Professional Development ISMB 2008 Tutorial

1. Professional DevelopmentISMB 2008 Tutorial PLoS Professional Development Tutorial

2. References • The PLoS Computational Biology Ten Rules Collection and references contained therein • These can be found on-line at http://collections.plos.org/ploscompbiol/tensimplerules.php • They are also included as an appendix to these slides. PLoS Professional Development Tutorial

3. Mentors PLoS Comp. Biol. Editors • Philip Bourne – UC San Diego • Steven Brenner – UC Berkeley • Fran Lewitter – Whitehead Institute • Aviv Regev - MIT • Chris Sander – Sloan Kettering, New York • Each of us represents different career points and a unique perspective PLoS Professional Development Tutorial

4. Format • This tutorial consists of four sessions in which we will discuss a variety of topics. In teaching some of this material in a graduate course at the University of California San Diego it became apparent that the best formula is for the instructor to provide enough content to stimulate discussion, for it is through that dialog that the best learning experience is to be had • Be prepared to contribute PLoS Professional Development Tutorial

5. Agenda • Introduction • Part I – Overview – Doing the Best Research • Part II – Getting the Most from Your Graduate Student Experience – collaborating, reviewing, posters, getting a job …. • Part III – Writing the Best Research Articles • Part IV – Giving the Best Talks PLoS Professional Development Tutorial

6. Introduction PLoS Professional Development Tutorial

7. Background How did the course come about? What is the background (bias) of the instructor? PLoS Professional Development Tutorial 7

8. MotivationHow We Spend Our Time PLoS Professional Development Tutorial

9. Perspective - Bourne BS, BS (Hon.), PhD at same provincial Oz university 2 good postdocs in Europe and the US Left academia (sort of) for the IT world for 12 years 14 years in academia – Research Scientist, Adjunct Prof., Prof. Immersed himself in an emerging discipline Many diverse research interests PLoS Professional Development Tutorial 9

10. Perspectives - Brenner PLoS Professional Development Tutorial

11. Perspective - Lewitter PLoS Professional Development Tutorial

12. Perspectives - Regev PLoS Professional Development Tutorial

13. Perspectives - Sander PLoS Professional Development Tutorial

14. Thus This Tutorial Is… How to be the best scientist you can be Providing no scientific content at all, simply advice on professional development The opportunity for you to engage in an active dialog about your career concerns. If we do not have that dialog we have failed! PLoS Professional Development Tutorial 14

15. How Did This Course Come About? • About 3 years ago the student council of the International Society for Computational Biology (ISCB) asked PB to give them a lecture on how to get published based on his role of EIC of PLoS Comp. Biol. • The exchange that took place was one of the most fun lectures he have ever given • In trying to capture that moment he wrote an Editorial “Ten Simple Rules for Getting Published” … PLoS Professional Development Tutorial

16. How Did This Course Come About? • It was downloaded a large number of times • Folks started to approach him with other ideas for Ten Simple Rules • To date there is a “Ten Rules” series downloadable from http://collections.plos.org/ploscompbiol/tensimplerules.php PLoS Professional Development Tutorial

17. Download Statistics PLoS Professional Development Tutorial

18. Part IDoing Your Best Research(more about attitude than specifics) PLoS Professional Development Tutorial 18

19. Doing Your Best Research – A Philosophical Perspective Adapted from Richard Hamming • Richard Hamming 1915 – 1998 • Mathematician • Know to many of us for the Hamming Distance • Winner of the Turing Award from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_Hamming PLoS Professional Development Tutorial

20. Basic Question as Asked by Hamming in his 1986 Lecture ‘‘You and Your Research’’ How Can you do Nobel Prize Winning Research? PLoS Professional Development Tutorial

21. Rule 1 – Be Honest with Yourself • If you do not want to win a Nobel Prize this may be a waste of your time • If you do not want to win a Nobel Prize (or have some equivalent driver) you will not succeed • It is no good just wanting to be a me too you must want to make a difference PLoS Professional Development Tutorial

22. Rule 2 – Prepare Your Mind • Winning a Nobel Prize is not a matter of luck • You not winning the Nobel Prize is not the fault of others • Face up to your shortcomings and work out how to overcome them either by your own efforts or in collaboration with the efforts of others PLoS Professional Development Tutorial

23. Rule 3 – Age is Important • You are smarter when you are younger but less experienced • The foundation for your success will likely come from your work at an early stage – 20’s to mid 30’s – There are exceptions e.g., the field of study may not have existed when you were that old • Experience will help you successfully build on that body of work PLoS Professional Development Tutorial

24. Rule 4 - Brains Are Not Enough,You Also Need Courage • This could perhaps be interpreted as ego • You need to strongly voice an opinion you believe in, even when everyone is against you • The irony is that research is about innovation, yet at the same time the scientific community is very conservative • You need to keep pushing those ideas orally and in print PLoS Professional Development Tutorial

25. Rule 5 - Make the Best of YourWorking Conditions • ‘‘It is a poor workman who blames his tools—the good man gets on with the job, given what he’s got, and gets the best answer he can.’’ • The workplace is not about a fancy foyer it is about a place that fosters discourse and stimulates you e.g., MRC Cambridge • If the working conditions are not good find new ones soon (more on this in subsequently) PLoS Professional Development Tutorial

26. Rule 6 - Work Hard and Effectively • ‘‘Knowledge and productivity are like compound interest. Given two people with exactly the same ability, the one person who manages day in and day out to get in one more hour of thinking will be tremendously more productive over a lifetime.’’ • “Hard work alone is not enough—it must be applied sensibly.” • The person that spends the most hours in the lab. is often not the best • Time management skills are critical • To work hard like this requires real passion that comes from the heart not the head PLoS Professional Development Tutorial

27. Rule 7 - Believe and Doubt YourHypothesis at the Same Time • ‘‘When you find apparent flaws, you’ve got to be sensitive and keep track of those things, and keep an eye out for how they can be explained or how the theory can be changed to fit them. Those are often the great scientific contributions” • You must see the big picture – it is oh so easy not too • If your hypothesis is proven wrong know when to move on PLoS Professional Development Tutorial

28. Rule 8 - Work on the ImportantProblems in Your Field • “If you want to do great work, you clearly must work on important problems. . . . I finally adopted what I called ‘Great Thoughts Time.’ When I went to lunch Friday noon, I would only discuss great thoughts after that. By great thoughts I mean ones like: ‘What will be the impact of computers on science and how can I change it?’’’ • Talk is cheap - So what are my current great thoughts? • Change the way science is disseminated through pubcasts • Up turn the pharmaceutical industry by reverse engineering every drug on the market • Decipher more evidence that we are a product of our environment • I dare you to go back and ask your PI what are her/his current great thoughts PLoS Professional Development Tutorial

29. Rule 9 - Be Committed to YourProblem • Success comes from the heart not the head • ‘‘So the way to manage yourself is that when you have a real important problem you don’t let anything else get the center of your attention—you keep your thoughts on the problem. Keep your subconscious starved so it has to work on your problem, so you can sleep peacefully and get the answer in the morning, free.’’ • E.g., New York Times on superconductivity PLoS Professional Development Tutorial

30. Rule 10 - Leave Your Door Open • ‘‘There is a pretty good correlation between those who work with the doors open and those who ultimately do important things, although people who work with doors closed often work harder. Somehow they seem to work on slightly the wrong thing—not much, but enough that they miss fame” • The door is a metaphor – be open to every idea and person in your field PLoS Professional Development Tutorial

31. Discussion/Questions? PLoS Professional Development Tutorial

32. Part IIGetting the Most from Your Graduate Student Experience PLoS Professional Development Tutorial 32

33. Rule 0 – What to Have When You Graduate PLoS Professional Development Tutorial • A break • A job which likely means: • The maximum number of high impact papers in quality journals – (ranges from 2 – 20+) • A post doc scholarship i.e. money • Excellent letters of recommendation from highly respected scientists • A committee that had a dialog about your research • A plan 33 33

34. Rule 1 – (Here We Go Again) Let Passion be Your Driving Force PLoS Professional Development Tutorial You went into research with little experience – are you as good at it as you were coursework? Are you excited about your work? Do you like this life style? If the answer to any of the above is no, what is your plan – you should always have a plan 34 34

35. Rule 2 – Is Your Mentor Project and Lab Right for You? PLoS Professional Development Tutorial Are you getting the right level of mentoring? If not talk to your mentor, consider a second mentor, use your thesis committee Is your mentor renown? If not, be sure to be able to get letters from a renown mentor Is your mentor as enthusiastic about your project as others in the lab? 35 35

36. Rule 3 – Think Independently PLoS Professional Development Tutorial Having said that different students require different levels of mentoring in the end to succeed (particularly in academia) you have to be independent – Ask yourself how independent are you? Can you formulate your own research problems and carry it through? 36 36

37. Rule 4 – Life is All About Balance PLoS Professional Development Tutorial It is my observation that the best scientists balance their career with other activities Leave an unsolved problem do something unrelated and come back to it – a solution will often be obvious Other activities often lead to scientific collaborations! 37 37

38. Rule 5 – Think Ahead PLoS Professional Development Tutorial Do not wait until you are about to graduate to find a lab to do a post doc Apply for Fellowships – money talks Use your mentor and thesis committee to help find the right position Learn to parallel process 38 38

39. Rule 6 - Remain Focused on Your Hypothesis PLoS Professional Development Tutorial Step back once a week and consider the big picture – Are you moving towards your big goals Define the scope of your project with your mentor earlier rather than later – many mentors are happy to have cheap productive labor, but is it in your best interests to stay around? Do not be scared of what the future holds 39 39

40. Rule 7 – Address Problems Earlier Rather Than Later PLoS Professional Development Tutorial Your mentor should be more than a purveyor of good science they should be there for your professional development Issues you are having your mentor will likely have experienced before – take advantage of that experience 40 40

41. Rule 8 – Networking – Its Critical PLoS Professional Development Tutorial The literature is the most important vehicle for your work but it is impersonal Be personal - the connections you make are critical to your future career – give posters, do talks whenever you can both locally, nationally and internationally Scan for important meetings and discuss your attendance with your mentor 41 41

42. Rule 9 – Build Confidence and a Thick Skin PLoS Professional Development Tutorial Defend your work with knowledge not knee jerk reactions Stand up for what you believe in Be prepared for periods of failure – learn what you can from them, but get over them 42 42

43. Rule 10 – Make Your Thesis Committee Work for the Privilege PLoS Professional Development Tutorial Select a committee as early as possible – be involved in that selection criteria should be related science and how they can help you with your post doctoral career Communicate with members regularly – use them as mentor backups If you and your mentor seriously disagree consult other members of your committee 43 43

44. Discussion/Questions? PLoS Professional Development Tutorial 44

45. Part III – Writing the Best Research Articles Professional Development Series PLoS Professional Development Tutorial 45

46. Overarching Thoughts … Your publications are the most important metric by which you are judged as a scientist That metric is increasingly easy to measure H factor (ISI Web of Science) Number of citations (ISI, Google Scholar) Journal downloads Your papers will be around long after you are gone – they are your scientific legacy Think about that immutability as you write Numbers (regrettably) are important PLoS Professional Development Tutorial 46

47. Overarching Thoughts Quality is Everything PLoS Professional Development Tutorial

48. Emerging Metrics - Bourne PLoS Professional Development Tutorial http://pubnet.gersteinlab.org/

49. Rule 1 – To Write You Have to Read • Read at least 2 papers per day in detail • Review papers through journal clubs and take note of the reviews of others • Put aside papers you and others think are of high quality to refer to as you write even if they are not related to the topic • Look at papers which have open review – learn to write better papers from those reviews PLoS Professional Development Tutorial

50. Rule 2 – Learn to be Objective About Your Work • The best scientists are the most objective • It is easy not to be objective when you have buried yourself in it for months on end – see your work in a broader context – how will it impact science as a whole • It is easier for your mentor to be objective (it is only one of a number of projects going on in the lab) but still.. • Have independent colleagues who can be objective review your first draft PLoS Professional Development Tutorial