Government Research

Wenny
Lin

Government Shutdown

During the last few months, I have heard postdoc fellows at the NIH discuss the financial realities of working in the government. The fiscal year started on October 1, 2010, and here we are, six months into the fiscal year still without a federal budget. “My project is on hold because we don’t k...


Eric
Wong

Times Up! – A Revealing Look at Time Management

Which of the choices below is likely to be the best at time management?a.    You, the Reader (or any professional who has his/her act together)b.    Bill Gates / Warren Buffet / Mark Zuckerberg (or any successful billionaire)c.    The world’s “smartes...


Wenny
Lin

Foreign researchers at the NIH

The NIH, one of the world’s foremost medical research centers, is an agency of the US government, but it is also a very international workplace. According to the Division of International Services (DIS) at the NIH, approximately 2,000 scientists from other nations conduct research in the basic and...


William
Johnson

Science Experts Let Your Voices Be Heard

Lately, much has been made of the issues in Japan dealing with nuclear power generation and safety.  Meanwhile, approximately 20% of United States power generation portfolio is composed of nuclear sources.  In deciding where you stand on nuclear energy, it is very important to keep things ...


Wenny
Lin

Foreign postdocs at the NIH

During my first meeting with the planning committee for the 2011 NIH Career Symposium, I learned that more than 60% of the postdoc fellows at the NIH are non-US citizens or residents. Briefly judging from the accents heard around the room that day, I estimated that possibly 75% of the planning commi...


Xiaoli
Du

From Beijing to Washington: dream and reality

“Hi, my name is Serena, nice to meet you!” I feel this was a kind of introduction of myself a long time ago, which sounds formal and exotic to me.  “Oh, nice to meet you! What is your Chinese name? My name is Richard.” “My Chinese name is Xiao-Li. Sorry if it is hard to pronounce, jus...


Wenny
Lin

Scientists and social media – are we behind the curve?

In the October 2010 issue of The Scientist, Associate Editor Richard Grants noted in his editorial that “only a fraction of researchers in the UK make frequent use of social media tools.” I suspect that is also the case here in the US.


Wenny
Lin

Spinning a good story with all the facts

My PhD advisor was a creative and engaging storyteller. Negative results in our vaccine experiments were interpreted as “damaging to the immune system” or “dangerous in the clinic.” Positive observations meant that an experimental vaccine “worked like a charm” or “could save countl...


Wenny
Lin

Five pros for doing a post-doc in the government

I have often been asked, “Why would you want to do a postdoc in the government?”  Now that I have been a postdoc for about a year at the National Institutes of Health, I have come up with a list of reasons for doing a postdoc in the government.


Marielena
Mata

The Top Ten Things I Hate About My Job

In reading my blogs, I notice that I have written about all the wonderful things I do, the great people I work with and the absolute satisfaction my profession brings into my life.  Yet, even I, little Miss Positivity, have my dark days and I’ve decided to put lay it all out in the open....