... by Alyssa Cecchetelli and Andrew Hempstead. What do smell, taste and sight have in common, besides being...

...Systems, Harvard University.    Which titer do people usually report? Addgene and other viral vector...values to determine accuracy and reliability. When doing this, we make a judgement call on whether the two...improvement over qPCR (Taylor et al., 2017). What do Addgene AAV titers mean for your experiments? Because...reordering the same virus feel free to email us and we can do our best to send you a particular lot (if we still...Figure 2). Because physical titers are used for dosing purposes in preclinical studies, it is important...each lot of AAV in vivo to determine the optimal dosage. At Addgene, we don’t reserve lots, but if you’...

...consider. What do academic and non-academic careers in science have in common? You can do quality science... to work/life scheduling Diverse opportunities to do science related jobs that require no bench work Better...available ($)—can outsource a task someone else who can do better, no grant writing Job changes can happen regularly...

...But how do you know if a masters will lead to a career you will like? Here’s two things to do to answer...decide to earn a PhD, but if I had to do grad school over, I would just do the master’s! If you'd like more...blog Learn about career planning resources What Do I Do Now? Academic v. Non-Academic Career Decisions ...wasn’t sure a master’s was a good decision. So how do you know if you should earn a master? Here are a ...job postings on a job search website like Indeed. Do the job descriptions sound interesting? Is the work... to see how people describe their actual work. To do this, try looking at LinkedIn profiles of people ...interested in (i.e. biotechnology, pharmaceuticals, etc.) Do their jobs sound interesting? Is their career path...

...things I’ll be doing through the course of any given week. Knowing this, I hand write to-do lists at the...Probably the easiest way to do this is to leave your phone in your bag on “Do Not Disturb” during the times...fill this gap by both highlighting that researchers do learn MANY transferable skills while working in the...Time Mangement for Scientists. Back when I used to do mammalian cell culture, I would often respond to ...complete the task When picking which tasks to actually do, you should err on the side of things that have the...likely energize you. For example, let's say you’re doing a multi-day experiment in the lab. You have two ...but you’ll have to spend the entirety of each day doing the experiment. The second way, it will take you...

...the best things you can do during your training is meet interesting people doing interesting things. I ...you want to pursue someone doing a job you wish you knew more about – how do you make a connection? An ...position at their company, do NOT call this an Informational Interview. If you do this, the connection may...graduate degree in science. I find it ironic that we do all of our training as scientists (5-12 years worth...about learning new things from other scientists doing interesting work. Consider this to be like any other...manager. They might say yes and they might say no but do not confuse networking for a job connection with ...not possible consider a phone or video call. If you do decide to use Skype, make sure to follow the rules...

...you may need to find a way to do, manage and lead all in one day.  How do you convince others (in particular...all career skills leaderhsip skills when done well? Do you just have to know it when you see it? “The Three...any stage in our careers we may be in a cycle of doing, managing or leading. All three roles are important... or finishing any project. Doers are the ones who do the work Doers focus on understanding what is expected....  Managers make sure the work gets done Managers do this by removing obstacles that stand in the way ...with other teams. While they sometimes dig in and do some of the work, they must be more focused on delegating...three roles allows you to identify what you need to do to be successful in a specific role or cycle. For...

...fairs is a great start, but you need to do more than just show up. Do your homework and know who is going ...fill this gap by both highlighting that researchers do learn MANY transferable skills while working in the...end, one of the most important things that you can do now is diversify. Read on for an overview of some...Further, even for those students and researchers who do take the initiative to develop themselves, resources...difficult to identify. So what specifically should you do? What follows are just a few suggestions based on...Conferences One of the single most important things you can do to plan for your career is to expose yourself to ...to other working professionals, and one way to do this is to attend conferences. Depending upon your discipline...

...overwhelmed with your to-do list and your team doesn’t seem to have enough to do…you are not delegating ...and experience? Do you think you are giving this responsibility to someone who can do the job. It is good... responsibilities. The manager is not expected to DO all the work – she is expected to make sure the work...imperative that you resist the temptation to “just do it myself” or micromanage –you don’t have time for...that there are always things that the manager must do. You can’t delegate the giving of feedback or performance... good to delegate so the person doing the task will have to learn and stretch a little, but be careful... up for failure by delegating is a bad idea. How do I make sure it goes well? As with most managerial...

...experimental steps are worth doing, and doing well, so make sure you’re taking time to do them carefully and thoroughly... significantly impacts your experiments. What do you do when you’re in the lab and you're sweating the...for doing things accurately. Thankfully, you should already have a checklist for everything you do in ...make a mistake, instead of silently vowing never to do that again (I’ve been there!), think of ways you ... can be incredibly tedious, but it also works, so do it anyway.  You may find that after running a protocol... to focus, a large set of headphones can act as a Do Not Disturb sign, even if the headphones aren’t actually...

...really want to do is get the paper off their desk and move on. Nevertheless, editors can and do play this ...they are expected to do. All of that helps, but it’s only a partial solution.  How do we get where we want...stability in an incubator), but there’s a lot you can do to help other scientists both what you did and build...being a “good scientific citizen” and making sure you do what you can to help your fellow researchers advance...in fact was not, and it was just that they were doing something differently. Communication comes in many...sharing for grant renewal—but there is clearly room to do more. If we could really instill a culture of rewarding...dramatically. I’m not sure what the best approach to doing that will be, and it will need some effort and experimentation...

...responsibilities are less You can work at home sometimes, but do so carefully and with attention to those around you...home and family unless you live alone. If you try to do it all alone, it should be obvious that your career...those who may wish to tell you so – towel corners do not need to match up exactly when you fold them. ...bed to save a step! There is more than one way to do most tasks – try to resist the impulse to control...throw money at the problem If you can, pay someone to do the “jobs” that take you away from having your personal...cleaning, cook your dinner and deliver your groceries. Do anything you can to make your life easier and to ... count on for tips and tactics that will help you do your job better. #8 Thou shalt enthusiastically foster...

...like: How long do lab members stay around? Is it too long or do they leave prematurely? Do lab alumni stay... the lab? Do they motivate with the appropriate balance of encouragement and criticism? Do they encourage...best thing to do is not go into these labs in the first place. This is another reason to do your research...learn? Do lab members work on more than one project at a time or over their stay in the lab? Do all lab...responsibility to choose a lab where you can thrive and do your best work. This post is focused on choosing ... your success. Gather data on the lab choices How do you find out what the lab is really like? Gather ... the hall or in the same department as well. What do they have to say about this lab’s reputation? If ...

...cardiovascular and metabolic human diseases. They do that by studying patients to uncover new gene variants...colleagues describe a much more efficient tool for doing that disease modeling work in human pluripotent ...knock out a gene or knock in a mutation. Addgene: How do you use this kit to target a particular DNA sequence...introduced by transfection or electroporation. All you do to create a protein that binds those 15 base pairs...of the library in the appropriate combination and do a restriction enzyme digest to cut out the inserts...generating the mutant cell lines that one needs to do disease modeling in stem cells. Addgene: Tell me ...stem cells. What genome editing tools allow you to do is greatly increase the efficiency of the genome ...

...asked me, 'How do you feel about dissecting a cat?' And I’m like, 'Well, I’m here so let’s do it!'" Working...courses online, which is a blast. I have so much fun doing that.” Being an SME is often like being a jack-of-all-trades...Caitlin doesn’t work in isolation. “A lot of what we do is work with students who don’t have a science background...in addition to testing those experiments. “We also do videos demonstrating an experiment or a technique...like how to pour a gel [for] electrophoresis or doing a dissection video. I did that in January. This ...example, cutting open a heart to look at the inside. We do a lot of interactives and videos, as well, to supplement...interviewed, ‘I write science. I edit science. And I do it well.’” Stay tuned for the next feature in this...

...peer” mentoring? How do I ask someone to be my Mentor? I have a Mentor – what do I do now? What are the ..."The greatest good you can do for another is not just to share your riches but to reveal to him his own...organizing mentoring programs for scientists and doing training to help mentors and mentees have fulfilling...mentoring. Here they are: What makes a good Mentor? How do I choose an Advisor/PI who will also be a good mentor...Tenure, She Wrote” is titled, “What Kind of Mentor Do I Want To Be?” In this excellent essay Acclimatrix...

...aside just for you – so do your best to show up as your most prepared, can-do self and make the most of... will review the preparation and planning you can do to build a bench mentor-mentee relationship and bring...least at first) than any other one. Luckily, you can do a lot to contribute to the relationship dynamic and...same is true for training in the lab! If you don’t do proper preparation and pay attention during training...understand the purpose of, or a different way of doing something then you’ve done previously) you can bring...independent performing the technique you trained to do? Walk through the protocol mentally (or physically... where the equipment, reagents, and samples are. Do: Ask your bench mentor if they have time to answer...

...time to do everything as I planned and I was missing deadlines - which puzzled me because I could do all ...you know exactly what and how to do it so shouldn't it be faster to do it yourself? Training certainly ...fill this gap by both highlighting that researchers do learn MANY transferable skills while working in the...protocol;  he wanted to get going and learn through doing things. Had I realized that at the time I could ...delegate effectively  As a manager your role is not to do all the work yourself anymore. Personally I found...challenging. As PhD students and postdocs we are used to doing (almost) everything ourselves and it’s a hard habit...will have more time to focus on what you should be doing : writing a grant, thinking about the next project...

...outlet. I started asking people: why do you do what you do? How do you like it? how did you get there? ...Additional Resources on the Addgene Blog What Do I Do Now? Academic v. Non-Academic Career Decisions ...Science (AAAS), we have all sorts of different editors. Do you like science journalism? Take a look at our news...professional meetings, societies, networks just as do research scientists. There we meet others in the ...

...networking you can do online. See if a scientist or someone you’re connected with would like to do an informational... activities that kids can do more independently. For example, they could do something like puzzling or...work is based in the lab. If you’re unsure what to do during this period, check out these tips and resources...so huge, these are activities that you can easily do while staying away from others.  Meditate. Meditating... learn more about career paths and things you can do to prepare. Adapt to WFH while parenting Keep ...after bedtimes, or before they wake up for time to do your own thing. Build as much flexibility into your...