Whenever I am faced with an insurmountable amount of work that needs to be completed by a strict deadline, I remind myself of the following true story. In college I had a friend called Alan, who was a very bright straight A student. He did have one small fault, however. While he was diligent about […]
How to (Possibly) Get Kicked Out of Grad School
Take the following scenario. You are in grad school and you worked really hard on a project and it is finally ready to be published. This study is the pinnacle of your accomplishments in grad school, one that will bring you a great deal of respect when you interview for jobs. Your supervisor reviews the […]
Supervising Others: You Mean Research is Not Solitary?
That’s right, research is not solitary, at least most of the time. The toughest challenges in research actually involve managing interactions with other people, rather than solving technical difficulties. You don’t even have to be in a supervisory role to relate to these situations. For example, suppose you are in a team of three people […]
Watch Out For Your Inner Gremlins in Graduate School
Did you ever tell someone about an ambitious goal, and hear them say: “You can’t do that!”? This is a rhetorical question, of course. We have all encountered parents, teachers, and friends who discouraged us from trying out crazy ideas. Sometimes it was for the better. Trying out sky-diving in the third grade is probably […]
Reaching Out Across Cyberspace in Graduate School
Happy President’s Day! If you are among the lucky ones who get this holiday off (did someone just say “holiday”, what’s that?), then I hope you are reading this blog after a relaxing three-day weekend. For the rest of us, it is perhaps an opportunity to get some work done, especially if it is more […]
Happy Valentines Day: A Day of Celebration or Challenge?
Happy Valentines Day! Valentines Day is a wonderful opportunity to show love for special people in your life: your spouse, your children, your friends, and family members. But…Valentine’s Day is a double-edged sword. Besides having to spend half a paycheck on a dozen roses, Valentines Day can also lead to tension in an otherwise healthy […]