Academic Scientists at Work

Abstract

Welcome to the world of Academic Science. Academic Scientist careers are challenging,ever changing, exciting, and can be extraordinarily rewarding. The career path requires along-term education commitment that focuses on asking the right questions, outlining theright experiments, performing experiments to perfection, and presenting the informationto the scientific community. The career path also requires that you become proficient inprocuring funding for your research projects and maybe your own salary. Unfortunately,most training programs do not focus on how to effectively and efficiently manage a lab ora career. Because scientists entering an academic career find themselves as independentbusinesspersons, poor career and lab management choices have pronounced effects ontheir ability to succeed. The beginning Academic Scientist needs a working knowledge ofhow the system functions and what is expected. This book attempts to provide the readerwith a working knowledge of how academic science is conducted, how to approach thevarious tasks of academic life, and how faculty members are evaluated.The chapters take the reader along the academic path beginning from the nearcompletion of the postdoctoral fellowship through the promotion and tenure process ofthe Assistant Professor. There are five sections. Using an analogy to horse racing, Part I ---The Starting Gate focuses on beginning a career as an Academic Scientist. Approaches toseeking and negotiating a job, managing a lab, writing grants, and interacting withcolleagues are presented. Part II --- Down the Stretch presents approaches to beingsuccessful in the three major areas by which Academic Scientists are reviewed:Scholarship, Teaching, and Service. Dubbed the Finish Line, Part III focuses on thepromotion and tenure process. Included in this section is the chapter Survey Says, whichpresents the data and information collected from a national survey of Academic Scientistsabout the academic processes discussed in the book. Comments from survey respondentsare provided in this chapter, as well as throughout the book with the "Survey Says"heading.This second edition includes updates to all of the topics presented. Followingpublication of Academic Scientists at Work's first edition, the authors have been writingcareer advice columns for Science's Next Wave on-line website. Because the topics coveredby these articles parallel the mission of this book, these 12 columns are now included inthis second edition as Part IV --- The Extras Section (Daily Double) to provide additionalinsight and depth to the reader. Of course the reader can go directly to the Next Wave siteto read or print the articles directly (http://nextwave.sciencemag.org/cdc/index.shtml).A diverse set of appendices comprises Part V (The Winner's Circle). Included are aseries of worksheets designed for the reader to ask and, of course, answer many of thequestions that come up when looking for a job and making lab and career managementdecisions. Sample letters, curriculum vitas, Specific Aims pages, which are diagrammed toexplain how they were composed, are also included. Blank copies of the worksheets anddatabases are included in the CD-ROM that accompanies this book. All of the abovedocuments were formatted as Microsoft Word{\texttrademark} files. Some contain fillable text to allowthe user to "tab" through the document and fill in the fields. Microsoft Excel{\texttrademark} files to aidin budgeting are also included. Additionally, six FileMaker{\texttrademark} Pro databases are includedwhich are designed to organize and keep track of a variety of reagents in the laboratory.Each of the databases has been used in the authors' laboratory, some for over 15 years.TABLE OF CONTENTS INTRODUCTION ix THE AUTHORS x CAST OF CHARACTERS xi LEXICON xii TENURE-RELATED TERMS xii JOB-RELATED TERMS xiii GRANT- AND MONEY-RELATED TERMS xiv RESEARCH AND PUBLICATION TERMS xv LAB MANAGEMENT AND OTHER xvi ACKNOWLEDGMENTS xvii PART I {â}€'' THE STARTING GATE 1 CHAPTER 1 {â}€'' GETTIN' A JOB 3 JOBS 3 THE INTERVIEW 9 THE SECOND VISIT 12 NEGOTIATING YOUR POSITION 13 NEGOTIATING THE OFFER 19 NEED TWO JOBS? 19 CHAPTER 2 {â}€'' GETTIN' STARTED 21 WHEN TO START 21 SETTING UP YOUR LAB 23 SETTING UP YOUR OFFICE 26 GETTING READY FOR YOUR ROLE AS AN ACADEMICIAN 28 TIME MANAGEMENT 30 CHAPTER 3 {â}€'' GETTIN' MONEY 33 FUNDING AGENCIES AND TYPES OF GRANTS 33 STRATEGIES 36 WRITING THE PERFECT GRANT 38 THE BUDGET 42 THE REVIEW PROCESS 44 OTHER TOPICS ABOUT GRANTS 47 CHAPTER 4 {â}€'' MANAGING YOUR LABORATORY 49 MONEY MANAGEMENT 50 HIRING STAFF 54 MANAGING YOUR GROUP 59 OTHER MANAGEMENT ACTIVITIES 63 POLICIES 66 CHAPTER 5 {â}€'' FACULTY CITIZENSHIP 69 GETTING ALONG 70 SHOWING UP! 73 GETTING ALONG WITH YOUR CHAIR 75 CHOOSING A MENTOR 76 HOW TO SAY "NO" 77 COMMITTEES AND OTHER MEETINGS 78 PART II {â}€'' DOWN THE STRETCH 79 CHAPTER 6 {â}€'' BEING A SCHOLAR 81 ORGANIZING YOUR RESEARCH PROGRAM 82 PREPARING AND SUBMITTING MANUSCRIPTS 84 RESPONDING TO CRITIQUES 90 EXERCISING YOUR SCIENTIFIC JUDGMENT 91 CHAPTER 7 {â}€'' BEING A TEACHER 97 TEACHING IN A CLASSROOM SETTING 98 VISUAL AIDS 102 HOW'D YA DO? 103 PARTICIPATING IN COURSES 104 NATIONAL REPUTATION FOR TEACHING 105 KEEPING RECORDS OF YOUR TEACHING 106