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Science 's Next Wave published "Getting an NIH R01," which became the most frequently accessed Next Wave article for...

Give your students skills, not just stories.

Ensuring a successful postdoctoral appointment and using the experience to launch a solid career require careful preparation. Scientists who responded to this year's postdoctoral survey, sponsored by
Science Careers, outline strategies based on their personal histories.

Writing an effective research plan is tricky—and important.

"As I look back at my busy life, I would not have been happy giving up either—career or family," says Margaret Dalzwell Lowman.

We can't wave a magic wand and add hours to our days, but we can benefit from others' experience and speed up the learning curve.

The new law and recent experiences gives hope to scientists who have been struggling in the past.

The liberal policies in some countries and the wealth of cross-cultural collaborations have made Europe a good destination for researchers to train in human embryonic stem cell research.

Ask a cross-section of scientists how they got into cancer research, and you'll hear about a dizzying variety of routes from fields as diverse as biology, pharmacology, mathematics, and medicine. And with certain attributes — an inquiring mind, self-discipline, and a dash of ambition — it seems that there's no limit to what can be achieved.

With good long-term funding prospects and attractive salaries, Germany has become a major contender in the global competition among nations to draw in top talent.

"I think it becomes more difficult [to cheat] when the student knows what the professor knows and the professor knows what the student knows." --Adil Shamoo

"Faculty members want a culture that feels compatible, and they want inspiring colleagues both in their department and in related fields. For faculty devoted to teaching--which is to say, anyone Brown would want to hire--students' intelligence and drive are major draws. And increasingly faculty come in pairs, requiring not just one, but two positions, which makes recruiting even more difficult."

Careful planning is crucial if you're going to complete your reviews and still have time to get your own work done.

By doing some homework ahead of time, it's possible to select a career-oriented Bachelor's or Master's degree. In fact, some of today's professional Master's programs aim specifically at giving students experience in research labs or companies. In this article, experts from academia, industry, and government give advice for training and grabbing the best position.

The minister's aim is to create an employment structure in the universities with a much larger base of younger, early-career scientists.

"The novice writer makes a big mistake in blaming language knowledge for everything," says Mary Ellen Kerans, chair of the Mediterranean Editors and Translators association in Barcelona, Spain.

The challenges are both logistical and emotional, and if training and productivity are compromised, scientific careers can be derailed.

"We hear persistent reports of postdocs and other folks working on grants who are either forbidden to take maternity leave or told that if they do, they'll be fired." --Joan Williams

Spending some time investigating your interests before starting a Ph.D. will improve the likelihood that you pick a project that keeps your interest over several years.