By Stephanie Baringer Many trainees enter graduate school because they truly enjoy performing experiments. They live off the feeling of when an assay finally works after months of optimization. For some, the highs of success outweigh the lows of failed experiments. However, the thought of becoming a principal investigator (PI) and running your own lab, … Continue reading Benchwork Outside of Academia: A Career Interview with an Industry Scientist
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Stepping Stones to the Clinic: A Career Interview with a Clinical Trials Coordinator
By Stephanie Baringer After long periods at the bench, many trainees discover they wish to facilitate more change in patient lives and work on the translational side of research. However, many Ph.D. level positions require experience in the clinical realm. As bench scientists, we typically don’t have that type of involvement before the time of … Continue reading Stepping Stones to the Clinic: A Career Interview with a Clinical Trials Coordinator
Ph.D. Project Management Hacking
By Rebecca Fleeman Do you ever feel overwhelmed with the myriad of projects, to do’s, and random thoughts floating around in your head? As graduate students, we often feel like circus performers, spinning plates on several rods all at once. We are constantly balancing our time and efforts between experiments, meetings, studying, communicating, applying for … Continue reading Ph.D. Project Management Hacking
The Challenge of Mental Health in Graduate School
By Bailey Keller and Angela Snyder Declining mental health among graduate students is a silent epidemic. According to a recent Nature survey of 6,300 PhD students worldwide, ~36% report seeking help for anxiety or depression due to their PhD studies1. Commonly cited reasons for the PhD environment contributing to poor mental health were bullying and … Continue reading The Challenge of Mental Health in Graduate School
When the Science Stops: A Series of Interviews
By Stephanie Baringer Photo Credit: Picpedia Are you curious about how different areas of science are handling the COVID-19 pandemic and stay-at-home orders? We are trained that science never stops, but what happens when it does? Below are mini-interviews with researchers in four different areas of the scientific field: industry, government, medical affairs, and academia … Continue reading When the Science Stops: A Series of Interviews
The Art of Mastering Your Breaks
Photo Credit: OpenClipart By Indira Purushothaman Taking breaks in grad school often makes you feel like you’re falling behind. We give more attention to the life span and battery percentage of our devices than to ourselves. Taking breaks helps you recharge. Recent studies show that the average American works approximately 9.2 hours a day, often … Continue reading The Art of Mastering Your Breaks
“Just setting up my twttr”
By Raquel Buj, PhD (@BioYupi) Photo Credit: PxHere “just setting up my twttr”, was the first tweet in history and how Jack Dorsey, co-founder of Twitter, changed the world on March 21, 2006. Twitter has shaken the world by modifying how we interact, communicate, and consume news. Twitter attracts a significant number of politicians, journalists, … Continue reading “Just setting up my twttr”
The First Years’ Guide to Graduate School Rotations
Credit: imjaki from Pixabay To a first year graduate student, deciding what labs to rotate in may seem like a daunting task. When I joined the Penn State College of Medicine graduate program, I was faced with an overwhelming number of options and found it difficult to narrow down my top three lab choices. I … Continue reading The First Years’ Guide to Graduate School Rotations
Burn Out
Burn out.It’s a common phrase heard in the hallways of many academic institutions. Burn out has become a major contributor to mental health issues among graduate schools across the country. Driving yourself intensely for an extended period of time can lead to graduate school burn out, and it can last for weeks, sometimes even months. … Continue reading Burn Out
Impostor Syndrome is 100% Real
Credit: 1388843 from Pixabay We’ve all had those moments at orientation. You hear a speaker say, “Look to your left, now look to your right…these are your colleagues but some of them might not make it to the end of this academic journey.” These moments can be taken in a plethora of ways but it’s … Continue reading Impostor Syndrome is 100% Real
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