Category Archives: responsibilities

Obstacles in cancer research – funding, evaluation, & complex disease

Yesterday morning, director of the National Cancer Institute, Harold Varmus, addressed the National Press Club on the achievements and challenges of cancer research. Varmus covered quite a few topics, but here are a few highlights that stood out for me: If … Continue reading

Posted in biomedical research, conduct of research, grants, NIH, publishing, responsibilities, troubles of science | Leave a comment

In the shadows of greatness

How do we define greatness in science? I started pondering this question after responses started coming in to Nature Chemistry‘s “unscientific & arbitrary Twitter poll“, asking “Who is the greatest chemist of all time?” The results are now posted on The Skeptical Chymist, the Nature … Continue reading

Posted in conduct of research, ethics in science, history of science, humanity, responsibilities | Tagged , , | 55 Comments

Learning without teaching: A repost and addendum

GertyZ is a little irritated with all the whiny grad students and disgruntledocs. My own response reminded me of a post I wrote a year ago. It seemed appropriate to repost and update now. —————————————- The following was originally posted … Continue reading

Posted in advisor/trainee interactions, mentoring, responsibilities, teaching, things they don't tell you in grad school | Leave a comment

Of mice and the noob

A parable of why you damn well better follow the paper trail. Continue reading

Posted in biomedical research, cranky postdoc moment, documentation, good laboratory practice, lab management, responsibilities | 9 Comments

Job security

I would guess that most people view laboratory research as a reasonably safe job. It’s certainly not without hazards–toxic chemicals, fire and explosive risks, and in some cases, exposure to radiation or infectious diseases. For most of these, we take … Continue reading

Posted in responsibilities, security | 8 Comments