They lead to more stability and may force early career scientists to stop waiting to make that next “substantial” contribution.

The following is an edited transcript from a talk I gave at the medical device development course, Brigham and Women’s Hospital (Boston, MA) on May 12, 2016. Due to length, I have broken the talk up into seven parts: Part 1: Why do this? Part 2: What you need to do before you start Part 3: Identifying […]

In 2015, even before I took up my official job as a group leader here in Cambridge, I was in my future director’s office and he asked if I would be able to act as the Cambridge Stem Cell Institute’s public engagement champion. He thought it would be a good fit with the sort of […]

Is there an important issue you feel the Black Hole hasn’t covered? Why not write a guest post!

The following is a transcript from I talk I gave at the Mentor Celebration Event, Brigham and Women’s Hospital (Boston, MA) on May 23, 2016. Due to length, I have broken the talk up into three parts: Part 1: Academe and industry are not your only career choices as a life sciences scholar Part 2: […]

Go get ’em Canada!

The following is an excerpt from a talk I gave at the Mentor Celebration Event at Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston, MA on May 23, 2016. Due to length, I have broken it up into three parts. What follows is the second part. In the first part, I addressed career options in academe when […]

Last week, the Canadian Association of Postdoctoral Scholars (CAPS) released its most recent survey of over 2,000 postdoctoral fellows across Canada. It is the third such survey (the others were 2009 and 2013) and offers the first robust longitudinal data set to help us understand the core issues facing the most uncertain and precarious phases […]

The following is an excerpt from a talk I gave at the Mentor Celebration Event at Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston, MA on May 23, 2016. Due to length, I have broken it up into three parts. What follows is the first part: Part 1: Training, Life sciences careers, and academics PhD and postdoctoral […]

This quarter, although we didn’t really plan a theme prospectively, the majority of our posts have focused on the critical decision making process of early career researchers at the end of their training or the beginning of their independence. Jonathan has collated a particularly insightful series of stories from colleagues of his about the varied […]

The landscape of scientific research is constantly evolving alongside your career trajectory since the needs of society versus the needs of your career and life are always in flux. To read the previous articles in this series please visit the links below: The line between successful academic and unemployment is razor thin Academic science does […]

My 3.5 months of parental leave recently finished and I’m back in the lab. It’s been a fantastic experience overall – I’ve learned a lot and enjoyed my time. The lab did not fall apart (phew!) and the physical removal from the day-to-day of running the group has cleared my head.   I’ve also interacted with […]

The faculty application and interview process spans over months and takes away precious time from experiments and grants. To read the previous articles in this series please visit the links below: The line between successful academic and unemployment is razor thin Academic science does not prepare you for the challenges ahead In an earlier post […]

Editors note: This entry is the third in a series on taking parental leave as a scientific group leader. Could parental leave actually be good for my academic career? Taking parental leave: I’m glad I’m not a postdoc Getting a job in academic science is not easy. The hours are long, the work is intense, […]

With great work funding will come. To read the previous articles in this series please visit the links below: The line between successful academic and unemployment is razor thin In an earlier post I defined the present economic climate for burgeoning young scientists, and the career uncertainty that should be expected if pursuing this career […]

As a group leader, I’m in a better position to take some precious time off.

If professional fulfillment were easy, everyone would do it. Read the previous articles in this series: The door to an academic science career – open or closed? Commencing the academic job search – impetus and deadlines The academic job search – getting your foot in the door Preparing your application package for an academic job […]

This quarter features a guest post from the current Chair of the Canadian Association of Postdoctoral Scholars and several posts from both Jonathan and David.  As always, our guest posts are very popular (and very good!) because the writers have often thought deeply about the issue they are speaking up about – we encourage more […]

The last month has been a pretty topsy-turvy one for the Canadian Institutes of Health Research. After it rolled out the first round of applications for its new operating grant application termed “project grants,” it was all set to deliver evidence that its new systems of financial allocation and peer review were superior to the […]

Patience is power. Patience is not an absence of action; rather it is “timing.” It waits on the right time to act, for the right principles and in the right way – Fulton J. Sheen Previous articles in this series: The door to an academic science career – open or closed? Commencing the academic job […]