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Zigs Can Zag with Purpose: Finding My Calling in Science

Academic careers are full of surprises. Every step brings new questions that might involve navigating diverse fields. Here, Jonathan Tsay tells us how exploring multiple fields led him to the position where he is today.

17 Apr 2025 • 4 min read

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Zigs Can Zag with Purpose: Finding My Calling in Science

Jonathan Tsay

17 Apr 2025 • 4 min read

How to overcome your “academic midlife crisis” (Part 2 - finding your path)

The process of finding your ideal career path is not straightforward. Fortunately, there are many career options for PhDs. Here, Nele talks about how you can find career paths that excite you and learn from others' experiences.

Nele Haelterman

3 Apr 2025 • 5 min read

How to overcome your academic midlife crisis (Part 1 – navigating your feelings and establishing your goals)

Academic training takes many twists and turns, and, over time, our passions and goals may evolve. This can be confusing, but it offers an opportunity to reflect upon what brings us joy. Here, Nele Haelterman shares how she faced this uncertainty and came out with a clearer view of her path forward.

Nele Haelterman

6 Mar 2025 • 5 min read

How to overcome writer’s block to share your ideas

Writing plays a central role in the life of Early Career Researchers. It might seem daunting at first, but with time it becomes easier and even fun! Here, Angel shares some tips on how to set yourself up for success when writing.

Angel Cisneros

30 Jan 2025 • 4 min read

Overcoming hardships for internationals in academia

Doing research abroad is a dream for many scientists. However, the road is not always smooth: it takes time to master the social and bureaucratic aspects. Here, Yseult, Ankita, and Ruchika explain some of these challenges and how to help our international colleagues feel at home.

Multiple authors

14 Mar 2024 • 5 min read

Things I wish I knew before entering the Academic Job Market

Looking for a job in academia can be a daunting task. Here, Meike van der Heijden talks about the highs and lows of her adventure looking for a job, as well as lessons she learnt at each stage of the process.

Meike van der Heijden

5 Oct 2023 • 11 min read

Let’s get rid of confidential ‘reference letters’ in academia — a tool misused by abusive supervisors

Reference letters hold a lot of power over an academic's career path and can make an ECR's life miserable if they are stuck in an abusive lab. Here, eLife community ambassadors Ruchika, Rio, and Suhaila advocate for alternative ways to get to know an applicant.

Multiple authors

14 Sep 2023 • 6 min read

Towards an increased awareness on the importance of Computational Reproducibility in Biological Sciences in Latin America

Collaboration helps push science forward. However, its power depends on us sharing workflows, reagents, and results that our colleagues can reproduce. Here, a team of ECRs share how they came together with the mission of making science more reproducible and their upcoming projects.

Reprodutibilidade Computacional Bio

31 Aug 2023 • 7 min read

My Successful Mentoring Experiment

Throughout our scientific training process, many of us find ourselves asking if we have what it takes to become a successful mentor. In this blog post, Ruchika Bajaj shares her experience with designing a mentoring experiment to test the hypothesis that she can, and will be a great mentor.

Ruchika Bajaj

3 Aug 2023 • 6 min read

From Lone Wolf to Pack Power: Empowering Early-Career Researchers through Scientific Communities

Life as a scientist comes with many personal and professional challenges. Thankfully, we do not need to face them alone, as there are many others like us out there. In this post, Yu-Fang Yang shares how she found the best communities for her and how being together lifts everyone up.

Yu-Fang Yang

14 Jul 2023 • 6 min read

Academic unions - Rectifying myths based on frontline experiences

Early Career Scientists often find themselves in vulnerable situations, so it's important to put systems in place for their voices to be heard. Danny Doucette explains how academic unions provide such a platform, but also how unionization is at times hindered by bureaucracy or lack of confidence.

Danny Doucette

1 May 2023 • 5 min read

Baby steps toward uprooting toxicity from academia

Passion for science leads ECRs to embark on the adventure of graduate studies. However, this passion is sometimes met with unfair obstacles and biases that hinder their career paths. Here, we discuss how we can all contribute to making academia a welcoming environment where everyone can thrive.

Multiple authors

9 Feb 2023 • 6 min read

The Many Languages of Science

Kanika Khanna

10 Nov 2022 • 4 min read

Learning how to change the research environment as an eLife Community Ambassador

ecrLife editors

4 Oct 2022 • 7 min read

Why and how to convince lab members to preprint

Ken Hallenbeck

28 Apr 2022 • 4 min read

Getting to know our editorial team: Angel Cisneros

ecrLife editors

14 Apr 2022 • 5 min read

Building a Technology-Savvy Workforce to Drive the Future of Research

The pandemic forced scientists to change how they do research. While some of these changes have improved the scientific method, others further increase pre-existing inequities in the research environment. In this post, Adriana Bankston outlines how she envisions the future of the research workforce.

Adriana Bankston

17 Feb 2022 • 5 min read

Paying it forward: bringing innovation to academic funding

Not every postdoc has the same salary, supportive environment, or benefits. These factors vary greatly among institutions, creating an inequitable environment. Amanda Hurley introduces a new funding mechanism that better supports postdocs to successfully transition into independent positions.

Amanda Hurley

10 Feb 2022 • 5 min read

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