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Gregor Mendel says, “Bitch, Peas”! (courtesy of www.fragglesandfriggles.com)

OMG I need this

Don’t talk about it, don’t ask about it

PhD student #1: “How are you? How are things going?”

PhD student #2: “Awesome! Things are great. I presented at this super prestigious conference last week. I’m also finishing up this very important article that will totally be accepted by a well-known journal. I have four grant applications on the go, writing them is so much fun, I am totally going to win at least half of them, because why wouldn’t I? I’m special. I met so and so at some swanky and totally exclusive event (you obviously weren’t there) and now I basically have a job lined up post-completion, never mind that like, no university is really hiring full-time tenured positions in abundance anymore. Teaching is going so well, my students love me and I definitely know each and every one of their names. Oh, and I definitely got hired on that fancy project everyone wants a piece of even though it pays practically nothing and it will totally delay my own research and my own completion. I’m super busy and important! Everything’s good!”

How come in academia how you are doing is measured by how much you have accomplished/how busy you are?

How come in academia talking about feelings, emotions, how you are actually doing (I’m scared. I’m afraid. This is really hard. I’m struggling. I feel depressed. I can’t do this. I feel so alone. I’m isolated. This isn’t fun.) is like some taboo subject no one wants to touch?

Not talking about real experiences and struggles creates a toxic culture of fear and shame in academic environments.

Everyone walking around pretending everything is sunshine and rainbows, that no struggle exists, that things are not just easy, but AWESOME, creates an environment in which when you are actually really and truly struggling, you feel completely alone and isolated and like you are the only one who is feeling that way and therefore there is something wrong with you.

And it stigmatizes those who are brave enough to say “hey, this is hard and I need some help” as weak.

There is nothing wrong with you. You are not weak. Grad school is no fucking picnic. Those who claim otherwise are simply lying to you and themselves.

misbehavedscientist

This is really important. Grad school is hard, really really hard and super isolating.

#grad school #mental health

Biohacker Josiah Zayner is injecting himself with DNA at home. Now he’s providing the instructions and equipment for you to do it, too.

I feel like at best this will do nothing, and at worse he’ll end up with cancer from possible off target effects. Either way, it will be interesting.

#the odin #genetics #science #crispr #human #biology

#science #penguins #funny

#rain #science #chemicals

badsciencejokes

If you don’t do this everything I’ve done for this site has been in vain #badsciencejokes

A grad students guide to common illnesses:

Fever? - Go hang out in the cold room

Chills? - Work with the autoclave

Stuffed up sinuses? - Use the sonicator without headphones

Runny nose? - Kim wipes are even better than issues

#grad student #sickness #lab #scientists are problem solvers

#IT #clown #movies #science #lab #funding #wb #p values

#science #cartoon

#publication #science #journal #methods #overlyhonestmethods #gradschool

#princess #science #laboratory

#metaphase #cell cycle #cartoon #poem #science #synthetic biology

#grad school #academia #science #lab

Any advice for someone who's a lab tech and only has their bachelor's degree but who's boss and coworkers constantly expect to be able to answer questions/do work as if I have a masters or PhD? Like, I'd love to be that knowledgeable, but I'm not and I don't have that level of experience yet and it's terrifying and overwhelming to be expected to all the time when they knew hiring me what my education and experience level was.

Hi, sorry I didn’t get to answer this one right away, I’m so bad at checking my inbox on here!

That’s a really tough situation, but definitely flattering that you present yourself in such a way that they assume you are that knowledgable. You could gently remind them that you haven’t had some of the training they had, or suggest you figure it out together? I’ve accidentally done the some thing with our lab tech, asking her questions about genotyping my CRISPR mice without realizing that she doesn’t know much in that area and has not had worked with them before.

Alternatively, depending on where you are maybe you could arrange to either take a few classes or audit to learn some more background and techniques. I know my school allows staff and students from other programs to sit in on graduate classes or even take them, so if you tell your boss/PI that more knowledge is neccesary to improve your ability to do your job, he would probably allow it.

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