The Black Hole
Jonathan Thon answers questions on dealing with patents when starting up your own company, as well as how to split your time between your startup and your university position.
The following is a transcript from Continue reading I gave at the medical device development course, Brigham and Women’s Hospital (Boston, MA) on May 12, 2016.
Due to length, ...
https://universityaffairs.ca/opinion/the-black-hole/qa-translating-science/
The Black Hole
Does starting up your own company hurt your academic career? Jonathan Thon says no, it actually has the opposite effect.
The following is a transcript from Continue reading I gave at the medical device development course, Brigham and Women’s Hospital (Boston, MA) on May 12, 2016.
Due to length, I have broken the talk up into seven par...
https://universityaffairs.ca/opinion/the-black-hole/qa-translating-science-part-2/
The Black Hole
A guide to changing the institutional thinking of translational research programs.
In a Continue reading I highlighted a comprehensive list of recommendations for how to improve federally-supported translational research programs. In this series of posts I elaborate on these recommendations in the hope that they may help guide institutional thinking on transla...
https://universityaffairs.ca/opinion/the-black-hole/tackling-biggest-gaps-translational-research-funding/
The Black Hole
There is a clear need for additional training at all levels, but uncertainty remains as to how to deliver it all in a fair and systematic way.
Nobody is born knowing everything, although sometimes it can feel that the current academic system selects for people who behave like they do. Academic researchers learn an enormous amount from their peers and mentors along the way and, as you can probably imagine, the access points to such...
https://universityaffairs.ca/opinion/the-black-hole/what-i-wish-i-knew-sooner-highlighting-gaps-in-early-career-researcher-training/
The Black Hole
The neuroscientist is gearing up to cover topics from open, team-based science to putting EDI to work in the field.
We are really excited to have Sarah Ruediger join the regular Black Hole crew. Sarah is a postdoctoral fellow who is transitioning to a group leader position at University College London this coming June. She is an outstanding neuroscientist (with first author papers in Nature, Nat...
https://universityaffairs.ca/opinion/the-black-hole/sarah-ruediger-joins-the-black-hole-team/
Career Advice
Congress offers career development for students and faculty.
Classes are winding down, grades are being posted and campuses are transitioning into the quiet season of summer. That means many humanities and social science scholars are turning their thoughts to … Congress!
The Congress of the Humanities and Social Sciences is an annual pilgrimage for an es...
https://universityaffairs.ca/career-advice/career-advice-article/just-around-the-career-corner-congress-2013/
Career Advice
University career advisers have some advice for graduating students.
As the semester comes to an end, thousands of students will leave the world of academia behind them. To help you make the exciting – but often nerve-wracking – next step, we asked a selection of university career advisers the following question:
"If you could give one piece of advice to s...
https://universityaffairs.ca/career-advice/career-advice-article/degree-in-hand-now-what/
Career Advice
A thoughtfully chosen mentor is a crucial part of a grad student’s success.
“The narrow focus of a literal ‘apprenticeship’ to become a professor, combined with the little contact with the world outside of academia, leaves little question why many PhD graduates feel at a loss after graduation, especially once they decide to pursue a non-academic path.” – ...
https://universityaffairs.ca/career-advice/career-advice-article/are-you-my-mentor/
Career Advice
Special course at U of T helps students to become “market ready”
One tagline for University of Toronto’s Graduate Professional Development program is “preparing trainees to be market ready.” The program was developed in 2012 for the department of biochemistry by Nana Lee, a lecturer at U of T and now GPD director, and Reinhart Reithmeier, former chair of U ...
https://universityaffairs.ca/career-advice/career-advice-article/professional-development-program-teaches-valuable-soft-skills-science-phds/
Career Advice
Unlike specialists who possess depth in one area and generalists who have breadth but no depth, “versatilists” are the best of both worlds.
Academia is geared towards specialization, with a depth of knowledge in a small, specific area. If you want to become the world’s authority in some minutia of knowledge, just remember that the more refined your specialty, the smaller your career opportunities. In evolution, specialist species that...
https://universityaffairs.ca/career-advice/career-advice-article/graduates-need-to-prioritize-versatility-when-entering-the-workforce/
From PhD to Life
I co-hosted an online conference earlier this month, with Maren Wood: The 2nd Annual Continue reading. What fun! What learning! The conference reaffirmed for me that PhDs working in non-faculty position...
https://universityaffairs.ca/career-advice/from-phd-to-life/beyond-the-professoriate-was-a-success/
From PhD to Life
Precarity is a staple of our professional culture, and once we understand the challenges, we can develop strategies for overcoming them.
This is a guest post by Catherine Maybrey, PhD CDP. Catherine owns and operates Continue reading. After completing her PhD in history in 2005, she experienced the joys and frustrations of retraining, and changing career paths from aca...
https://universityaffairs.ca/career-advice/from-phd-to-life/phds-gig-economy/
From PhD to Life
The degree will probably not get you the job, but hiring managers will recognize that you have critical thinking and project management skills, says one panelist.
In this fourth and final part of our series on workplace policies and norms outside academia, our panel of five PhDs answer questions about entry-level jobs in their fields, career progression, transferable skills, experience and the value of their doctoral degrees. Be sure to read
https://universityaffairs.ca/career-advice/from-phd-to-life/does-a-phd-actually-make-a-difference-in-a-non-academic-work-environment/
Careers Café
Hi, I am Liz!
When I asked my supervisor if she’d mind me accepting an offer to contribute to University Affairs’ new Careers Café blog, she said, “I love University Affairs! Just make sure you mention where you work!”
So, I work at the University of Waterloo’s <...
https://universityaffairs.ca/career-advice/careers-cafe/careers_cafe-opens-its-doors/
Careers Café
Careers Café has recently had a fork-in-the-road theme, so – what the heck – I’m adding another fork and a personal post.
I recently had to ask myself the sorts of questions that I prefer asking clients: about what matters to me, what my definition of success is, how I’ll find mea...
https://universityaffairs.ca/career-advice/careers-cafe/more-forks-in-the-road/
Careers Café
Know what to reasonably expect if you decide to pursue a volunteer opportunity.
For the past semester, I’ve been watching the students in my career course struggle with some questions that can take years to answer – all on a 12-week schedule, of course. Many of their questions have been around compromise and when to pursue an option that might be less than ideal. Just as ma...
https://universityaffairs.ca/career-advice/careers-cafe/volunteer-quagmire/
Careers Café
We need to recognize that teaching remotely is far more complicated than simply putting content online.
In the wake of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, Continue reading. This has sparked...
https://universityaffairs.ca/career-advice/careers-cafe/we-will-still-be-emergency-teaching-in-fall-2020/
Student Voices
Students need to reclaim ownership of their postsecondary education.
Almost a year ago, 10 Canadian postsecondary students were named 3M National Student Fellows, awarded by the Society for Teaching and Learning in Higher Education and 3M Canada. The annual award honours up to 10 university and college students who have shown outstanding leadership in their lives ...
https://universityaffairs.ca/opinion/student-voices/an-inside-look-at-the-21-century-student/
The Many Faces
We should be embedding health equity into all aspects of campus culture.
Features
With support for graduate students at a breaking point, Canadian universities are feeling the impact.
While finishing her PhD last year, Sivani Baskaran was faced with a common dilemma: continue on in academia or move to the private sector. With student loans from her undergraduate degree and very little in savings after six years of graduate school, the financial impli...
https://universityaffairs.ca/features/feature-article/why-canada-is-losing-the-next-generation-of-researchers/