26 4 JANUARY 2019 • VOL 363 ISSUE 6422 sciencemag.org SCIENCEILLUSTRATION: ROBERT NEUBECKERa Ph.D. with a secure and honest vision
of what they want to achieve. Otherwise,
all the distractions in the world will not
be comfort enough during the difficult or
unexpected moments.
Steven M. Heaton
Department of Biochemistry and Molecular
Biology, Biomedicine Discovery Institute,
Monash University, Clayton, VIC 3800, Australia.
Email: [email protected]
Medical school was like drinking from a fire
hose. There was so much to learn; the more
efficient I was, the better. When I transi-
tioned to graduate school during my M.D./
Ph.D. training, the rules for success were
less clear. My research mentor often tells me
to be creative, but there is no textbook for
creativity. Testing the boundaries of science
requires experiments or techniques that you
have never done before, and when you try
new things, you often fail. The key, I believe,
is to work on questions that truly interest
you. Genuine scientific curiosity can form
the foundation for sustained perseverance.
Asking “Why?” can turn failed experiments
into new opportunities. It turns out that
graduate school is also like drinking from
a fire hose, but the fun part is you get to
choose what you drink.
Jonathan Joon-Young Park
Department of Genetics, Yale University
School of Medicine, New Haven, CT 06520, USA.
Email: [email protected]
For academics, transitioning to parenthood
can be daunting. During the first years of
my child’s life, I experienced academia
with a new perspective. We have traveled
to conferences and field work all over the
world. With the help of patient colleagues,
supportive family and friends, conference
day care, and a strong will, I have tried my
best to be an active member of my scientific
community. The more we participate, the
more we serve as role models, push societal
acceptance of equality, and improve condi-
tions for future academic mothers.
Christine D. Bacon
Department of Biological and Environmental
Sciences, University of Gothenburg, Gothenburg,
Sweden. Email: [email protected]When I started my Ph.D. project, I depended
on guidance from my supervisor. When I
transitioned to postdoctoral work, I had
to independently navigate my research
schedule, including both long-term and
short-term goals. It was up to me to stay
engaged, focus on my goals, and change
direction when appropriate. Self-navigation
driven by intrinsic motivation helped me
find success as a postdoctoral researcher.
Sha Yu
School of Biological Sciences, Seoul
National University, Seoul 8826, South Korea.
Email: [email protected]When I first transitioned from Ph.D. to
postdoc, the most challenging difference
was the change in expectations. As a Ph.D.
student, I benefited from my supervisor’s
helping hand and the understanding that
my colleagues would tolerate mistakes. As
a postdoc, I had to face the expectation that
I could produce high-impact results with
minimal supervision.
Emre Ozan Polat
ICFO–The Institute of Photonic Sciences,
Castelldefels, 8860 Barcelona, Spain.
Email: [email protected]Communicate effectively
When I left my position as a graduate
research assistant in academia to begin
work as a scientist in industry, I learned
that industry requires complex com-
munication skills. I have to engage and
communicate with internal and externalstakeholders with substantially differ-
ent levels of expertise, expectations, and
backgrounds on a daily basis. Excellent
oral and written communication skills
are essential to ensure that messages are
delivered clearly, precisely, and effi-
ciently. Understanding the organizational
landscape also plays a crucial role in effec-
tive communication, and the academic
platform does not provide that type of
complex environment. Thus, I believe
internships and industrial co-op positions
are the best opportunities for postgradu-
ate students who would like to get true
exposure to the industrial atmosphere and
to improve their soft skills.
Dhanuka Wasalathanthri
Sanofi US, Fiskdale, MA 01518, USA.
Email: [email protected]When I was a graduate student, it was
natural and helpful to vent my nega-
tive feelings about incomplete tasks to
someone in our group. After transition-
ing to a position as an adviser, I realized
that I had to express my frustration more
constructively. Expressing pessimism to
the graduate students can affect them,
sometimes more than we expect. Although
I still share my concerns, I now try to lay
out the problems and possible solutions
without emphasizing my feelings, and I
encourage the students to work together to
solve problems.
We i Wa n g
Fujian Institute of Research on the Structure
of Matter, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Fuzhou,
Fujian 350002, China. Email: [email protected]During my Ph.D., I started a medical
device company. The transition from
scientist to entrepreneur was challenging
because the business world was com-
pletely new to me. Young scientists in
a similar position, conflicted between a
comfortable academic trajectory and
the unknown startup world, should
not hesitate to reach out to those more
experienced. You will be surprised at
the insights a quick phone call, email,
or coffee chat can generate. In graduate
school, while you’re learning about the
scientific process of hypothesis design and
testing, explore what it takes to translate
new ideas into market-ready products.
It is never too early to learn how to
become a good salesperson. The ability to
pitch an idea effectively will help you
communicate your science more success-
fully in any setting.
Divyansh Agarwal
Perelman School of Medicine, University
of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA 19104, USA.
Email: [email protected]
10.1126/science.aaw2641INSIGHTS | LETTERS
Published by AAASon January 7, 2019^http://science.sciencemag.org/Downloaded from