5 Professional development

5.1 Talks and conferences

  1. Your goal is to do good science. While graphic design and scientific communication are areas that you can read a lot on, unless your interests are specifically in these areas, remember to put the science first. Having said that, this is quite good.

  2. The problem with explaining your work clearly is that the audience will understand what you’ve done and be able to ask you challenging questions. Don’t fear the questions: you have to explain yourself clearly and constructive comments will help your work in the long-run.

  3. Organize a lab meeting to practice your talk.

  4. Don’t make jokes ‘everyone hates math, so I skipped the equations’. Individuals in the audience may have been unfairly told that ‘math is not for them’; the ‘everyone hates math’ joke makes unfair assumptions about your audience’s abilities and interests. Similarly, don’t show a set of complicated equations hoping to impress everyone. Think about what you need to communicate for this talk, to this audience.

  5. Respect the time limit. 1 slide per minute and 1 idea per slide are general rules. For a 15 minute talk you don’t have to time to ad lib or overexplain: be organized.

  6. When answering questions, allow yourself to pause, and think of what your answer will be, before talking. I can be animated and talk very fast. For communicating science, I activately tell myself to slow down, think, and be precise. It is fine to answer that you ‘don’t know’, especially if you explain why you don’t know. Your audience will appreciate a carefully reasoned answer.

  7. You may wish to use the lab logo.

  8. Book your flights at least 6 weeks in advance. Select reasonably priced accommodation. Be aware of taxes and the currency of the price.

  9. Before you travel, submit a travel request form and have it signed by Amy.

  10. If you would like reimbursement before you travel, submit a travel advance

  11. Apply for travel funding from SGS, the biology department, TAUMAN, and the SMB Landahl fund.

  12. Keep your receipts, except for food which is reimbursed at $50/day. Submit your travel claim promptly after you return.

5.2 Reviewing

The BES guide to reviewing is excellent.

5.3 Working in industry

  • The following is advice from a former student. This student found this blog post helpful, and adds ‘most office jobs are posted at indeed.com and/or LinkedIn. Search by skills in addition to job titles. Different companies will have different names for their analyst roles, but if they are looking for someone who knows R/Python/MATLAB then it is worth a closer look.’

  • You may wish to consider opportunities offered through MITACS.

  • This section needs to be expanded to consider othe career paths and you might discuss with me your ideas for how to make this seciton useful.