Making the Most of 10,000 Hours

Some scholars believe it takes 10,000 hours or 10 years to become an expert at anything. Indeed, the path to being a scientist, and eventual expert in a given field, involves years of work to gain a deep conceptual knowledge of a specific discipline and hone research skills. What tends to be missing in this arduous pursuit is an attention to attaining competency in other core areas that extend beyond the lab.

To address this omission, the National Postdoctoral Association (NPA) has compiled a list of core competencies across six areas that postdocs, and other scientists, should strive to obtain throughout their training. Three areas are specific to science but the remaining three involve acquiring general “transferable skills” that can be applied to careers outside research: communication skills, professionalism, and leadership and management.

How can you cultivate these skills as a graduate student or postdoc?

Take advantage of career and professional development programming offered by your institution and professional scientific associations. As an example of the latter, Science Alliance, a program of the New York Academy of Sciences, provides courses, workshops, and seminars covering a wide range of skill sets, like the art of networking and art of speaking science, negotiation strategies and leadership and personal success through self-awareness and emotional intelligence. Similar types of resources are available on your campus through career service centers and postdoctoral affairs offices with many providing one-on-one advising, as well.

In addition to formal training approaches, another way to develop the recommended core competencies, or any other skill you feel you are lacking, is to learn by doing. Need to improve your public speaking skills? Teach, volunteer to give extra departmental seminars, or join your local Toastmasters. Don’t have any leadership or management experience? Become the lab’s radiation safety officer, supervise a junior student, or head up a project for a school or community group. These are just a few examples- the main point is to be proactive and seek out opportunities that will expand your repertoire of functional skills.

No matter how rigorous the program, the journey towards becoming a scientist will not equip you with all the skills needed for future career success. Therefore, be sure to carve out time to develop your personal and professional self outside the lab. Not only will it make you a well-rounded individual prepared for a multitude of careers, these positive “distractions” may even help the 10,000 hours of pipetting and PubMeding go by faster.

Postdoc Appreciation

During postdoctoral appreciation week, I heard an inspiring talk on “Being a Postdoc in Difficult Times”.  Dr. Kelly Mack, a Biology Professor and Program Director for the National Science Foundation ADVANCE program, gave this keynote presentation at the UMDNJ-Rutgers Second Annual National Postdoc Appreciation Day Symposium.

These are difficult times for postdocs and Kelly addressed this head on. Coveted faculty positions are extremely competitive and too few. Salary remains paltry and benefits, while improving, are not uniform. Formalized training and oversight is nonexistent for many. Not to mention that we have yet to reach gender parity as women comprise only about 30% of postdocs across all disciplines. Kelly had quite the challenge to present something uplifting.

"I Appreciate You"

Because of these “difficult times” postdocs seem to forget how invaluable they are to research. Kelly reminded us that postdocs: design and conduct the experiments, generate the data for their advisor’s grants, are the drivers of innovation, end up fulfilling the mentoring roles of students, and comprise the pool of future faculty.  For all these things, “I appreciate you,” Kelly said.

She presented two examples of achievement by postdocs to show the power and reach you can have as a postdoctoral fellow. First, it was the seminal work by two postdocs that essentially launched the movement for gender equity in academic research and research on gender bias. Second, a grassroots movement by postdocs led to the founding of the National Postdoctoral Association in 2002, a membership-based organization of around 27,000 participants and that advocates for postdocs in the US. [MK note: the number of members has been edited since the original posting]

Navigating the Difficult Times

Of course, not everyone will launch a new movement or national initiative but there are practical things postdocs can do to enhance their experiences and get through these difficult times. Kelly referenced the article “Ten Simple Rules for Selecting a Postdoc” and highlighted three of the recommendations.

    One, negotiate authorship before you start. Tying in to a larger message, it is very important to have a written plan and to take responsibility for your own career development.

    Two, strive for your own fellowship money. Take the time to learn and know the rules for grant writing.

    Three, select the lab that suits your work and lifestyle. Not all PIs and labs are the same so find out what the culture is like before you join. Kelly expanded on this last rule further by emphasizing the need for a balanced life and that you have to take care of “you” no matter what.

My top suggestion would be to assess your strengths and weakness and map out your career and professional goals. A sample template has been developed by FASEB called the Individual Development Plan for Postdocs. It is recommended to complete this along with your advisor.

Do you have any rules or suggestions that have helped you?

Postdocs Value Personal Life? Imagine That.

This March, The Scientist published the results of their survey ”The Best Places to Work for Postdocs, 2010”, collected from over three thousand respondents. Of note in their analysis, they point out that the top ranked places stood out for promoting family and personal life, a noticeable shift, they claim, from last year’s results.

Balancing personal, professional, and academic aspects of life was an issue I was pleased to see addressed openly at my former institution. There were regular talks and panels on balancing family and career, two of which I co-organized, and a student-run organization dedicated to women in science for which I served as a departmental representative. In addition, a number of classmates and former colleagues were getting married, having kids, and generally treating their research like a job. This is not to say that barriers didn’t and don’t still exist, but simply that I observed active attempts at breaking them down.

Perhaps my experience was a sign of the changing times and scientists are no longer willing to let the lab monopolize their lives. Or maybe it was simply the positive outcome of inflammatory remarks by then President Larry Summers (a summary of the aftermath was featured in a recent New York Times article "Women Making Gains on Faculty at Harvard"). Either way, I hope the survey results are reflective of a growing respect for those individuals who do not want their success in science to come at the expense of their personal lives and family.

New York Postdocs

I just had a great conversation with Joerg Schlatterer, Instructor at Albert Einstein College of Medicine and one of the founders of the newly established group New York Postdocs. If you are in New York or thinking of coming here, check out their site for personal and professional development resources as well as postings of upcoming events relevant to the postdoctoral research community.