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A PhD Is Not Enough: A Guide To Survival In Science QUOTES

A PhD Is Not Enough: A Guide To Survival In Science QUOTES

1 " … no technical skill is worth more than knowing how to select exciting research projects. Regrettably, this vital ability is almost never taught. When I signed on with a research adviser in my first year of graduate school, I was thrilled to be given a problem to work in the physics of the upper atmosphere. That I had no idea what motivated the problem did not prevent me from carrying out an analysis, on a supercomputer of the day, and publishing my first paper at the age of 22… I found myself assimilating technical skills without ever grasping the significance of the problem, without understanding how or whether it was at the cutting edge of science. This way of working became a habit, one that seriously threatened my career… I relied on a senior scientist to tell me what would be an interesting problem to work on; then I would carry out the task… Four years and two postdoctoral positions after earning a PhD—still having little sense of what I wanted to learn as a scientist—I was on the job market. "

― , A PhD Is Not Enough: A Guide To Survival In Science

2 " No technical skill is worth more than knowing how to select exciting research projects. Regrettably, this vital ability is almost never taught. "

― , A PhD Is Not Enough: A Guide To Survival In Science

3 " There has to be some theme to your work - some objective - something you want to know. There has to be a story line. "

― , A PhD Is Not Enough: A Guide To Survival In Science

4 " If you know why you have chosen to work on a particular problem, it is easy to present an absorbing seminar. Start out by telling your story, why the field you are working in is an important one, and what the main problems are. Give some historical material showing where the field is, the relative advantages of different methods, and so on. Then outline what you did, and describe your results. Conclude with a statement of how your results have advanced our understanding of nature, and perhaps give an inkling of the new directions that your work opens up. Do not assume that your audience comprises experts only. There may be a couple of them, but even experts like to hear things that they understand and particularly to have their colleagues hear (from someone else) why their field is an important one. "

― , A PhD Is Not Enough: A Guide To Survival In Science

5 " In making my work meaningful to others, I had also made it compelling to myself. No longer was I just working on somebody else's problems. I was part of an intellectual enterprise with relatively well-defined goals, which might actually make a difference to humanity. "

― , A PhD Is Not Enough: A Guide To Survival In Science

6 " Scientists are like terriers, trained to chase down and pick apart reasoning that is not rigorous. "

― , A PhD Is Not Enough: A Guide To Survival In Science