|
Epitope posted:Take enough food and gear to support a return, maybe bring back a spiritual awakening. Or at least some good posts. I think you missed the part about never coming. It's a fantasy regardless, I'm the sole breadwinner for a family of four, so I'm trapped.
|
#
?
Dec 16, 2021 01:14
|
|
|
|
| # ? May 19, 2024 12:10 |
|
|
mycomancy posted:I think you missed the part about never coming. I saw that, and figured it was a joke, but kinda felt obligated to say "don't do it." Of course what I'm really doing is trying to exploit your posting labor 
|
|
#
?
Dec 16, 2021 01:29
|
|
|
Epitope posted:I saw that, and figured it was a joke, but kinda felt obligated to say "don't do it." Of course what I'm really doing is trying to exploit your posting labor Posting is a pleasure, sir/madame/mixter.
|
|
#
?
Dec 16, 2021 02:11
|
|
|
mycomancy posted:I've been having some serious angst about my scientific career lately. A lot of it comes from learning about Marxist perspectives on labor, which I did not have when I started graduate school. All my advisors, and probably most of y'all's, 100% abused my labor and the labor of my peers to produce data to elevate their position without providing nearly the quality or quantity of training necessary to produce a functional scientist at the end of it. I mostly got very very lucky with my connections to enable me to get this far in a scientific career without ever winning a single finding award. Still, I'm so sick of this career and the god drat rich coastal cunts who infest it. There is a life outside academia, you know. Of course exploitation is a fact, but at least it is not hidden by a veneer of science as it is in academia.
|
|
#
?
Dec 16, 2021 07:25
|
|
|
mycomancy posted:Posting is a pleasure, sir/madame/mixter. PM me if you wanna talk candid HTS career chat
|
|
#
?
Dec 16, 2021 08:33
|
|
|
Bastard Tetris posted:PM me if you wanna talk candid HTS career chat HTS?
|
|
#
?
Dec 16, 2021 13:11
|
|
|
Cardiac posted:There is a life outside academia, you know. I'm actually not in academia per se anymore. What I'm saying is that I feel all the bullshit that begins in academia pervades the entirety of modern science and it loving bums me out. Bastard Tetris posted:PM me if you wanna talk candid HTS career chat If HTS = high throughput sequencing, that's technically already part of my career. Nanopore-seq owns.
|
|
#
?
Dec 16, 2021 13:13
|
|
|
Cardiac posted:This is pretty much the norm and not the other way around. Every PhD have their own story about the weirdness about academia and the exceptional supervisor is more a myth than anything else. I tell them all to put their egos aside and join the lab of a tenured prof with a track record of getting funding. I also tell them to go to a big public university with access to state funding. Soft money institutions are bonkers. Nothing else matters in grad school. Nobody gives a poo poo what you worked on.
|
|
#
?
Dec 16, 2021 14:47
|
|
|
mycomancy posted:I'm actually not in academia per se anymore. What I'm saying is that I feel all the bullshit that begins in academia pervades the entirety of modern science and it loving bums me out. Yeah, you are far from alone in this.
|
|
#
?
Dec 16, 2021 17:15
|
|
|
Dik Hz posted:I burned out in grad school after dealing with an abusive advisor and then getting marooned when she left. I'm now in a position where I lead a team of PhDs and have the opportunity to mentor undergrads looking at grad school. You are doing good work for them. It is not dashing their idealistic idea of science, it is just preparing them for reality. Recently I had a conversation with a PhD that took over my old PhD project. When he started I told him and another PhD that they needed to push my old PI/their PI to get their articles out, otherwise he would sit on them for a couple of years. Which is hell if you need them for your graduation. So now when I met him again, one of the first things he said was that I had been correctly describing what happened to him as well 
|
|
#
?
Dec 16, 2021 18:10
|
|
|
Cardiac posted:You are doing good work for them. It is not dashing their idealistic idea of science, it is just preparing them for reality. Yeah, this is really important to learn. I had to learn the hard way that nobody gives a poo poo about you in grad school. I thought if I just did my work well, I'd be taken care of. Dead loving wrong. I was laughably naive. I should have been advocating for myself from the jump.
|
|
#
?
Dec 16, 2021 18:13
|
|
|
Working in science is still very much in service to the empire/capital. The myth that we're somehow separate or above that, "building the body of human knowledge" or whatever, is probably part of the scam to exploit labor. I'm no revolutionary, so, well, despite all my rage I am still just a rat in a cage
|
|
#
?
Dec 16, 2021 18:19
|
|
|
Epitope posted:Working in science is still very much in service to the empire/capital. The myth that we're somehow separate or above that, "building the body of human knowledge" or whatever, is probably part of the scam to exploit labor. I'm no revolutionary, so, well, despite all my rage I am still just a lab rat in a cage
|
|
#
?
Dec 16, 2021 18:26
|
|
|
You're absolutely right Epitope. I hear people at my new job whinge about the current trend to disallow scientists to sponsor postdocs and grad students, and my retort is always "good, do the work your own god drat self." Well I don't say it in those meetings, but I think it very strongly.
|
|
#
?
Dec 16, 2021 18:27
|
|
|
 I went from dissertation proposal to final defense within a month.**Because my department was so disorganized they forgot to schedule the proposal until after I'd finished it.
|
|
#
?
Dec 17, 2021 04:48
|
|
|
mycomancy posted:If HTS = high throughput sequencing, that's technically already part of my career. Nanopore-seq owns. Yup, that’s it 
|
|
#
?
Dec 17, 2021 06:03
|
|
|
I’m working at the level of a PhD, but it’s so loving hard. Not the science, but the fragility of the career. I have to be great at interviews, great at networking. One bad job and I worry the whole career will dead end.
|
|
#
?
Dec 17, 2021 15:06
|
|
|
Any posts/goon-recommended resources concerning leaving academia forever with a PhD and related job prospects/ideas for careers? My partner recently finished her evolutionary biology degree and cannot stand academia and wants out. She has a temporary visiting professorship position currently, and perhaps a postdoc if she wanted to continue to commit, but at this point it's all very clearly deleterious to her mental health so she's basically saying "gently caress it". All her friends in her department are trying to get out as well, i know she can't be alone since the politics and working conditions of academia seem absolutely appalling. She has some coding experience, and is vaguely interested in science communication, but that doesn't seem like a field that you can break into easily. A lot of what's coming up are corporate data analysis jobs, which she isn't completely adverse to, she's just open to any creative or non-intuitive ideas, and still would like to do something vaguely 'pro social' which a job with a bio med company probably wouldn't provide. She hadn't thought she'd be in this position even a couple years ago and feels a little stuck. It really sucks to watch her struggle! I don't think I could ever internalize what spending years of your life on something for what ends up feeling like nothing would do to your psyche. e: she also likes teaching a lot! if the field were just educating the Youth she would love it, it's the cutthroat bullshit and publishing she can't stand
|
|
#
?
Jan 14, 2022 01:18
|
|
|
global tetrahedron posted:e: she also likes teaching a lot! if the field were just educating the Youth she would love it, it's the cutthroat bullshit and publishing she can't stand Could she teach at a small university or community college or any other such post-secondary place that's too small time for research?
|
|
#
?
Jan 14, 2022 01:28
|
|
|
global tetrahedron posted:Any posts/goon-recommended resources concerning leaving academia forever with a PhD and related job prospects/ideas for careers? Three words: liberal arts university. There's a number of them that have strong biology programs, you just have to look around.
|
|
#
?
Jan 14, 2022 02:58
|
|
|
This thread didn't get a lot of action, but there was a bit of good info in there: https://forums.somethingawful.com/showthread.php?threadid=3836529&pagenumber=1&perpage=40 Depending on their writing, they could look into technical writing positions at biotech, pharma, etc. Some are kind of boring user manual, documentation, regulatory fillings etc. But some are more creative and involve worrying application notes, making scientific posters, or writing blog articles. Different foundations also hire outreach people to help write for them, although I've found you need an in to get those limited spots. Don't overlook public health labs, water labs, etc. There's a lot of focus on expanding the amount of work going on there from the pandemic to look at all sorts of viral and microbial things now
|
|
#
?
Jan 14, 2022 04:21
|
|
|
I felt sad today after having to butcher 10 mice since the vets said that they were going downhill (they were approaching 2 years old). I needed to extract visceral fat pads as well as save the leg bones for mesenchymal cell isolation later, and the lab next door needed the spines for their work. Was supposed to have an undergrad helping me to be an extra pair of hands but he skipped out after helping me with one animal. Having to manually scrape meat off of leg bones using a pair of scissors for 10 mice sucks, as well as having to stare at the piles of viscera for the different tissues I was harvesting. I've done tons of animal work in the past, but the communal nature of the last lab I was in for tissue harvesting made it not suck so bad. Also I've had to figure everything out myself since the PI for this project doesn't work in lab and they have no techs/other employees and the protocols handed down to me from the last person have been trash. Just repeated a primary tissue isolation for the 5th time and got it to work after using a different protocol entirely instead of using the one handed to me. I've got two bosses in different disciplines for this project (engineering and orthopedics) who each want different things from me for this project, and it's really wearing on me. I'm ready to end this postdoc and find a job outside of academia.
|
|
#
?
Jan 14, 2022 05:05
|
|
|
global tetrahedron posted:She hadn't thought she'd be in this position even a couple years ago and feels a little stuck. It really sucks to watch her struggle! I don't think I could ever internalize what spending years of your life on something for what ends up feeling like nothing would do to your psyche. Put it like this, this is something that most PhDs encounter, since the ratio of PhDs versus academic positions is high. Also known as the Profzi scheme. This why phenomena like the postdoc circus exists where PhDs go around between temporary positions for ever. The solution is to get out of academia, which most of us PhDs manage at least judged on what my PhD colleagues do now. There is no clear path for that, but it is very much doable and basically boils down to taking what opportunities that is present and go from there.
|
|
#
?
Jan 14, 2022 06:09
|
|
|
global tetrahedron posted:Any posts/goon-recommended resources concerning leaving academia forever with a PhD and related job prospects/ideas for careers? Larger universities usually have core facilities for specialized work, that might also be a way out. In these positions you are still usually technically associated with academia but it's a normal 9-5 job without the academia politics, some teaching is also pretty common. As an example, our (European) university is currently recruiting multiple researchers in molecular biology, chemistry and bioinformatics for setting up a core facility for oligonucleotide related research. That core facility will have regular courses for students and researchers that are interested in utilizing the infrastructure too so some teaching will be done there too.
|
|
#
?
Jan 14, 2022 09:54
|
|
|
Cardiac posted:There is no clear path for that, but it is very much doable and basically boils down to taking what opportunities that is present and go from there. "Very much doable" seems a bit of a sandbag to me, but otherwise ya it's this. Took me a long friggin time and I feel like i got lucky, though I did geographically constrain myself. One other thought, networking. Ya sure ask your academia colleagues if they know of opportunities. But also everyone else. "Scientific communication" and "pro social" are things you can bring up in every conversation, if you're chasing. You never know who might have a lead, so gotta turn over every rock, however unlikely. You get good at making it an enjoyable topic too, even if the person you're talking to knows nothing about your field at all
|
|
#
?
Jan 14, 2022 14:03
|
|
|
Epitope posted:"Very much doable" seems a bit of a sandbag to me, but otherwise ya it's this. Took me a long friggin time and I feel like i got lucky, though I did geographically constrain myself. One other thought, networking. Ya sure ask your academia colleagues if they know of opportunities. But also everyone else. "Scientific communication" and "pro social" are things you can bring up in every conversation, if you're chasing. You never know who might have a lead, so gotta turn over every rock, however unlikely. You get good at making it an enjoyable topic too, even if the person you're talking to knows nothing about your field at all It is not like it is a straight road. It have been more than 10 years since I defended my thesis and all my PhD colleagues who left academia have some form of career. Hardly any in the field where they did their PhD. As for the OP, the IP field seems like an alternative field where I have seen several people go, where the combination of scientific knowledge and people skills is sought for.
|
|
#
?
Jan 14, 2022 21:53
|
|
|
Has anyone purchased a used electroporator? We need one that has a wide range of resistance values (like a Gene Pulser Xcell w/ the resistance module or a BTX ECM 630). New ones run 6-9k on our ordering system, but I can find used ones for 1-3k on various sites (ebay, refurb companies). In my experience they're pretty resilient pieces of equipment - the lab next to us has been using the same one for 20+ years. But I'd like to get a second opinion before I blow a good chunk of change on a massive brick.
|
|
#
?
Jan 25, 2022 12:15
|
|
|
global tetrahedron posted:Any posts/goon-recommended resources concerning leaving academia forever with a PhD and related job prospects/ideas for careers? If she doesn't mind selling out then going into sales or something similar to it can be viable. My experience is mostly limited to the chemical industry but you'd be surprised how many six figure sales and marketing positions are filled by people with unrelated degrees because a white coat and a title on your card goes a long way towards impressing little lab goblins such as myself. If she is evo bio then a big company is a good start, like Dow or BASF's life science branches, but places like Millipore or Microban can be viable as well. E. I may have misread if you mean pro-social as in "good for society" or if it means "not stuck in a basement", if it's the former then societal advancement can be traded for paper hah
|
|
#
?
Jan 25, 2022 19:25
|
|
|
The intake processing lab has a plate tube ID reader that is set up backwards (a01 is actually h12 in the output file). Now I get to confirm that the lab is actually using it wrong. Maybe somehow they're flipping the plate to the correct orientation despite how the reader is set up. They don't use this for every intake just when the Hamilton has an issue that needs to be fixed but good God this is going to suck
|
|
#
?
Feb 1, 2022 17:05
|
|
|
So over the last 10 days I've attempted to fragment eleven gDNA samples from two different people using NEB's fragmentase. I have eaten piles of poo poo each time, but the E. coli HMW extraction I made myself works great! Turns out fragmentase is just a finicky little bitch of an enzyme. I amplified all my samples with Qiagen's Repli-G kit, magbead cleaned the products, and bam! worked like a charm. The moral of this story: no one can extract clean DNA anymore, kits have turned two generations of scientists into slackjaws. Guess I'll just clean every sample I get ahold of because I can't lose two weeks at a time just because Jimbob at NREL decided he didn't wanna wash that column twice.
|
|
#
?
Feb 2, 2022 03:46
|
|
|
So if I need 10-20 mg synthetic RNA, what would be my best option. IDT was one suggestion.
|
|
#
?
Feb 2, 2022 19:51
|
|
|
We generate RNAs (60-100nt) with places like Genscript, Axolabs and probably some others that I can't think of right now. They have done like 5mg for us pretty regularly of a single RNA sequence with decent enough purities. Can get expensive but worth checking out, can't imagine they wouldn't accommodate a bigger order. Mr Newsman fucked around with this message at 21:37 on Feb 2, 2022 |
|
#
?
Feb 2, 2022 21:25
|
|
|
CuddleCryptid posted:If she doesn't mind selling out then going into sales or something similar to it can be viable. My experience is mostly limited to the chemical industry but you'd be surprised how many six figure sales and marketing positions are filled by people with unrelated degrees because a white coat and a title on your card goes a long way towards impressing little lab goblins such as myself. yeah she means something that vaguely contributes to the good of the world, but that's more 'preferred' than anything. she's decided she wants to do data science eventually but thinks she probably need to start looking for jobs in data analysis? but she knows there's a glut of people at the entry level of data analyst/scientist. straight from her: "How can I stand out amongst the masses? Are there specific positions that I should look for that will be more interested in my skill set? What keywords do I type in other than "data analyst" that will help me focus on jobs I am likely to be more qualified for than other entry level people? And do people place value on certificates from bootcamps or MOOCs?"
|
|
#
?
Feb 3, 2022 20:33
|
|
|
global tetrahedron posted:yeah she means something that vaguely contributes to the good of the world, but that's more 'preferred' than anything. I do a ton of data science in my role (deploying dbs/LIMS, maintaining python repositories, actually data analysis). I’m at the point where I’m consulting on the side setting data science systems up for people. I broke in to it from a laboratory R&D position (chemistry process development). I still do lab work, but the intersection of people who can run a tool and also build a pipeline from that tool, through a db into an analysis environment is small. If you show skill at it, your company will probably be glad to let you do it. With an evo-bio background, there are likely scientist rolls at pharma companies that would let her build that skillset and would think her bio background is an asset. She should probably make a github and upload some of her work to it, if she has tools she’s built for her PhD. Just… make sure it isn’t totally embarrassing like this pile of trash. Dobbs_Head fucked around with this message at 01:09 on Feb 6, 2022 |
|
#
?
Feb 6, 2022 01:07
|
|
|
Dobbs_Head posted:I do a ton of data science in my role (deploying dbs/LIMS, maintaining python repositories, actually data analysis). I’m at the point where I’m consulting on the side setting data science systems up for people. thanks! she's definitely looking into getting everything onto github. the decision to exit academia came a bit quickly so she's playing catchup a bit. here's her redacted resume, she's primarily looking for feedback on how to translate the academic research into project descriptions, the work was very theoretical and seems hard to explain simply and has no real practical applications. academia sounds like a real bitch! she hasn't made a resume in ages, was always a CV so this is our first stab. 
|
|
#
?
Feb 6, 2022 02:02
|
|
|
global tetrahedron posted:thanks! she's definitely looking into getting everything onto github. the decision to exit academia came a bit quickly so she's playing catchup a bit. Oh my dude, that's all just way too dense for business dumbasses. Like 10 word max sentences with a 10-grade vocab level and lots of white space.
|
|
#
?
Feb 6, 2022 02:08
|
|
|
global tetrahedron posted:thanks! she's definitely looking into getting everything onto github. the decision to exit academia came a bit quickly so she's playing catchup a bit. Yeah, this is too dense. It’s actually hard to extract information from it. Make it way more linear, and it’s ok to go to 2 pages but make sure the most important bits are at the front. Break it into sections. Since she’s coming from a grad program put education on top. Follow with projects an publications, etc. Make the project titles bigger and cut down the descriptions. The goal is to communicate the core skills she got from the project and the gist of the topic. Also, if the project resulted in a publication LINK IT (doi, github address, patent #, etc.). (Not a big deal but I kinda chuckled at calling 20 GB a large dataset.)
|
|
#
?
Feb 6, 2022 02:30
|
|
|
Dobbs_Head posted:Yeah, this is too dense. It’s actually hard to extract information from it. Make it way more linear, and it’s ok to go to 2 pages but make sure the most important bits are at the front. Lol I missed that *glances at my 300 GB MinION run still accumulating reads*
|
|
#
?
Feb 6, 2022 02:45
|
|
|
Dobbs_Head posted:She should probably make a github and upload some of her work to it, if she has tools she’s built for her PhD. Just… make sure it isn’t totally embarrassing like this pile of trash. What's wrong with this EIS package? Aside from the documentation being a png with background transparency meaning I can't read the description. (Note: I am not author.)
|
|
#
?
Feb 7, 2022 17:31
|
|
|
|
| # ? May 19, 2024 12:10 |
|
|
Reading Dobbs head posts- 1) cool cool, I do this stuff, I could see working in that area this seems like a rad option 2) oh, uh, my "code" is the hackiest crap possible, no way I'm gonna get anywhere down that road
|
|
#
?
Feb 8, 2022 21:25
|
|