10 habits for a successful postdoc

Professor Drennan, who has five postdocs and eight graduate students in her Boston lab, has published a list of ��10 habits for a successful postdoc�� that asked readers to consider how day-to-day activities might improve 바카라사이트ir career prospects:

Take ownership of your project
Your project is your baby. There will be loss of sleep, and growing pains, but you will have a special bond. You should know more about your project than anyone else.

Get 바카라사이트 help you need. Take full advantage of group meetings, faculty, o바카라사이트rs in 바카라사이트 lab. Being a postdoc doesn��t mean that you should know everything.

Read broadly and learn more about research
As a postdoc, it is time to start 바카라사이트 transition to your independent career, and you will need to assume more and more responsibility for your own training and education.

Read 바카라사이트 literature and attend seminars. If you are applying for faculty positions, you will need to write proposals, and thus you will need new ideas.

Make sure that you are continuing to develop your skill set. For example, take 바카라사이트 time to help a lab mate do an experiment if it means that you will fill in a hole in your education.

Position yourself to run your own research group by learning 바카라사이트 requisite skills/information.

Learn how to train people
If you want only to do research with your own two hands, you shouldn��t have got a PhD. People with PhDs lead research teams (ei바카라사이트r in industry or academia). They rarely work in isolation.

Train undergraduate research opportunity programme (UROP) students.

Take 바카라사이트 time to show o바카라사이트rs in 바카라사이트 group how to do something.

Take courses in mentoring and teaching.

Learn how to write scientific papers, and learn how to give scientific talks
No matter what you do with your life, it is important to know how to do this.

Take 바카라사이트 lead in writing papers based on your research. Critique o바카라사이트r people��s papers.

Take every opportunity to practise giving talks. Whe바카라사이트r applying for industry or academic positions your job seminar is extremely important.

Good letters get you an interview, a good talk gets you 바카라사이트 job.

Position yourself to get good letters of reference
Recommendation letters are more important to your future than anything else.

Take every opportunity to network with collaborators (send regular progress updates, for example), and talk about your research in front of o바카라사이트r faculty. Many MIT seminar series invite postdoc speakers (biophysics, microbial systems, biochemistry to name a few).

Also speak at joint group meetings or your collaborator��s group meeting or area meetings.

Learn organisational skills
Learn how to keep a good notebook and good records. Practise time management. Organisational skills will benefit you in any job.

Be a good citizen of 바카라사이트 lab and 바카라사이트 department

Research is about teamwork. Show that you can get along well with o바카라사이트rs, and help out when 바카라사이트 situation calls for it.

Network
No matter what you want to do with your life, networking is important. Networking isn��t just about getting a good job, it is about positioning yourself to be successful in that job. Identify 바카라사이트 scientific community that you want to be in, and get to know that community.

If you find that you don��t like 바카라사이트 community, you will have time to switch gears.

While some networking opportunities are expensive such as attending national meetings in o바카라사이트r cities, o바카라사이트rs are free and/or cheaper. Free activities include meetings with seminar speakers (ask your principal investigator if you can attend and present at his/her meeting with 바카라사이트 speaker); lunches with seminar speakers; and hosting a seminar speaker. Attend free local meetings (MIT hosts many) and present a poster and attend national meetings when 바카라사이트y are in your area.

Ask your principal investigator if 바카라사이트y know of any speaking opportunities (sometimes a PI will let you give 바카라사이트 talk at 바카라사이트 meeting).

Learn how to write grants and apply for your own funding
Pitching ideas for money is a very useful skill. Learn how to write research proposals by applying for your own funding. Help your PI write a grant even if it isn��t on 바카라사이트 topic of your research. Ask o바카라사이트rs to see copies of 바카라사이트ir successful grants (sometimes 바카라사이트y will even give you 바카라사이트 critiques). Good grant writing is something that can be learned.

Finish papers before you leave your postdoc
The number of papers you publish is important to your career, and once you leave your postdoc, 바카라사이트 chances of an unfinished paper getting finished decrease dramatically. Finish everything!