Careers 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
Life in Science 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
Careers 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
eLife Ambassadors Learning how to change the research environment as an eLife Community Ambassador Research can be incredibly rewarding, but there are a lot of hurdles along the way. Some of these relate to our environments and are difficult to overcome. In this post, Maria Sol Ruiz and Nalaka Wijekoon explain how to take matters into our own hands and step up to induce global change. ecrLife editors 4 Oct 2022 • 7 min read
Ideas 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
Careers 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
Careers How to avoid overcommitting in grad school The drive to publish is a strong motivator for scientists to spend late nights and weekends in the lab. While long hours may initially pay off, the lack of time for self-care and rest quickly make you less focused and productive. Find out how to keep a healthy balance in our latest blog post. Karishma Gangwani, Aishwarya Kothari 3 Feb 2022 • 5 min read
Careers How to get what you want out of graduate school: lessons from the business world Academic training teaches ECRs how to design, run, and analyze experiments, but often overlooks soft skills such as interpersonal and organizational skills. In this blog post, Rachel Meade shows you how to develop these skills and become a more well-rounded scientist. Rachel Meade 13 Jan 2022 • 6 min read
Careers Finding Your Tribe We know how hard it can be to decide (and define) a career path once you get your PhD. In this post, Natalia Bielczyk explains the importance of channeling our efforts into finding the right people and the right environment to develop our potential(s) and thrive. Natalia Bielczyk 25 Mar 2021 • 4 min read
Careers Why you should consider university-industry collaboration and how to engage in one Are you interested in collaborating with industry, but don't know where or how to start? This blog post has some great clues for you to kickstart the process. Sharon Gill, Ruth Kirk 18 Feb 2021 • 5 min read
Careers A Call to Support Professional Development for Early Career Researchers An academic career is no longer the only career goal for PhD graduates. A plethora of job opportunities exist, but do ECRs have the support and resources available to successfully transition into the career of their dreams? eLife Ambassadors' Career Development Initiative 17 Dec 2020 • 6 min read
Life in Science Work-Life balance: A perspective from Early Career Researchers How do you feel about your work-life balance? Have you normalized overworking? In this post we share the opinions and suggestions from several early career researchers that can help you be more aware of your time management and set boundaries. Feyza Nur Arslan, Michael Barlett 29 Oct 2020 • 6 min read
Careers Early Career Researchers, take charge and develop your career You are not alone in feeling overwhelmed when trying to plan out your career development. Discover some tips and tricks to best overcome this feeling and take charge! ecrLife 28 Sep 2020 • 6 min read
Life in Science How to get started in science communication Science communication refers to sharing and raising awareness about scientific discoveries to a broad audience. Although many scientists engage broad audiences, not all scientists feel this is an important aspect Jacob L. Steenwyk, Michelle Jonika 21 Aug 2020 • 4 min read
Life in Science How I learned to approach my research with love in the midst of a pandemic It was in mid-March that I last held a pipette in my hands. I miss hearing it squeak as I turn the knob and the satisfactory click as I lodge Shravanti Suresh 6 Aug 2020 • 4 min read
Careers Boarding the academic career train at any age Success in any career can be boiled down to three key ingredients: putting in the work, having the right team, and hoping with a little luck that the timing is Carolina Makowski 4 Jun 2020 • 5 min read
Careers An international student’s guide to grad school Are you curious about what it takes to earn a postgraduate degree, particularly one from another country? You are not alone. The number of international students worldwide has steadily increased Janani Hariharan 13 May 2020 • 8 min read
Careers Safety vs freedom: the landscape of post-PhD careers Like so many others, we faced a huge dilemma at the end of our respective PhD programs: after many long years of working in the lab: where do we go Natalia Bielczyk, Elisenda Bonet-Carne 23 Apr 2020 • 6 min read