Checking in on what we’ve been writing about…
Our readers continue to favour articles on mental health in academic life.
It turns out that we dropped the ball a little on our quarterly summaries and haven’t actually summarized the articles on the blog for eight months… Since many readers have indicated that these are nice ways to catch up on what we are writing about, I’ll do my best to keep on top of them in future. For now though, please enjoy the half year summary!
Over this period, we’ve returned to a topic near and dear to readers – mental health in academic life (and the lack of support for it). This was mainly catalyzed by a series of excellent posts by Dr. Sabrina Zeddies, a guest blogger for the Black Hole. Please read her articles below if you missed them the first time around – it’s a real call to action for those of us trying to help fix the system. Jonathan has also compiled an incredible series of blogs on translating knowledge from your lab into industry (something near and dear to his heart with his academic spinoff company, Platelet Biogenesis)
The top five posts from this period are:
- Crash and burn (out): 5 stages of postdoctoral collapse
- Who is to blame for postdoctoral collapse?
- Some tough love is needed for MD/PhD scientists
- Make your PhD outcomes transparent and be proud of where your graduates end up
- Academia needs to recognize mental health issues early
The rest of the posts from this period are listed below by author:
Guest posts from Sabrina Zeddies
- Crash and burn (out): 5 stages of postdoctoral collapse
- Who is to blame for postdoctoral collapse?
- Postdoctoral collapse – what can you do to help?
Jonathan
- Why you should translate your discoveries from bench to bedside
- What to do before pursuing science translation through entrepreneurship
- Proposed U.S. budget cuts spell disaster for discovery research
- Raising awareness on the disparity of women in science and the impact of implicit bias
- Identifying the milestones in your translational venture
- How to establish executive and advisory teams for your business venture
- When starting a company, you need to move out of your academic lab
- Q&A on translating your science
- Q&A on translating your science – Part 2
- Identifying the needs and best practices for supporting translational research
- Why follow-up funding is important for translational research
Dave
- Universities are sometimes home to the worst kind of champions…
- The case for scholarship and fellowship eligibility windows
- Some tough love is needed for MD/PhD scientists
- What it’s like speaking about shared parental leave at a female-dominated event
- Make your PhD outcomes transparent and be proud of where your graduates end up
- Hiring faculty earlier could bring balance to the sexes
- National Institutes of Health introduces cap on number of grants a lab head can hold
- Canada’s minister of science calls out sexism in science
- Academia needs to recognize mental health issues early
- Laboratory “retreats” – strategies for young group leaders
Dave continued to write for Signals blog and published the following articles:
- Valuing the good, the bad and the ugly
- Location, location, location – stem cells need the right neighbours
- Major League Baseball Pitchers and “Stem Cell” therapy
- Interspecies generation of insulin producing cells now a reality
Thanks as always to our loyal readers for keeping up their enthusiasm for what we write, their contributions via guest posts and for the constant stream of great information from across the globe. We hope the rest of 2017 treats you well.
Featured Jobs
- Vice-President Research & Scientific EngagementMS Canada
- Fashion - Instructional Assistant/Associate Professor (Creative & Cultural Industries)Chapman University - Wilkinson College of Arts, Humanities, and Social Sciences
- Economics - Associate/Full Professor of TeachingThe University of British Columbia
- Politics and Public Administration - Assistant Professor (Public Policy)Toronto Metropolitan University
- Public Policy - JW McConnell Visiting ScholarMcGill University
More from Opinion
-
Prof pas prof, j’y vais: conference anxiety
Shining a humorous light on some of the tasks that academics deal with on a regular basis.
-
The escalating challenges of university leadership
Why attracting talented and dedicated leaders is more important than ever.
-
Breaking barriers: when international students have ADHD
Without accommodations, these students are often left to fend for themselves.
-
Book review: Indigenous lessons for healing our society
Blair Stonechild, The Knowledge Seeker: Embracing Indigenous Spirituality, Regina: University of Regina Press, 2016, 224 pages.
More from Advice
-
Drafting the budget for your first SSHRC grant application
Early career researchers tend to be too cautious when budgeting, but if you justify your costs in detail, you will show the reviewers that you have considered all options.
-
Adapting your writing for a research competition
Presenting in person can be nerve-wracking, but it is a great way to connect with a wider community of scholars.
-
How to stay up to date within your field of research when you are busy teaching
Instead of trying to cram all of your research prep into the summer months, why not set aside some time each week to read about what’s new in your field of scholarship?
-
Stretching the dollar: creative ways to budget in grad school
Approach budgeting and cost-saving alternatives from a fresh perspective.
More from The Black Hole
-
How to start a company from scratch
Establishing and leading a startup is hard, but it is also an opportunity to do something creative, fun and unique.
-
Yes to more evaluation, but a bigger yes to more action
A recent report on research culture shows that evaluation is key, but stops short of practical solutions to core problems.
-
Building a lab: 6 months of triumphs and trials
As head of a lab, you're the one-man band responsible for everything from marketing to finance to product development.
-
The art of grant writing: write, rewrite and write again
And don't forget the detailed budgeting and a looming submission deadline.
Post a comment
University Affairs moderates all comments according to the following guidelines. If approved, comments generally appear within one business day. We may republish particularly insightful remarks in our print edition or elsewhere.