Cameron Hummels (credit: Lucas Laursen) "I just wish there were more people out there doing science." --Cameron Hummels The telescope room atop Pupin Hall at Columbia University offers a stunning view of the night sky and the New York City skyline. Astronomy Ph.D. candidate Cameron Hummels even considered moving his desk and computer up to the rooftop shed before concluding that his computer woul...
Blue cables (Credit: Jessica Merz) Jessica Merz Social networking sites for scientists offer "a way of making you feel like you're part of a community and [the opportunity] to link to other people who have similar interests." —Elizabeth Wilkinson, University of Manchester Have you ever minimized your Facebook browser window when your supervisor walked past your desk, afraid you might appear unpro...
Library Stacks. Credit: eflon (Photo: eflon) "This is a career where I can keep my hand in the science without having to have my paycheck or the paycheck of a graduate student or postdoc depend on the next grant." --David Osterbur David Osterbur spent a decade pursuing an academic science career before tiring of the "never-ending cycle" of unfunded grant applications, he says. When his wife, like...
Circuit board (credit: PhotoDisc) PhotoDisc Technology transfer "requires someone who has a real interest in science and who enjoys continually hearing about new research." --Dermot Leonard Dermot Leonard's first experience with technology transfer was as a mechanical and manufacturing engineering student in 2002. He and his teammates at Queen's University in Belfast, U.K., won £10,000 in a North...
Agricultural Research Agricultural Research "We're treating them like they were first-year graduate students. The projects are smaller, but we're training them how to go to graduate school so when they do apply they'll be able to write a stronger resumé." --F. Gerald Plumley Sarah Addou stared hard at her computer screen, willing the code in front of her to compile properly. "When you don't have ...
Rollercoaster (César Astudillo) Former expatriate postdocs report that the experience is worth it, both culturally and scientifically. The thing that helped Jessica Torrey get over her homesickness during the first few months of her postdoc at the Friedrich-Alexander-University of Erlangen-Nürnberg in Erlangen, Germany, was beer. More specifically, it was a regular gathering at a beer hall: She t...
