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THE CHICAGO GUIDE TO YOUR CAREER IN science

The University of Chicago Press

Contents

Preface.................................................................viiAcknowledgments.........................................................ix1. Introduction: Thinking about a Research Career.......................1PART I. THE STAGES OF A RESEARCH CAREER2. Pursuing Graduate Education..........................................153. Advisors and Mentors.................................................344. Choosing and Conducting a Dissertation Project.......................535. Effective Teaching...................................................646. Designing Your Postdoctoral Experience...............................797. Preparing for Your First Real Job....................................958. Diversity of Career Choices..........................................1059. Tools for Successful Job Searching...................................119PART II. CONDUCTING AND PRESENTING RESEARCH10. The Meaning and Responsible Conduct of Research.....................15111. Keeping a Notebook..................................................17012. Working with Others.................................................18113. Creativity and Problem Solving......................................19514. Staying Motivated...................................................21315. Managing Time.......................................................22716. Finding and Managing Information....................................24017. Communicating.......................................................25418. Going to Scientific Meetings........................................25819. Poster Presentations................................................26420. Speaking............................................................27121. Writing.............................................................28622. Tables and Graphics.................................................30023. Writing and Defending Your Dissertation.............................31024. Writing a Journal Article...........................................32325. Writing Fellowship and Grant Proposals..............................335Index...................................................................355

Chapter One

Do you want to do scientific research? If so, this book will help you answer two big questions:

How can you prepare for a career in research or for an alternative career that uses a background in research?

How can you conduct and present your research most effectively?

These are complicated questions. But whether you're a beginning researcher or just thinking about going into research, this book will take you through them systematically, pointing out the choices and best practices that will make your career as successful and rewarding as possible.

Graduate students and postdoctorals (researchers with a PhD who are seeking further training before embarking on independent careers) learn many specific techniques and scientific concepts, but they don't always acquire the general tools of the trade that are crucial for success in research. A visit to any bookstore will reveal dozens of books concerned with finding the right job, boosting motivation, improving time management, organizing records, communicating effectively, and behaving ethically. These books, often shelved under the heading "self-help," are commonly shunned by students and their professors, but many contain ideas that we believe are valuable-and that are, in fact, evident in the working styles of the most successful researchers. Our intention is to translate these ideas into precepts directly applicable to the life of the scientist.

Although our primary audience is novice scientists-those still in training-we hope that more experienced researchers will also find much of interest here. Few of us, at any age, use all the tools available to us to maximize our effectiveness.

This book is well suited to self-study, but it could also serve as a textbook for courses on research skills or career paths. Indeed, we believe that universities should be offering such courses to their graduate students and postdocs. The book is divided into two main parts. Part I (chapters 2-9) discusses the various stages of a research career and the choices that must be made at each stage. Part II (chapters 10-25) addresses the many tasks involved in doing research and how they can be accomplished in an effective and responsible manner. In this introductory chapter, we provide a brief overview.

The rewards of a research career

Our modern society depends on research to cure diseases, abate pollution, increase supplies of food and energy, and provide insights into our relations with nature. The activities research entails can be mentally and emotionally engaging, among the most absorbing and fulfilling of human occupations. And researchers are generally adequately compensated, work with intellectually stimulating people, and enjoy high regard within society at large.

Some people have jobs in which they do nothing but conduct research-for example, working in a government or corporate lab. Some combine research with other activities: members of university faculties teach and administer programs, and physicians at university hospitals are also involved in clinical work. Still others work in nonresearch jobs that nonetheless utilize their scientific background and skills: as journalists, teachers in liberal arts or community colleges, and managers in enterprises ranging from biotech start-ups to large technical companies. All of these people can benefit from the knowledge, skills, and habits of mind acquired in pursuing a research career.

The challenges of a research career

HISTORICAL PERSPECTIVE

Educational and career opportunities in the sciences have changed over the years. A National Science Foundation report on U.S. doctorates in science and engineering in the twentieth century found rapid growth in both doctoral education and federal expenditure for research and development (R & D) in the middle years of the century (Thurgood, Golladay, and Hill 2006). During the 1970s, however, the economic impact of the Vietnam war led to severe cuts in R & D funding. This, along with a saturation of the academic labor market in most fields, caused a decline in the number of doctorates awarded. Since then, gains in R & D spending and a defense buildup have fostered a renewed increase in doctoral degrees in the sciences and engineering.

There have also been shifts in the types of employment sought by new PhDs. The percentage taking academic jobs declined from 67 percent in the early 1970s to about 50 percent by the end of that decade and stayed at that level for the remainder of the century. In contrast, the percentage of PhDs who chose industry more than doubled, from 12 percent in the early 1970s to 27 percent in the late 1990s. The last three decades of the past century also saw a significant increase in the proportion of PhDs who continued their training as postdoctorals, both because postdoctoral experience increasingly became a requirement for good professional scientific jobs and because the number of qualified applicants for such jobs outstripped the demand.

The past...