I am among one of the most privileged people to ever walk on the face of the earth. Odds are, you are too. Many of us live lives only kings used to dream of: cold beverage on-demand, a diverse menu of food available at any given moment, all of the information in the world at our…
Day 1: Re-focus
Change is good. When necessary, it can reinvigorate and inspire. As I struggled what to do with my personal site over the last year, it straddled my personal and professional lives (if there is such thing as complete separation). Now I begin a year of adding short thoughts, creating a focus for my day or simply…
American Society for Artificial Internal Organs- June 18-21, 2014
This a follow up to my entry from last month entitled “Conference Networking”. Last month I took my first steps into the industry in which I plan on spending my career. To do this, I joined the American Society for Artificial Internal Organs (ASAIO) and attended its annual conference. I had been to a couple of…
Productivity Web Tools for Graduate Students
“Productivity” can be a hairy subject. The goal is to get the best results out of your time investment but not become a fully automated robotic cyborg with the sole mission of completing task after task. With this in mind, we want to introduce a few resources we find useful in our own searches to…
Conference Networking
I am not naturally a very outgoing person. However, that does not negate one important thing I learned: it is important to put on a good game face, be social, and talk with as many people as possible (i.e. NETWORK!). This week I will step out of my comfort zone by attending the American Society…
Claiming My Life
I spent the previous year training: training to find best practices, training to myself to make connections, and training myself to be better overall. In preparing for my big job push, I’m flooded with all the advice I obtained… and it is a lot. There is such a thing as being “over prepared” but I…
Podcasting Mini Milestone
PhD (in Progress) Podcast Episode 5 Episode 5! A small but important milestone for me. They say “You haven’t made it until episode 10”, so we’re halfway there! Also, this continues a major theme in our show, which is the important of self-direction and self-management. There are plenty of resources out in the world…
Science Fiction: An Inspiration
I’m the first to mention that I’m a huge nerd. Those silly 80s and 90s cartoons fueled my interest in science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) even more than shows like Bill Nye the Science Guy or Mr. Wizard. What really got me excited was the prospect at participating in the development of the…
Start Recording: The PhD (in Progress) Podcast
http://phdinprogress.com/ Well friends, I made a decision with my friend to start a podcast. After feeling left behind when I was not accepted into a certain program I was hoping to, I felt so down. Actually, I was angry. I never get angry but I was. I truly felt that I was an amazingly strong…
“Ten Simple Rules for Choosing between Industry and Academia” by David Searls
Throughout your grad school experience, you should constantly evaluate your path and goals. Although this article is a few years old it seems to hold up as it addresses fundamental issues when considering beginning a scientific career in either academia or industry. In the linked article appearing in PLOS Computational Biology, David Searls outlines the…