#academic

Jasmine Janes

Nov 19, 2018
5 min

Life at a teaching focused institution is not 'easier' - some examples of why

This morning I read the blog at Small Pond Science entitled "Really, faculty jobs in teaching-focused institutions are not inherently less stressful or easier or more balanced". I enjoyed reading this blog because it is true and it reflects my current status. It also speaks to a larger misconception that is often held by other academics, non-academics, administrators and students. I completely agree with the sentiments in the article - being a faculty member at a teaching foc

Jasmine Janes

Jun 10, 2018
2 min

What are the (personal) odds?

Many people publish a Shadow CV of sorts, including Jeremy Fox at Dynamic Ecology and Manu Saunders at Ecology is not a dirty word. Jacquelyn Gill at Contemplative Mammoth advocates for the idea but hasn't published one yet - tsk tsk! Personally, I really liked the post by Jeremy Yoder about time to tenure track. The Shadow CV is supposed to illustrate that life isn't all peaches and cream. It serves as a reminder that for every success we get to celebrate, there are likely s

Is my wagon broken? – Talk about academic mental health

Jasmine Janes

May 29, 2018
4 min

Is my wagon broken? – Talk about academic mental health

Over the years I have seen a number of friends/colleagues suffer through tough times, uncertainty and poor mental health. We all know that mental health is an important topic yet it so often goes unspoken or ignored. There is this ridiculous stigma that the speaker will appear ‘weak’ or ‘unbalanced’, or perhaps even seen as a ‘whiner’ who should just ‘deal with it’. There is also the problem that it often makes listeners feel uncomfortable – what should be said, what response

Jasmine Janes

Apr 7, 2018
4 min

Do postdocs have a use by date?

You’re at a conference volunteering at a career information session for graduates and postgraduates. You sit as part of a panel of ‘experts’ informing those brave/eager souls who approach your table (after a beer for courage of course). Your topic – moving for international graduate and postdoctoral positions. During the course of the evening one of your ‘expert’ peers asks how long it has been since you finished your PhD. You reply. Your peer informs you quite loudly that th

What to expect when applying for academic jobs: selection panels versus endurance tests

Jasmine Janes

Feb 22, 2018
6 min

What to expect when applying for academic jobs: selection panels versus endurance tests

This is not a blog that tells you how to do well in an interview. Those can be found in many other places (e.g. here and here). Rather, this blog is for highlighting differences in procedures and expectations between regions/countries that you may end up interviewing for. For example, do you do a one hour interview with four people or a three-day interview with an entire department? (Plus, Manu Saunders over at Ecology Is Not A Dirty Word prompted me). What qualifies me to wr

PART III – Peer review of grants: Researcher thoughts on making it better

Jasmine Janes, Manu Saunders, Sean Tomlinson

Oct 31, 2017
7 min

PART III – Peer review of grants: Researcher thoughts on making it better

By Jasmine Janes, Manu Saunders and Sean Tomlinson Last month we posted a two-part blog post about the peer review of grants. In part one we asked if peer review was ‘fair’ and if it could be made better for ECRs. In part two we highlighted and discussed some of the ways that people have suggested improving the grant review process. Finally, we asked you - the greater research community - what your experiences, thoughts and feelings were on the topic of grant application peer

Questions asked in the 'making grant review process better' survey

Jasmine Janes, Manu Saunders, Sean Tomlinson

Oct 24, 2017
2 min

Questions asked in the 'making grant review process better' survey

In case you missed it, or in case you forgot, here is a list of the questions that we asked regarding the grant application review process. (Skip to the results). Q1 - what is your career stage? graduate student postdoc non-tenured (contract or non-tenured) tenured Q2 - which funding bodies have you applied to? ARC NERC NSERC NSF government/industry society/charity Q3 - do you feel the grant review system is fair? Yes No Unsure Q4 - have you acted as a reviewer for any of the

The Lonesome Postdoc - Part VI: Is working remotely really that great?

Jasmine Janes

Aug 21, 2017
8 min

The Lonesome Postdoc - Part VI: Is working remotely really that great?

As a postdoc/grad student/ECR, have you ever wished that you could work from home on a regular basis? You have probably done this a few times, or perhaps you do it a couple of days a week. Do you find you get more done? It seems great, right? Many non-academic businesses are openly embracing the work-from-home or work-remotely ideology because with today’s technology it is often pretty easy to do so. There’s teleconferencing, VPN connections, mobile phones, abundant wifi - al

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