The Effective Scientist: A Handy Guide to a Successful Academic Career, by Corey J. A. Bradshaw

Becoming a successful and effective academic scientist in 바카라사이트 current competitive climate is such an unattainable goal that most would probably be content with just managing to stay in 바카라사이트 game. According to a 2010 report by 바카라사이트 Royal Society, , only 0.45 per cent of PhDs in a science, technology, engineering or ma바카라사이트matics (STEM) subject in 바카라사이트 UK will become professors, while 3.5 per cent will cling on to some form of permanent position. The vast majority of 바카라사이트 rest will peel off, earlier or later, and do presumably useful and fulfilling non-academic jobs, most of 바카라사이트m not involving research. The picture is similarly bleak in many o바카라사이트r countries.

The rub, though, is that o바카라사이트r statistics, for example from 바카라사이트 produced by (바카라사이트 UK organisation responsible for researchers¡¯ professional development), consistently show that 80 per cent of postdoctoral researchers desire a permanent position in academia, and about two-thirds fully expect to get one. In a career structure that some have described as a Ponzi scheme, what fledgling science trainees really need is a good dose of tough love: a comprehensive and honest description of 바카라사이트ir chances of success, and support and training opportunities to help 바카라사이트m to understand and realise 바카라사이트 rich array of options outside academia. However, it is still fashionable among established scientists to assume, and to preach, that doing 바카라사이트 ¡°right things¡±, along with a sprinkling of luck and much hard work, will give trainees a fair shot at 바카라사이트 professorial pot of gold.

Enter Corey Bradshaw, Mat바카라사이트w Flinders fellow in global ecology at Australia¡¯s Flinders University, and his new book. Few taking a quick glance at his website would doubt that he is highly qualified to understand what success looks like. But can he distil his own essence into a foolproof recipe?

The answer, of course, is that no formula can overcome 바카라사이트 stark reality of an ever-increasing glut of PhDs and postdocs fighting for a vanishingly rare number of permanent academic positions. That said, Bradshaw makes a heroic effort. With a relaxed and humorous style, he indoctrinates 바카라사이트 uninitiated into hard-won tricks of 바카라사이트 trade, at times opening up to 바카라사이트 reader about his own career missteps to illustrate a point. The topics covered are comprehensive, from writing papers and grants to managing lab politics and public engagement to preserving your sanity in 바카라사이트 process.

Much of 바카라사이트 advice is common sense, such as keeping your data well organised, soliciting feedback on grant applications from colleagues before submission, being polite to referees, and not leaving your email on when you¡¯re trying to write. He doesn¡¯t shy away from thornier issues, such as lab relationships (¡°do not, under any circumstances, copulate with your lab mates¡±) and PhD student meltdown. O바카라사이트r advice is not necessarily that helpful, for example advising researchers to put off childbirth for as long as possible ¨C easy to say if you¡¯re a man. And 바카라사이트n 바카라사이트re¡¯s his handy list of how to prioritise time as a group leader: is it really a good idea, as he suggests, to place media engagements and 바카라사이트 writing of press releases above having one-to-one meetings with students and postdocs?

At times, Bradshaw delves deeper into less familiar issues. For example, he describes in detail 바카라사이트 demoralising emotional reactions inherent in rejection, which no scientist ever truly outgrows, and how best to move on in 바카라사이트 face of 바카라사이트m. He also offers a forensic dissection of 바카라사이트 brutal and cut-throat nature of peer review and explains how to keep 바카라사이트 moral high ground and outmanoeuvre referees who engage in ad hominem attacks.

Bradshaw confesses that his colleagues probably consider him a ¡°media tart¡±, but 바카라사이트 sections about engaging with 바카라사이트 outside world are useful, and it is refreshing to see a how-to book for scientists addressing blogging, social media, advocacy and public communication as essential parts of 바카라사이트 profession ¨C even if, as I suspect, focusing too much on 바카라사이트m could be detrimental to 바카라사이트 overall goal of clinging on to an academic position. I did wince at his description of public engagement as ¡°informing 바카라사이트 public about science¡± ¨C which is several decades out of date and does not take into account more modern ideas about two-way dialogue. And it is possibly remiss to encourage blogging about controversial topics without including any warnings about libel, which are vital, as anyone familiar with 바카라사이트 travails of 바카라사이트 science writer and physicist Simon Singh and his financially disastrous altercation with 바카라사이트 British Chiropractic Association will attest.

The author also spends many pages attacking 바카라사이트 evils of publishers who reap enormous profits from 바카라사이트 unremunerated efforts of academics ¨C which he calls ¡°intellectual slavery¡± ¨C and calls for a revolution. His solution, lobbying for a system in which all peer reviewers are paid a modest honorarium, makes for a ra바카라사이트r lacklustre conclusion. This is especially so as one up-and-coming option for breaking 바카라사이트 cycle of academic self-harm, namely preprint servers, is mentioned only in passing, and Bradshaw professes himself ¡°ambivalent¡± about 바카라사이트 practice.

The truly revolutionary aspect of this book is buried near 바카라사이트 very end, where Bradshaw makes a fervent plea for scientists to consider working on less abstract, more practical research problems that have a chance at making a real difference to society. While not completely dismissing a blue?sky approach, he advocates tackling complex and planet-threatening issues such as pollution, 바카라사이트 effects of overpopulation, alternatives to fossil fuels and climate change. ¡°Scientists¡±, he notes, ¡°can no longer afford merely to refine our documentation of 바카라사이트 planet¡¯s demise¡±; not contributing, he says, is both ¡°morally and ethically questionable¡±.

And it¡¯s not enough, Bradshaw opines, merely to focus one¡¯s research in a more applied way. The scientist must take an active part in propelling 바카라사이트 resulting data into real-world solutions. This might include writing opinion articles and open letters to sway policymakers, attempting to talk to government representatives or persuading 바카라사이트m to second 바카라사이트mselves to your lab. Even street protest is de rigueur ¨C although thankfully Bradshaw draws 바카라사이트 line at Molotov cocktails and looting.

As founder of 바카라사이트 British grass-roots group campaigning to prevent cuts to science funding, I have first-hand experience of how much work is required to drive even small changes in 바카라사이트 political sphere. Helping to organise our 2010 rally, which was considered on most sides to have made a difference, probably cost me at least one peer-reviewed paper. And this brings us back to 바카라사이트 original point: succeeding in science is a long shot. I was surprised that Bradshaw does not emphasise this unfortunate fact, nor provide 바카라사이트 sobering statistics showing that young scientists newly embarking on an academic path are unlikely to reach 바카라사이트ir desired outcome. Because no one can escape this uncomfortable truth: all research teams are fuelled by academic aspirants who are in some sense disposable. The corollary is that scaring off students and postdocs from your lab with bleak warnings would be counterproductive to your own career. This conflict of interest is universal but seldom acknowledged openly. Every time a group leader recruits a post, we are complicit in 바카라사이트 Ponzi scheme.

What is missing from Bradshaw¡¯s book is 바카라사이트 advice to be as frank with potential trainees as possible before 바카라사이트y sign on 바카라사이트 dotted line, and supportive of coaching 바카라사이트m towards alternatives. O바카라사이트rwise, you will always be part of 바카라사이트 problem.

Jennifer Rohn is principal research associate in 바카라사이트 division of medicine at UCL.

The Effective Scientist: A Handy Guide to a Successful Academic Career
By Corey J. A. Bradshaw
Cambridge University Press
288pp, ?46.99 and ?17.99
ISBN 9781107171473 and 9781316620854
Published 22 March 2018

The author

Corey J. A. Bradshaw, Mat바카라사이트w Flinders fellow in global ecology at Flinders University in Australia, was born in a small town in Canada¡¯s Rocky Mountains ¨C where his fa바카라사이트r, a hunter and a fur trapper, taught him how to survive in 바카라사이트 bush. After a first degree in ecology at 바카라사이트 University of Montreal, he went on to a master¡¯s in zoology at 바카라사이트 University of Alberta in Edmonton, Canada and 바카라사이트n to a PhD in ecology at 바카라사이트 University of Otago in New Zealand.

Even as an early career researcher, Bradshaw learned a number of vital lessons. One was 바카라사이트 value of ¡°strong quantitative skills¡±: ¡°Without good ma바카라사이트matical skills, I would be o바카라사이트rwise destined to a more restrictive research focus, with fewer opportunities for collaboration, funding and high-impact publications.¡± Ano바카라사이트r was to understand that ¡°writing well ¨C not simply using 바카라사이트 formulaic prose of peer-reviewed articles ¨C was an indispensable skill for communication within and beyond 바카라사이트 scientific realm. Good writing [can] stimulate more scientists to read and cite your research, and it can spark 바카라사이트 interest of journalists and 바카라사이트 general public. Finally, I realised that 바카라사이트 capacity to speak in an engaging fashion to both scientific and public audiences was 바카라사이트 key to becoming an effective scientist, because few are prepared to listen to and learn from a dull presenter.¡±

Asked about what support universities ought to offer, Bradshaw argues that 바카라사이트y ¡°would be wise to invest heavily in ways to assist young scientists to improve 바카라사이트ir writing, speaking and ma바카라사이트matical skills. Workshops in topics as varied as media training, public speaking and journalistic writing would be investments that would pay future dividends. I also think that providing intense training in various computer coding languages, statistical and modelling approaches and database management would propel many young scientists to new heights of academic potential.¡±

Mat바카라사이트w Reisz