#PhD student: Makes $30k a year. Works on weekends as well. Zero life-work balance. "Do you think I have a chance to become a professor?" Prof: "Yes, of course! Finish this project and we will publish excellent papers. I am sure you will easily find a faculty position." ▫️ 2 years later: Student finishes the project. Professor writes a report. Papers are published. Student: "Do you think my CV is strong enough?" Prof: "Yes, you are the best!" ▫️ Next 4 months: Student submits 50 well-tailored applications for faculty positions. Zero interviews. A lot of broken dreams. ▫️ Key takeaways: 1. Make sure you distinguish encouragement from reality. - By encouraging you, your advisor may unintentionally give you too much hope. Keep a cool head. 2. Always ask other faculties for external opinion on your case. - Your advisor’s opinion is always biased. Look for more input outside your group. 3. Don’t expect fairness during candidate selection. - Hiring process is subjective by definition. It is done by people with very different views on who is the best. You may put tons of efforts into a research statement only to find out later that no one really reads it. 4. The reality is brutal. - Departments can receive 300-500 candidates per opening. Many have excellent CVs and cool ideas. At top- and mid-rank universities, selection criteria can become extremely questionable (like, who exactly was your PhD advisor? Is your recomm. letter 3 pages long? etc). And there is no need to say “You don’t know anything about it. It’s not like this”. I went through this myself. Many times. Along with many colleagues. Do not expect fairness. See luck as a big factor. Apply broadly but have a backdoor ready. #AcademicTwitter

PhD is largely about leadership development. Advisors play a major role in it. Especially their management & mentorship styles. Research topics are secondary. ▫️ Below are the key points for establishing a great #research group. They will help your students excel. ▫️ 1. Inspire students to lead their projects. They should feel ownership of their work. 2. Discourage them from seeing failures at work as global disasters. Explain that learning requires failures. 3. Train them how to see the “big picture” (instead of always focusing on the details of their work). 4. Discourage excessive perfectionism. Teach them how to be efficient. 5. Inspire them to become a better version of their advisor. Not a copy!!! 6. Urge them to give as many talks as possible. At seminars, conferences and any local events. Well-developed communication skills are paramount for their future. 7. Help students develop networking skills. Introduce them to your colleagues and collaborators. 8. Let them to lead the collaborations that you initiated for their project. If there’s none, consider introducing collaborations into your student’s project. 9. At seminars, encourage them to ask questions & discuss their own topics with speakers whenever possible. 10. Ask for feedback on your approaches and group environment. Show them that getting feedback is normal and helpful for a group leader. Your #studentswill become greater team builders in the future. 11. Ensure that students ask each other for help and advice. They shouldn’t get used to solving problems solely on their own. It won’t make them great leaders. 12. Ensure their projects don't imply overworking. Help them make new collaborations if the project is too complex and time-consuming. 13. Discuss “senior” academic stuff (grants, budgets, tenure, etc). Help students understand how academia works. Encourage asking questions and have a group-wide discussion! 14. Diversify their skills and knowledge by giving access to experimental facilities and connecting them with experts. 15. Force them to prioritize lab safety over anything else. 16. Emphasize the importance of programming languages for data processing and analysis (Python, Julia, Matlab). It can significantly broaden their career opportunities. 17. Finally, don’t make them feel uncomfortable about having their personal lives. Let them manage their time! When to come and leave the lab, when to take vacation and how long it should be. Trust their judgement! There are many more points. But even if you follow these points, it will make a big difference for your students. ▫️ PhD graduates can become great leaders in various industry. And advisors can become a catalyst of their big adventures. ▫️ #AcademicTwitter #phdvoice #AcademicChatter

You don’t have to be “brainy” to be a scientist. Here are some quotes from the book by Peter Medawar, a biologist and a Nobel laureate. (+ my comments) #AcademicTwitter #science #phdlife