Recently, I completed my PhD studies in the EDIT lab, wrote my thesis, had my viva, and entered into a transcendental state of holistic wellbeing (or three of those four). Now I’m coming to terms with life in the real world*
One of the things most academics get little if any training on is how to build a well-functioning team. Yet this is also without doubt one of the most important aspects of a career in academia. Here I share some ideas on what I have found works for me over…
Completing a PhD can often seem like a Sisyphean (or perhaps Bush-ian?) task. Of course, there are times when it doesn’t feel that way (ah, March 26th, what a day that was actually…). In general though, we expect stress – and we get it. But surely there’s a better way?
I found the transition from Early Career Researcher (ECR) to Principal Investigator (PI) much harder than I expected, and not just for the obvious reasons. One clear distinction between these stages is grant income, and I, like most academics have had difficulty building up a solid stream of grant funding….
Many degree courses provide students with the opportunity to spend a year on a research placement. Such placements give students a chance to work alongside scientists, gaining practical experience of what life is like in a research environment. But how can students go about getting the placement that they want? Here, 3…
One of the hardest things about academia is that the activity that is most important, is most likely to get put the bottom of the list by other apparently more critical or urgent tasks. I am talking about writing. As a mum of three young boys, my working week is…
With 3 children (now aged 8, 10 and 12), a flexible but full-time job as an academic, and a host of activities I enjoy outside of work (most notably singing in a lot of concerts), one of the things I most often get asked about is how I balance these different interests…
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