Tip Trove

It's important to ask for what you want and be clear and concise about it; give the person you're asking some alternatives from which to choose. Employees dissatisfied with their pay should consider how their salaries compare to others, and what parts of their benefits package they wouldn't get elsewhere. If nothing can be done about pay, what other currencies can your organization offer in terms of other things it can do for you? For a scientist, it might be attendance at a particular conferenc

Courtesy of Neurosciences InstituteScience is imagination in the service of the verifiable truth. Its satisfactions come from the realization of imagination in well-designed experiments. That realization is like the satisfactory scratching of a mental itch. If you lose the itch or you feel that the mere working out of details will not scratch the itch you have, it is time to consider changing fields.- Gerald Edelman, 1972 Nobelist and director of the Neurosciences Institute in San Diego

Cultural differences can cause friction. "Mental models" also interfere with respect and communication, and can be both generational and gender-based as well. For instance, some senior staff assume that anything less than full-time devotion to a career during one's twenties demonstrates lack of commitment; they therefore do not fully mentor or strongly encourage women or "Generation Xer's" with family responsibilities, even though science is increasingly dependent on the intellectual capital of

1. Get to know your studentsBy knowing the extent of your students' current knowledge of the subject, you can more effectively present what they need to know in ways they will understand. A pre-test can give you excellent information about the students' knowledge base. Encourage the students to come talk to you during office hours. Meet with the students in small groups at the beginning of the semester to get to know them and talk about your expectations of them and their expectations for the cl

Courtesy of Claudina Aleman StevensonPostdoctoral Associations (PDAs) provide a clear voice for postdocs brought together by an issue, and they can solve real problems. Start a postdoc association as a collaboration; identify allies in seemingly unlikely places (faculty, administrators, and in the Dean's Office). Remaining positive and supportive builds and sustains momentum.- Claudina Aleman Stevenson, PhD, is a visiting scientist from NCI at Tufts University School of Medicine, Boston; and cha

Figure 1The most important thing a mentor can do is to have an overwhelming desire to see the person being mentored succeed. Make that, for the moment, as important as your career. Do not measure incoming people by the standards of your very best protégé. Accept the fact that some people are going to be less than perfect. Have a lot of patience, and be willing to spend a lot of time. The very best people need you least. Your minority students especially, and often times women, may need

Effective verbal communication in the basic biomedical sciences can be an essential ingredient of a successful career. The ability to communicate effectively can have a favorable impact on your career as a graduate student, postdoctoral fellow, or principal investigator.What, then, are some of the factors that make for an interesting and effective seminar? Well, of course, you should have something worth talking about to an audience. Assuming this to be the case:1. Assess your audienceAre they e