In 2008, Science Careers offered readers worldwide a collection of articles illustrating scientific career opportunities in and out of research, advising readers on landing good jobs and excelling in scientific careers, and profiling scientists who succeeded in research as well as some who looked elsewhere for fulfillment. This week, we recap the year, serving up some of our favorites, chosen by the Science Careers editorial staff.
It was a year when our readers had plenty of reasons to look for guidance, when many U.S. researchers labored under tight funding conditions that grew increasingly uncertain as the year ended. Outside the United States, the situation wasn't much different. To help our readers--especially the younger, less established lot--deal with that uncertainty, we gave longtime contributor Beryl Lieff Benderly her own column, "Taken for Granted," in which she dissects the challenges faced by postdocs and other researchers "who deserve better."
Our other columnists (Dave Jensen, Peter Fiske, Irene Levine, and the team of Patricia Gosling and Bart Noordam) stepped up with helpful and timely advice, as did our staff of editors and correspondents--Jim Austin, Kate Travis, Alan Kotok, and Elisabeth Pain--and our many skilled contributors. Among those contributors, Lucas Laursen investigated the "impostor syndrome," which prevents some high achievers from accepting their own success, in an article that generated a good deal of comment.
Jeremiah Peterson (right) returned from a deployment in Iraq to continue his chemistry studies at the University of Minnesota, Twin Cities.
At Science Careers, we run a special feature every month. In 2008, we focused twice on advice for undergraduates, starting in April with characteristics of the Generation Y workforce. In December, we surveyed summer internships in science, just in time for undergraduates to choose an internship program or two and fill out their applications.
We met some fascinating people in 2008, people who left their original work for the emerging field of synthetic biology, who climb through forests, who serve as mentors, and one who (as part of his job) revels in controversy. We met a group of Iraq and Afghanistan veterans returning to campus to study science and engineering (a feature that resulted in an official Army commendation for Alan Kotok, our managing editor), another group of faculty members who were the first in their families to graduate from college, and still another group who became science-policy fellows, combining politics and science.
We said a sad goodbye to Micella Phoenix Dewhyse, our Educated Woman, who, after more than 6 years of laying it all on the line and serving as an online mentor and virtual soulmate to hundreds of struggling young scientists, left research to start a new professional life. Meanwhile, we ratcheted up our "In Person" series a notch, providing more scientists with opportunities to tell their own stories in their own words or share their wisdom about scientific careers.
Thanks for your readership over the past year; we look forward to seeing you in 2009, as we unveil several exciting new projects. As you sit back and enjoy this short respite in between these 2 years, we hope you'll sit back and enjoy the best that Science Careers had to offer in 2008:
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Finding the Way Back to a First (Career) Love
Sarah Webb
11 January 2008
Like rekindling an old romance, the pursuit of an old interest can be exciting and rewarding.
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Maximizing Productivity and Recognition, Part 2: Collaboration and Networking
S. Pfirman, P. Balsam, R.E. Bell, J.D. Laird, P. Culligan
1 February 2008
Effective collaboration and networking will help you establish the kinds of connections that advance science while moving you forward in your scientific career.
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No, You're Not an Impostor
Lucas Laursen
15 February 2008
Feel like a phoney? Getting over it requires appraising yourself accurately and embracing success.
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Tooling Up: Put Some Muscle Into Your Marketing Materials
David G. Jensen
15 February 2008
Powerful writing can move your job application to the top of the pile.
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Ph.Dollars: Does Grad School Make Financial Sense?
Sarah Webb
11 April 2008
Over the course of a long career, a Ph.D. in science is pretty much a wash financially, but in the short term, science requires financial sacrifices.
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A Matter of Policy
Brian Vastag
18 April 2008
A variety of fellowships are available that enable scientists to contribute to local and national policymaking processes.
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Structuring Academic Careers in Europe
Chelsea Wald
2 May 2008
Several universities have embarked on projects to define tenurelike career structures, and work has begun on a Europe-wide standard.
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Family Trailblazers
Susan Gaidos
23 May 2008
Fitting in on a college faculty is harder when you're the first in your family to go to college.
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Student-Veterans Come Marching Home: Their Return to Studies
Alan Kotok
6 June 2008
A group of Iraq and Afghanistan veterans tell about their new lives as science and engineering students and the impact of military service on their campus experiences.
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Sustaining Forests in a Changing World
Elisabeth Pain
13 June 2008
Forest ecosystems are central to most of today's global environmental issues. Science Careers reviews career opportunities in this growing area of research.
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A Self-Made Climber
Elisabeth Pain
13 June 2008
Rainforest ecologist Catherine Cardelús has taught herself how to move freely up and down trees, but she's still struggling to understand a key scientific question: Why is there so much plant diversity 50 m above the ground?
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Educated Woman, Postdoc Edition, Chapter 17: End of the Road
Micella Phoenix DeWhyse
4 July 2008
After more than 6 years of monthly columns and postgraduate research, Micella Phoenix DeWhyse celebrates her Independence Day--and we're sad.
Podcasts
Science Careers had 11 podcasts in 2008, including ...
Rob Frederick, Kate Travis, Lucas Laursen, 11 April 2008. Characteristics of the Generation Y Workforce, starts at 24:43.
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Courting Controversy: Out of the Mainstream
John Bohannon
11 July 2008
Science's Gonzo Scientist profiles William Sims Bainbridge, a sociologist and NSF program officer who doesn't shy away from controversial topics.
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Do You Wanna Be a VAP?
Laura Stark Malisheski
18 July 2008
A visiting assistant professor position can be a step forward--but only if you intend to pursue a career focused on teaching.
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E-Persona Non Grata: Strategizing Your Online Persona
Peter Fiske
25 July 2008
It's time to put away childish things and retool your online presence as a lean, mean, job-seeking machine.
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A Comfortable Retirement
Gunjan Sinha
22 August 2008
Germany and other European countries are working to improve pension schemes for mobile scientists.
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Taken for Granted: Fitting the Job Market to a T
Beryl Lieff Benderly
5 September 2008
Former postdoc-activist Laure Haak has learned firsthand why, despite an abundance of impeccably trained postdocs, good help in industry is hard to find.
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In Person: A European Career Tour, From Research to Research Management
Antonella Di Trapani
19 September 2008
A science officer at the European Science Foundation describes her journey through careers and countries.
Radha Krishnakumar pursues her career in synthetic biology at the J. Craig Venter Institute in Rockville, Maryland.
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Getting Ready for Synthetic Biology
Elisabeth Pain
17 October 2008
Synthetic biology offers new opportunities for scientists willing to challenge their ways of thinking and doing research.
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A Multidisciplinary Approach to Life
Elisabeth Pain
17 October 2008
A microbiologist, a mechanical engineer, and a chemist tell Science Careers how they ended up in synthetic biology.
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Social Networking Grows Up
Lucas Laursen
24 October 2008
New resources lend a social dimension to online research and publishing tools.
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Taken for Granted: Joe the Plumber and the Postdocs
Beryl Lieff Benderly
7 November 2008
What can early-career scientists learn from the working class?
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Tooling Up: 15 Minutes to a Better Interview
David G. Jensen
28 November 2008
Even for experienced interviewers, some basic rules of courtesy and etiquette are worth reviewing.
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The Job Outlook for Physician-Scientists
Karyn Hede
5 December 2008
Empty training slots and ample job opportunities make the job outlook positive for physician-scientists.
Highlights From the Science Careers Blog
Editors Kate Travis and Elisabeth Pain blogged live from the Euroscience Open Forum meeting in Barcelona in July, which produced the most commented blog entry of 2008, on the need for women to choose between family and career.
In April, the Science Careers blog and others reported on NSF's decision to stop reporting on the numbers of minorities in some scientific disciplines. In May, we got a promise and then the release of the data from NSF.
Photos, top to bottom: Xenia Antunes, courtesy of Jeremiah Peterson, Getty Images, Michael G. Montague
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Alan Kotok is managing editor of Science Careers. |
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