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Into the Eye of the Storm: Assessing the Evidence on Science and Engineering Education, Quality, and Workforce Demand
in Required Reading
"Recent policy reports claim the United States is falling behind other nations in science and math education and graduating insufficient numbers of scientists and engineers. Review of the evidence and analysis of actual graduation rates and workforce needs does not find support for these claims. U.S. student performance rankings are comparable to other leading nations and colleges graduate far more scientists and engineers than are hired each year. Instead, the evidence suggests targeted education improvements are needed for the lowest performers and demand-side factors may be insufficient to attract qualified college graduates."
Survival Blog for Scientists
in Blogs
New blog of professional natural scientists (senior and junior) discussing all aspects of becoming a world-class scientist (so no science content). The initiator (Ad Lagendijk) has written a book "Survival Guide for Scientists" that will be published by Amsterdam University Press and Chicago University Press on May 13, 2008. The survival guides can be obtained freely as e-books from www.stringcat.com
Sloan Foundation Grants for Research on the US Science and Engineering Workforce
in Home
The Alfred P. Sloan Foundation is pleased to announce a new small grants program to support creative research on the U.S. workforce and labor markets in science and engineering. Depending on the number and quality of proposals received, this grant program will provide up to 10 research grants, selected on the basis of a peer review process. Grant budgets requested cannot exceed a total of $45,000, though we expect that most will be smaller than this ceiling. The first grant application deadline is April 7, 2008.
Exploring Ways to Shorten the Ascent to a Ph.D.
in Improving Graduate Education
"For those who attempt it, the doctoral dissertation can loom on the horizon like Everest, gleaming invitingly as a challenge but often turning into a masochistic exercise once the ascent is begun. The average student takes 8.2 years to get a Ph.D.; in education, that figure surpasses 13 years. Fifty percent of students drop out along the way, with dissertations the major stumbling block. At commencement, the typical doctoral holder is 33, an age when peers are well along in their professions, and 12 percent of graduates are saddled with more than $50,000 in debt."
Decline of the Tenure Track Raises Concerns
in The Adjunctification of Academia
NY Times, Nov 20, 2007. "Professors with tenure or who are on a tenure track are now a distinct minority on the countrys campuses, as the ranks of part-time instructors and professors hired on a contract have swelled, according to federal figures analyzed by the American Association of University Professors."
New Database Reveals State Variations in the U.S. Science and Engineering Labor Force -
in Labor Market for PhDs
A new database created by the Population Reference Bureau reveals geographic differences in characteristics of people working in the science and engineering (S ) labor force. The data, from the Census Bureau's 2005 American Community Survey, highlight state-level variations in earnings, education, and the participation of minorities, women, and foreign-born workers in the high-tech economy.
Google Policy Fellowship
in Internships and Careers in Science Policy
"As lawmakers around the world become more engaged on Internet policy, ensuring a robust and intelligent public debate around these issues becomes increasingly important. Thats why were launching the Google Policy Fellowship Programto support students and organizations working on policy issues fundamental to the future of the Internet and its users. Think of it as the public policy version of Google's Summer of Code. The Google Policy Fellowship program offers undergraduate, graduate, and law students interested in Internet and technology policy the opportunity to spend the summer contributing to the public dialogue on these issues, and exploring future academic and professional interests."
Hosting a Speaker: a Guide for Graduate Students
in Grad School Survival Guides
by Phil Agre.
How to Be a Leader in Your Field
in Grad School Survival Guides
by Philip Agre. "In a knowledge-intensive world of ceaseless innovation and change, I assert, every professional must be a leader.... But how? It is well-known that simply declaring yourself a leader will not cause anyone to follow you. The process of becoming a leader doesn't happen overnight, but it is perfectly methodical. Here is a six-step recipe."
Writing the Personal Statement - The OWL at Purdue
in Applications: Statements of Purpose, References
This handout provides information about writing personal statements for academic and other positions.
How to Write More Clearly, Think More Clearly, and Learn Complex Material More Easily
in Communication Skills
by Michael A. Covington, University of Georgia
How to Write a Master's Thesis in Computer Science
in Writing Your Dissertation
by William Shoaff, Florida Institute of Technology.
The Science Education Myth
in Home
BusinessWeek, October 26, 2007. "Forget the conventional wisdom. U.S. schools are turning out more capable science and engineering grads than the job market can support."
Getting Things Done in Academia
in Time Management
Advice for graduate students on creativity, scholarship, communication, and time management
Northwestern University Graduate Student Association
in Graduate Student Associations in the US
How to Get Fewer Scientists
in NIH Funding Crisis
Washington Post, July 24, 2007. "President Bush told cancer researchers gathered at the National Institutes of Health in January that we need to 'make sure that our scientists are given the tools and encourage young kids to become scientists in the first place.' Yet his administration's stingy NIH budgets over the past five years and its threat last week to veto the appropriations bill giving the NIH a small funding boost sound more like components of a Discourage Future Scientists Act."
The Real Science Crisis: Bleak Prospects for Young Researchers
in Home
Chronicle of Higher Education , September 2007. "[F]or many of today's graduate students, the future could not look much bleaker. They see long periods of training, a shortage of academic jobs, and intense competition for research grants looming ahead of them. 'They get a sense that this is a really frustrating career path,' says Thomas R. Insel, director of the National Institute of Mental Health. So although the operating assumption among many academic leaders is that the nation needs more scientists, some of brightest students in the country are demoralized and bypassing scientific careers."
A snapshot of jobs in the biosciences industry suggests that business training may be worth
in Business School for Scientists
Naturejobs, Aug. 29, 2007 Since the rise of biotechnology in the 1970s, the worlds of bioscience and business have drawn ever closer together. But for jobseekers interested in the biosciences industry, how much of an asset is business training? It may offer some advantages. The pharmaceutical industry, for example, is suffering serious job losses (see Nature 448, 965; 2007), but there still are jobs available, and business training is one way to get a leg up. The extent to which that training translates into broadened opportunities is hard to quantify. The Keck Graduate Institute in Claremont, California, which specializes in bioscience degrees that incorporate business skills, has released a report that assesses the situation (see http://www.kgi.edu/x6503.xml).
Catching Up in International Grad Students
in Enrollment Trends
Inside Higher Ed, Aug 2007. "Graduate schools are reporting a continued rebound in applications from and admissions offers to those from outside the United States, but levels at most institutions still have not reached 2003 levels, according to a report being released today by the Council of Graduate Schools."
How I made my presentations a little better
in Communication Skills
Great tips from 43 Folders.
International grad student applications on the rise
in Enrollment Trends
Engineering Science blog, August 2007.
Education and Employment of Biological and Medical Scientists: Data from National Surveys
in Labor Market for PhDs
FASEB, 2007. "The figures in the following presentation are offered as an introduction to the major sources of nationally representative data on education and employment of biological and medical scientists. We hope that this compilation of graphs will foster an informed discussion of this topic. We do not seek to be exhaustive in our presentation of data, but rather to offer a starting point from which interested parties can pursue additional analyses in greater depth and detail."
Giving a Kick Ass Presentation
in Communication Skills
Great tips from the organizers of PubCon
NIH BUDGET: Boom and Bust
in NIH Funding Crisis
Couzin and Miller 316 (5823): 356 -- Science "Biomedical facilities are expanding after a growth spurt in the budget of the National Institutes of Health. Yet individual scientists say that it's harder than before to get their work funded." (subscription to Science required)
Watching a Train Wreck, Part 2 - Engineering Science Blog
in NIH Funding Crisis
"We've seen the effects of the NIH budget doubling on the grad student population. What about postdocs? ... From 1998-2003, the number of life sciences postdocs increased by 4,015. These new postdocs were all non-citizens. In fact, over the same time period, the number of US citizen / permanent resident postdocs decreased by 255."
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