I think that inclusion of personal or family photographs in professional presentations like grand rounds talks or research seminars points the needle away from goodness. Such presentations provide an opportunity to showcase your work and sell yourself as an expert and should be done professionally. Introductions, transitions, and conclusions should reflect the logic of the […]
It sounds counter-intuitive, but working at a bustling coffee shop can be less distracting than working in a quiet office. The change in environment also stimulates creativity, and chance encounters spark new ideas and connections. In the following article from FastCompany, Family Records founder Wesley Verhoeve writes about his experience working from a coffee shop […]
Do your meetings take an hour to do what could’ve been accomplished in fifteen minutes? Do you look with dread at the colorful blocks on your Outlook calendar telling you your time is about to be wasted? Here are some ways to trim the fat and make meetings shorter and smarter. Have More Meetings (But […]
Do you have a sleep schedule, or is it more of an “I wish I had time to sleep” schedule? Don’t laugh it off–getting enough sleep is critical for work and life. As Arianna Huffington, self-professed “sleep evangelist,” writes in the following essay for the Telegraph, a lack of sleep factors into errors of all […]
The rumor patrol wants to squash the myth that R01s are getting shorter. A little over half of R01s awarded are five years in length. This has been stable since 2006 and is not trending to shorter lengths. Reality check: write the grant for the right duration to get strong science done. This is a […]
What happens when we move back deadlines — once we get past the initial feeling of sweet relief? Research suggests we have a lot of difficulty using our newly-found time wisely. We wind up facing the same problem again — the same time pressure, the same stress, the same feeling-not-quite ready — only now we’ve […]
“You’re more interested in what you have to say than anyone else is,” said 60 Minutes’ Andy Rooney. Do any of these sound familiar? “I’m busy. Can you come back later?” “Thanks. We’ve got it covered.” “We don’t have the budget for that.” You’ve probably heard all the above: par for the course when trying […]
As the new semester begins, so come the invitations to serve on this committee or be part of that grant. Trying to figure out graceful ways to decline? Give our link of the week a shot: You Are So Kind to Think of Me The Chronicle of Higher Education My last post focused on when […]
The R01 research project grant is NIH’s mainstay grant mechanism and is used for much of our investigator-initiated research. When talking about about NIH funding, the subject that most often comes up is the R01 and how support for R01s may be changing over time. Recently I received numerous inquiries about whether the duration of […]
Productive professors use a variety of techniques to focus on what matters most. For many, blocking out large chunks of time for research, writing, and grant applications is key. That’s the work they value most. But it can get crowded out as they advise students, talk with colleagues, serve on committees, and check e-mail. For […]