Developing your professional skillset
Facing the challenges and embracing the opportunities of a career in science (6 Sept 2017)
On the night before I started my post-doc, my mother sent me an email with her best career advice... Data management 101: Insights and highlights from #SciData16 (2 Nov 2016)
I attended the #scidata16 meeting last week as an amateur reporter ... Failure 101: Can scientists learn how to be better at failing? (22 Jun 2016)
I landed in Marrakech last Tuesday an hour late due to delays in Manchester, and even though I was.. How to handle criticisms in science: Achieving a balance between confidence and modesty in the work place (6 January 2016)
Whether it was the new Star Wars movie, sparkly outfits worn by ... How to make a fulfilling break: Using your time away from work to achieve a better work-life balance (9 Sept 2015)
People like to comment to me about how much I travel, asking where ... |
Confidence 101: Finding your inner strength while pursuing a career in science (19 April 2017)
If you’ve seen any advertisements for martial arts schools, you’ve likely noticed how the various Your first semester as a post-graduate: What’s on your PGR to do list? (5 Oct 2016)
It’s strange to think that it’s been seven years since that sticky, sweltering August day when I began Summertime Science (8 Jun 2016)
It’s finally the end of the semester! Time to put your textbooks away, apply some sunscreen, and get ready for a summer of…science? Your ... Playing nicely with others: When success in science hinges on more than just what you know (21 Oct 2015)
I think it’s safe to say that most of us have benefited from Jorge Cham’s PhD comic serieseven if our research and general productivity hasn’t ... What is science? Putting the 'philosopy' back in Ph.D. (2 Sept 2015)
In the first blog post, I gave an overview of the definition of style and how this concept relates to how we should think about doing ... |
Making a New Year’s resolution is easy…but what about keeping one?(11 Jan 2017)
After a time for self-reflection at the end of 2016 and a re-energizing holiday break, many of us have ... Studying with style (14 Sept 2016)
Since the next semester is fast-approaching, the editors of Science with Style and the University of Landau’s EcotoxBlog are collaborating Conference with Style: What should you wear to a scientific conference? (18 May 2016)
This weekend I traveled to the Scottish Highlands and hiked Ben Nevis on an unusually sunny ... Take a hike! (14 Oct 2015)
The Lakes District offers some of the UK’s best scenery and is a popular destination for weekends and summer retreats. Before I moved to England for my post-doc, a friend of mine took me for a day trip to the region during my visit to Durham in |
Science with style lessons from 2016: Building core strength for the next year ahead (14 Dec 2016)
With the closing of the year come the inevitable “year in review” articles and social media... Dealing with deadlines (3 Aug 2016)
“When it rains it pours” is not just the motto for Morton’s salt, it’s also a good analogy for a researcher’s to do list. More often than not, it feels Good meetings, bad meetings, we know you’ve had your share! (16 March 2016)
The great philosopher Led Zeppelin has always has a way with words: In the days of my youth, I was told... The elusive art of scientific networking (7 Oct 2015)
“Network, network, network!” Networking is often touted as the most important thing that graduate students and young researchers should do, even early in their |
Career navigation and soul-searching
Science with Style book review: "The 33 Strategies of War" (17 July 2017)
An early career researcher faces a lot of pressures within the academic research environment. We’re expected to work hard and put in ... World mental health day: Coping with stress, anxiety, and the rigors of a researcher’s life (12 Oct 2016)
Some Mondays end up being more Monday-ish than others. This week started with a particularly Monday- Congratulations! You made it this far. So…now what? (4 May 2016)
This weekend in the UK we had our first Monday holiday of the summer season, festively named ‘Early May Bank Holiday’. Being the travel-loving person I am, I decided to ... Being a post-doc with purpose (5 Aug 2015)
This article by Science Magazine has been floating around in the Twitter-sphere lately and I finally had a chance to give it a look during ... |
Writing your career origin story (14 June 2017)
I went to the cinema last Saturday eager to see Wonder Woman and optimistic that it would easily be one of my favorite superhero films. But... Is your career weather-proof? Preparing for your future the Scandinavian way (7 Sept 2016)
My husband and I spent last bank holiday weekend exploring the ... Science with style blog review: Gretchen Rubin’s four tendencies and making better research habits (6 April 2016)
Some of my recurring blog themes include topics such as knowing yourself, your working style, and ... |
Networking 2.0: Connections and considerations for your first job search (29 March 2017)
It’s no secret that being a PhD student is stressful. Thankfully the process of earning a PhD doesn’t ... Science with Style book review: “Born for this” (13 July 2016)
Some days at work I catch myself thinking “I didn’t sign up for this!”, whether it’s while thumbing through pages of statistical test.... The Job Huntress: Notes from the field about my navigation through job applications (17 Feb 2016)
We’re taking a break for the time being from our research entourage series, with the final installment ... |
Becoming a Zen Researcher (26 Oct 2016)
On Sunday night my husband and I returned home after a 10-day trip across South Korea and Japan. At just under one thousand pictures ... What should you do when you feel like you can’t do anything? (1 June 2016)
With one and half days still remaining in the SETAC Nantes meeting, I was exhausted by the... Symptoms of imposter syndrome and cures for this common academic illness (16 Dec 2015)
With the holiday season rapidly approaching and with the stress of year-end work diminishing ... |
Science with Style original series: Your research entourage
Your research entourage-Essential relationships you need to succeed, Week 4: The sensei (24 Feb 2016)
We previously discussed the first four members of your research entourage, the people who are there to offer guidance, support, and ... |
Your research entourage-Essential relationships you need to succeed, Week 3: The ally (3 February 2016)
We’ve already set up three members of your entourage: a coach, a dreamer, and a doer. These people are here to push you further as you |
Your research entourage-Essential relationships you need to succeed, Week 2: The dreamer and the doer (27 Jan 2016)
In last week’s post, we discussed the importance of having a coach in your research entourage. Today... |
Your research entourage-Essential relationships you need to succeed, Week 1: The coach (20 Jan 2016)
In your group of friends, there are probably quite a few personality types, and different friends that you rely upon in different situations.... |
Science with Style original series: Heroes of Science
Heroes of Science: Rachel Carson (1 Feb 2017)
After this last week of news, I wanted to use this post to talk about the role of government policies on the environment and the impact ... |
Heroes of Science: Michael Faraday (27 July 2016)
We’re once again visiting our ‘Heroes of Science’ series with a portrait of the great chemist and electrical scientist Michael Faraday... |
Marie Curie's life and work as a pioneering woman of science
(23 March 2016) Our first entry in the ‘Heroes of Science’ series was about Galileo, whose life and work I had been ... |
Galileo Galilei: Father of modern science and master of standing up for science (18 Nov 2015)
You could easily fill up an entire blog talking about all the lives of the great scientists, the pioneers, the giants’ shoulders who we stand on |
Science with Style original series: Ph.D. warriors
Black belt, PhD: The parallels between martial arts and scientific research (17 Aug 2016)
Every Monday and Thursday night, I take a 15 minute train ride on the Northern Line from Liverpool ... |
Rubber versus steel: Finding the balance between flexibility and strength in work and in life (23 Sept 2015)
In the summer of 2011, I went on a scientific pilgrimage to Japan as ... |
Don't be afraid to fail: Lessons from a black belt Ph.D. (12 Aug 2015)
Maybe it’s cheesy to use martial arts life lessons in a blog like this, but the comparison is actually quite ... |
Science communication and public engagement
Becoming a science blogger: creating, maintaining, and sharing science writing (17 May 2017)
Perhaps you’ve marched for science, talked to your congressional representatives, or explained the ... Journalism for the engaged scientist, Part 3: The art of the interview (30 Nov 2016)
As a scientist and a soon-to-be citizen journalist, each story you craft has to be more than a series of Risk Communication 101: An introduction by Namrata Sengupta (21 Sept 2016)
This week we have another collaborative post from guest blogger Namrata Sengupta. She’ll ... Carl Sagan's The Demon Haunted World (10 Dec 2015)
Carl Sagan is a hero of science communication: his books and TV series provided a forum for people to learn about science, and he sought to make nebulous topics .... |
Is all science interesting? Revisiting thoughts on the ‘philosophy’ part of a Ph.D. (1 March 2017)
Last week I attended a seminar about new advances in clinical trials for cancer treatments. The seminar Journalism for the engaged scientist, Part 2: What is truth? (23 Nov 2016)
The term “post-truth” was recently named Oxford Dictionary’s 2016 word of the year. This was in part thanks to the political movements From the archives: "The story of Lake Alice" (24 Aug 2016)
I’m taking a break from the blog both this and next week to focus on some other writing projects, but in the meantime I thought I’d delve into ... Sharing your science this holiday season: How to answer the inevitable 'So, how's work?' question at holiday gatherings (2 Dec 2015)
Christmas season seems to be more |
March for Science: Does political protest achieve science communication and outreach? (15 Feb 2017)
Every time I opened Google News last month, I hesitated with bated breath before scrolling down to the Journalism for the engaged scientist, Part 1: What is journalism? (16 Nov 2016)
I have a bad habit of overextending myself. It’s a habit that rears its head in many ways, from reading Rebel scientists: Changing the dialogue about what science is and who scientists are (10 Aug 2016)
I tend to get in trouble by our lab safety officer once every two weeks for not wearing a lab coat. I always Notes from the field: How to act like a kid while thinking like a scientist
(25 Nov 2015) Science communication blogs and social media accounts are easy to find these days, now that scientists |
Journalism for the engaged scientist, Part 4: Becoming a citizen science journalist (7 Dec 2016)
I’m sure I’m not the only person who’s happy to see that 2016 is finally coming to a close. In a year ... Risk Communication 201: How do we accurately communicate risk? (28 Sept 2016)
Last week we had a fantastic introduction into this week’s topic from our guest poster Namrata What exactly is 'public engagement' and why should we engage the public? (11 May 2016)
A few weeks ago I attended a workshop on public engagement by Steve Cross at our University. While not knowing what to expect ... |
Science with Style philosophical thoughts
An expat scientist’s perspective on a world post-Brexit (29 Jun 2016)
It’s never a good sign when your day starts with over 200 unread Whatsapp messages. Last Friday (June 24th), I woke up to news that Remembering David Bowie and defining what it means to have style (13 Jan 2016)
Monday morning alarms aren’t known for being my favorite part of the day. Coupled with the unexpected and sad news of the |
Valar academeris, valar philoghulis: All men must do research, all men must graduate (27 Apr 2016)
After a year of eager anticipation by show viewers, and a year of book readers being annoyed that they’ll no longer know what’s going to ... Quick updates and impressions at #SETACSLC (4 Nov 2015)
I've been meaning to write a blog post since the meeting kicked off on Monday, but as conferences always go there's always someone to talk to or some meeting to listen in on or a talk to attend. I'm taking ... |
What does scientific research have to do with ancient Rome? (30 Mar 2016)
One of the challenges of having a weekly blog is not knowing at what time or from where inspiration will |
Impressions from #SETACYES (9 March 2016)
You may have noticed the lack of a weekly post last week-thankfully it wasn't for more job applications, but for something I'd been working to... |