In this 45-minute podcast, research fellow Ina Möller interviews Kim Nicholas, senior lecturer at LUCSUS, Lund University. Kim Nicholas shares her advice for early career researchers on time management, dealing with failure, coping with the imposter syndrome, worrying about the future, taking care of your health, and the importance of maintaining relationships with friends and family. Have a listen!
Do you want a summary of this podcast and a list of useful material? Check out the following blogpost.
10 things I wish I’d known 10 years ago
1/30/2018
Last October, I gave a Sunday morning talk to a group of early-career researchers attending the Earth Systems Governance conference. It was a day-long program on “Developing a career in earth system governance: opening up science.“ I enjoyed the chance to gather my thoughts and pass along some good advice I’ve been given (and some earned through experience!).
Here’s a condensed list and links to resources I’ve found helpful. Hope they’re useful to others!
- Keep asking what you find meaningful. (My current motto: Maximize meaning, minimize carbon.)
- Cultivate a healthy writing practice.
- Advice for New Faculty Members, by Robert Boice
- Scientist’s Guide to Writing, Stephen B. Heard
- Tips for making research grantwriting less painful, Kim Nicholas
- A quick guide for writing a solid peer review, Kimberly Nicholas and Wendy Gordon
- Ten rules for writing fiction, Margaret Atwood +9 more
- Writing Down the Bones, by Natalie Goldberg
- Spend time wisely.
- Ask Two Questions, David D Nowell
- Productivity 101: A Primer to the Pomodoro Technique, Alan Henry
- Workload survival guide for academics (especially Opportunities Anonymous by Harriet Bulkeley)
- Urgent vs Important, Jory MacKay
- Clearing the 8 hurdles to doing and publishing research (“William Shockley on what makes a person who publishes a lot of papers (and the superstar researcher system)”), Brian McGill
- Passion Planner (free PDF download- after trying every time management and list system out there, I came back to pen and paper)
- (Update, my latest planning & time management tool is the Bullet Journal– I like it a lot, and you just need any blank notebook!)
- Impostor syndrome never goes away. Don’t let it stop you.
- Give yourself permission to suck, Ira Glass
- Fixed vs. Growth: The Two Basic Mindsets That Shape Our Lives, Maria Popova
- Take initiative to figure out and ask for what you want.
- Embrace failure.
- Appreciate and prioritize family and friends.
- Cultivate your physical and mental health.
- Give back and share with others.
- Escape from the Ivory Tower: A Guide to Making Your Science Matter, by Nancy Baron
- The Message Box, COMPASS
- “If you want to explain your science to the public, here’s some advice,” by Esther Ngumbi
- Communication can never be too simple: Dejargonizer and Up-Goer Five Text Editor
- Our Warm Regards podcasts with Katharine Hayhoe on Finding Shared Values and Climate Scientists are People Too!
- The future will not turn out like you planned, and that’s okay.
