Graduate school is a big struggle for many people (I struggled!).
Why is that?
I think that the fundamental challenge that graduate school presents is this: it mandates a shift from being “reactive” to being at least somewhat “proactive.”
In undergraduate work, there are some choices available to students (such as which classes to take and when to take them), but once in a class, the range ...(read more)
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Having kids in school now, I think a lot about how the school system functions and what it teaches my kids.
One thing it doesn’t teach very well is independence or proactivity.
It doesn’t matter how hard a teacher or school may focus on “teaching independence” – it is inherently contradictory for a large institution that must serve many people to be able to foster significant independence. ...(read more)
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In Part II of the series on science career success, Morgan discusses the success advice from two important books, and discusses how Hollywood movies (and TV) often work to undermine one of the key pillars of this success.
I’ve been reading two very interesting books in this regard: Maxwell Maltz’s Psychocybernetics and Steven Covey’s 7 Habits of Highly Effective People. You may have heard of the ...(read more)
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Are scientists the most effective people that they could be?
I’ve realized something by studying those who are really successful versus those who struggle with success.
The really successful ones usually spend time “meta analyzing” their own lives and careers.
You may have heard me talk about one of my mentors, Marshall Edgell – who taught me some core aspects of writing a killer grant proposal.
How did Marshall arrive ...(read more)
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There are two distinct mindsets among many scientists about grant writing. One approach is to write many grants, to “play the odds”. Necessarily, when quantity goes up, quality goes down. Another approach is to write less grants but of higher quality. These take more time, but may have better odds of getting funded. Which way do you think Morgan advocates for? ...(read more)
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