally from private life. Often chatty and rarely preachy, the text is as enjoyable as it is informative. An […]