Academic recipes
Over time, I’ve realized I write “recipes” for people who are trying to do the kinds of things I’m up to: be an academic researcher/scholar, while parenting & grieving. I’m not expecting everyone to have my tastes, or approach things the way I do. But the recipes give people a new way of assembling thoughts and actions that they can try on themselves if the idea resonates; to tweak, adapt, and iterate upon for figuring out what works for them. More specifically, these posts give me something to send to mentees (and to update over time with my thinking) when I find myself saying similar things repeatedly.
In some ways, the apprentice home-cook framework is the model for academic research mentoring; not unlike how parents or grandparents teach children to cook. I choose this metaphor because it’s both closer to home (as we try to incorporate Theo in our cooking/baking endeavors) and feels closer to the affectionately generous ethos of my Division. There might be some people whose styles of teaching or whose choice of recipes aren’t a good fit for yours. But when you find someone where things work, perhaps you start by choosing a meal (a research question) that both find meaningful and find ways to work together on it.
Accountability and Goal-setting
Why do we set goals? Partly because academic research is full of things that require we plan ahead, whether submitting an abstract 3-11 months before a conference, or submitting a grant 1-5 years before we get funded (after multiple attempts). Partly because we’re testing out a potential future to see if we’d like to live there, or make it come to fruition. Here are ways I approach setting goals, from big-picture mission to weekly goals with accountability methods.
Choosing between career paths
One of the challenges of academia can be that the faculty giving advice to trainees may have only experienced jobs in academia, whereas trainees might want jobs in other sectors - community based organizations, consulting companies, public health departments, government. As a result, trainees can get the impression that there is only one “valid” option, or get less support than they need imagining alternatives.
Advice about postdoc applications
Some advice on what reviewers might be looking for in applications for postdoctoral research positions
(Some) Research Fellowships (at UCSF)
There are many flavors of research fellowship. A “T32” is a type funded by a training grant the National Institutes of Health or similar government funding organization. In general, it provides funding for the scholar to have salary and freedom to pursue mentored research of their own choice while engaging in career development opportunities. There are both predoctoral or postdoctoral fellowships, but I’ll be speaking specifically to postdoctoral fellowships.