Who are you, what are you doing here and why are you looking at me??? The Reboot
July 29, 2015
It’s that time again, Dear Reader.
This post is a meme for you, the readers of this blog, to take more than the usual spotlight you enjoy here in the comments. This is especially for you lurkers (in case you didn’t notice, the email field can be filled with nonsense like dev@null.com). For the the veterans, yes I know who you are but feel free to update us on any changes in the way you interact with the blog…especially if you’ve lost touch with the content, been dismayed or just decided that I’m not who you thought at first, ideas-wise.
1) Tell me about yourself. Who are you? Do you have a background in science? If so, what draws you here as opposed to meatier, more academic fare? And if not, what brought you here and why have you stayed?
2) Have you told anyone else about this blog? Why? Were they folks who are not a scientist?. Ever sent anything to family members or groups of friends who don’t understand your career?
3) How did you find us and how do you regularly follow us? through Twitter, Facebook and/or other beyond-RSS mechanisms?
If you blog, and I know many of you do, go ahead and post your own version of this. Take the time to get to know your audience and ask the lurkers to come out and play. You’ll be most pleasantly surprised how many take you up on it.
[This is all the fault of Ed Yong. Head over the the last iteration to see all the gory details and links to prior comment threads.]
DrugMonkey 
July 29, 2015 at 1:29 pm
1) I am a quality improvement engineer and principal investigator at a major east coast medical center.
2) Probably. I know I’ve linked to this blog from time to time.
3) I think it was the scienceblogs days, but I don’t remember.
I’ve asked similar questions on my blog, and no one responds. People are less interested in a sobriety and running blog with rare forays into science.
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July 29, 2015 at 1:36 pm
It takes time to develop an audience. Also flexibility. I thought I would be talking a lot more about drug-abuse when I started but….well the market pushed for careerism content. So, here we are.
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July 29, 2015 at 1:37 pm
I’ve been writing for almost 8 years. I have all the audience I’m gonna get.
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July 29, 2015 at 1:43 pm
1) I’m a PhD student, and I’ll be defending in a couple of months. I read here for the career and grant-writing advice. While the scientific mentoring we get at my school is great, the nitty-gritty details of scientific careers isn’t discussed enough. This blog fills that gap.
2) I’ve told of my other lab members (including my PI) about it. Usually for reason (1).
3) I don’t remember how long I’ve been following the blog, but I visit the site a few times a week. I’m not on teh twitter or facebooks.
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July 29, 2015 at 1:51 pm
1) I’m a soon to be TT assistant professor in a neuroscience department (94 days, 10hrs, 10mins, not that I have count down or anything going). I’ve been drawn mostly for the career development content and grants discussions. Honestly like the debates that push my opinions.
2) I try to steer other PDs and GSs I know this way, but probably haven’t sent anything to the non-scientist family members.
3) Found the blog through twitter, and mostly keep track through there. Although when I’m procrastinating I just come to read the comments.
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July 29, 2015 at 1:52 pm
1. I am a junior faculty member who recently switched from Research Assistant Professor to Assistant Professor on tenure-track in a clinical department of a major medical school. My PhD is in an engineering discipline, but I was drawn to biomedical research and now do interdisciplinary work thanks to years of post-doc’ing in bio labs at different institutions. Having stayed at the same institution that I did my final post-doc stint in, I still occupy space in my mentor’s lab (arrangement made based on a K award) until I obtain substantial grant funding.
I have found your viewpoint and honesty to be refreshing and interesting which can also be said of your commenters. I think reading accounts of academic struggles by other PIs is comforting for the simple fact that it reminds me that I am not alone. So, it is the shared experience of going through the ups and downs of becoming a successful investigator that keeps me coming back.
2. I have told others both inside and outside of academia about the blog; however, I don’t think anyone has specifically asked for the website. Other scientists can relate to the stories that are shared here. And sometimes I share information with my wife (who is an MD) on other topics that come up (such as the recent post about cardiac risks with ecstasy). I have never sent anything to anyone to help explain my career (they usually tire of my typical responses such as “I am writing another grant”, “my experiments don’t work”, etc.).
3. I found your blog a year or two ago while searching for advice on grant submissions to NIH. I believe I saw one of your comments on Writedit’s blog and searched your name. For whatever reason, I have avoided social media for the most part. I usually just check in here when I get an email saying there is a new post, or I come back to look for new comments on posts I found interesting.
I don’t blog but have considered it.
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July 29, 2015 at 1:54 pm
1. PhD student here in my last (hopefully) year. I came for the grant advice, and stayed for the banter between DM and CPP.
2. I’ve told a few other students about the blog mostly because evidence provided here directly disproves “advice” given by our mentors who still view things as if they’re in the 70s. Most of the students found the writings here too depressing, so they don’t regularly follow the blog.
3. I don’t remember how I found this blog exactly, but it was probably through some Google search related to an F31 question I had.
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July 29, 2015 at 2:03 pm
1. Full Professor, boomer, neuroscience-esque research, 20+ years NIH funding. Despite the occasional troll I find the blog refreshingly honest and useful; much useful advice I would have liked to have had starting out.
2. I recommend this blog (and a couple of others) to all in my lab; many friends follow it closely.
3. Follow y’all on twitter and the blog of course. One of the first things I look at while drinking my coffee when I get in before starting work.
KEEP UP THE GREAT WORK
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July 29, 2015 at 2:17 pm
I’m an assistant professor at a private foundation in the midwest. I’ve known about this blog for many years, but I never followed it back when I was a postdoc because it felt intimidating. You were way ahead of me on the career track and I got lost in all your acronyms and grant nerd shop-talk. Now I’ve been through the RO1 grinder a couple of times so I’m more up to a speed where this blog offers a valuable perspective on science careers. I check in most days while I’m eating lunch.
I haven’t told anyone about the blog yet. Only been following it closely for a few months. Drugmonkey – I love the name!
I found the blog because of old grad school friends who followed it.
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July 29, 2015 at 2:17 pm
1. New post-doc, defended in March 2015. In the USA. Into structural bio, but pragmatically applying the structural info to more biological assays. I come for the perspectives, as people without pseuds are much less candid, and the entertainment in the comments.
2. Haven’t aggressively pushed your blog, though I’ve probably RT’d on Twitter.
3. I follow from Twitter, so I’m sure there are posts I miss.
I’ll echo MoBio and say thanks for the awesome blog!
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July 29, 2015 at 2:27 pm
1.) 5th year PD in genomics/chromatin biology on the TT job hunt for Fall 2016. I’m drawn here by the refreshingly honest conversations about NIH funding, careerism, and student/postdoc training.
2.) I like to keep it a secret so I can covertly tell stories about people in my lab…probably a bad idea.
3.) I just type ” google Drugmonkey” into AltaVista and it takes me to a Google link that I click on. I do this many times per day.
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July 29, 2015 at 2:34 pm
1) postdoc in biomed lab. Come here for the career advice, also enjoy reading the drug-related articles between experiments when I’m too fried to read an actual paper in my discipline. I really like the comments too.
2) Told other PD and GS about the blog, usually as a “here are a bunch of science blogs I read” grouping. Never sent this blog to a nonscientist, but did send a couple PLS articles on plantimals to spouse and family.
3) Likely found you through someone else’s blogroll- maybe Academic Jungle? Don’t tweet much, follow online mostly.
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July 29, 2015 at 2:38 pm
Long time reader, rarely comment.
1. I’m 5 years into my tenure-track appointment at a research-intensive state university’s school of medicine. I’m in one of the top departments for my field, which has been remarkable to me since I’ve never felt like a superstar. I’ve thought about starting my own science/career blog, but I would only ever do so anonymously. Since I am literally the only person with my combination of gender + ethnicity + field + career stage (all of which would come up on said blog), there’s no way I could remain anonymous.
2. I found this blog when I started my job hunt (pre-Scientopia), and I found it really useful. While I had a supportive adviser, everything had always come easy to him career-wise, so I didn’t find his input necessarily helpful or relevant. I have recommended this blog to my postdoc friends who would benefit from the academic advice on here.
3. I’m on Twitter, but unless there’s a particularly interesting conversation, I don’t have the time or inclination to keep up with another social medium.
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July 29, 2015 at 3:09 pm
1) Long time lurker here. I’m an assistant professor at a small medical university. I started reading your blog several years ago for career and grant advice. I tell people all the time that you and CPP got me my job and my R01 (renewal going in next year so I’ll be reading old posts quite a bit).
2) Yes, lots of people. Scientists for advice and regularly email or FB post you for both scientists and nonscientists.
3) It’s been so long I can’t remember how I came across this blog. Probably googling something career-related, maybe someone else’s blogroll? I check Scientopia frequently ro keep up.
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July 29, 2015 at 3:11 pm
1) Postdoc in cell bio lab. I come here primarily for the grant-smithing advice and discussion of the NIH funding environment, which was particularly valuable when I wrote my F32 (funded, thank you DM). I like getting various perspectives in the comments too.
2) I’ve mentioned it to a few ppl in my dept.
3) Google
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July 29, 2015 at 3:15 pm
1) Full professor, >20 years basic science faculty at major medical school, biochem/biophysics/structural biology. I appreciate the frank discussion of issues on this blog and the opportunity to hear the voices of junior commenters. Some of what I have read is troubling and has raised my consciousness about the issues facing trainees and junior investigators. As an outsider to this particular group, I don’t have a clue who any of the pseuds are (except Data Hound, who isn’t really a pseud anyway) and sometimes wish I did so that I could reach out to them. It has also been interesting to follow all the comments about scientists that I have known for years…
2) When I mention science blogs in general I get puzzled looks from colleagues (even some junior) who clearly don’t read anything other than NIGMS Feedback Loop, if that. I have mentioned it to a few students and postdocs.
3) I somehow found Scientopia (can’t recall), which I check regularly. I follow DM on Twitter (where I use my real name), which alerts me to his new posts (and so much more!). Keep up the good work.
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July 29, 2015 at 3:20 pm
1) Physician Scientist and PI in a large research institute somewhere in a larger city on the east coast. I check the side for some recoil time during grant writing and to get information how other people feel in the field as well as tips and tricks. Got a few already over the years. Mostly career and grant tips.
2) Send a couple links to members of my lab
3) Don’t honestly remember. But I am not doing the social media crap a lot. Got other stuff to do (and no, I am not THAT old – or maybe I am…). Twittered I think twice so far. So, therefore I come to the webpage regularly.
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July 29, 2015 at 3:36 pm
1) Starting assistant prof at a research institution in Europe in bio, but far from neuro. Came here after googling for career advice ~3-4 years ago when applying for postdoc fellowships, stayed for the exposition of well-sharpened tools of the trade, BS-free attitude, and lack of uninformed idealism compared with other careers/mentoring websites. The audience have built a comments section that is the best discussion on various issues in academia I know of.
2) I recommend this to all friends / colleagues that are trying their luck in the North American system, and anyone writing grants. Never shared outside this quite academic circle.
3) Follow via RSS feed, and look up twitter whenever some discussion is especially relevant.
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July 29, 2015 at 3:50 pm
1) Statistician from the southern hemisphere. Grant discussions, drug abuse and gender issues – although things are pretty much the same in the Western World – the US takes them to a much higher level of complexity … and sometimes downright weirdness.
2) No, my workmates are in the social sciences.
3) The guys at the blog
http://observationalepidemiology.blogspot.com/
have you on their blog list and so I followed the link one day.
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July 29, 2015 at 4:03 pm
1. I’m a first year PhD student in life sciences. I started reading blogs like yours before deciding to attend grad school to get an idea of what the academic career is all about. Also for the unofficial mentorship of you & your commenters. My PI is young, inexperienced, and has made some mistakes which could cost him tenure (like not applying for grants). My real mentor is an older prof whose experience is valid but we all know times have changed. Overall i read to know what kind of career i might be getting myself into and whether or not i want it. I appreciate the frequent, candid discussions.
2. No i haven’t told anyone else about this blog. I should mention it to one of the postdocs though. And maybe it would help my P.I. out…
3. I have been reading for 3-4 years I’d say. Sometime around 2010-2011, I discovered Female Science Professor’s blog and from there linked to Scientopia which i follow through RSS feed.
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July 29, 2015 at 4:14 pm
1) Starting as TT neuro professor at a SLAC in a couple of weeks, after a short postdoc. I’ve been reading this blog religiously since 2009, when I was a grad student, but I’ve commented only rarely. It’s been alternately depressing and inspiring, but always illuminating and realistic. It has given me information that would have been unlikely or impossible for me to get otherwise, and has dramatically shaped the trajectory of my early career so far. Sometimes it was so disheartening (and the advice so painful) I didn’t want to listen, but it was better advice by far than I was getting from anyone else. It actually kind of helps when criticism is coming from a pseud who isn’t speaking to you individually, and I realized it was silly to feel defensive about some of the harder truths, especially when the motives behind the advice-giving are so clearly magnanimous! I didn’t end up where I originally thought I would, but I had several options to choose from and have ended up in a great situation, and this blog played no small part in my decisions. So thanks!
2) I’ve sent a link to colleagues here and there. Not because I don’t think the advice is invaluable, but because I was selfish and paranoid about my vulnerable career status and didn’t want anyone to find out that I was commenting, even though I did so rarely. I’ll probably send trainees this way a lot more now that I’m not so paranoid. I’ve sent more links to non-colleagues. That includes scientists and non-scientists, and they have all enjoyed reading.
3) Back in the ScienceBlogs days, when I felt alone and weary as a geographically isolated female grad student with kids, I thought “surely, there must be someone blogging out there that understands”. So I googled around and found my way to Dr. Isis, and then to this blog and others right away. Really, this blog (and a handful of others) have been invaluable in helping me be successful in my career, and maintain my mental health while doing so. I mostly use an RSS reader.
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July 29, 2015 at 4:23 pm
congrats and good luck for your new professorial launch, coldone!
KatyR- if you seriously think your PI might get in a tenure fight while you are there you need to start figuring out how to insulate yourself from damage. Sounds like you have another mentor/sounding board but do you potentially have a lab to jump to if it is required?
LP- I agree, the commenters here at the blog are the thing that is most valuable. no doubt about that.
E PI- if you are getting a perspective you don’t usually hear, well that is excellent.
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July 29, 2015 at 4:42 pm
1) Living the soft-money dream, one day at a time. I believe that one day there will be – no, there has to be – a better research environment for PhDs in medical schools in the US. I hope I can do something to make that happen one day, even if it’s just moaning. But then again, I might just jump ship and leave the soft-money world for ever……..
2) I’ve stopped mentioning the blog. If people don’t know how to use the internet, it’s not my job to give ’em a leg-up.
3) No idea, honestly. It’s been so long….
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July 29, 2015 at 4:50 pm
Tenured professor at an R1 East coast university (was a TT assistant prof at an R1 midwest university when I first started reading the blog). My general field is biophysics/structural biology. NIH funded since 2007, although I came uncomfortably close to the edge of the cliff at one point during the intervening 8 years. I keep reading for the grantsmanship discussions and to hear the perspective of folks in different fields and at different career stages. Also for the traditional “People who publish in glamormagz are data falsifying trend chasers!”/”People who don’t publish in glamormagz are no-impact plodders!” arguments.
I’ve mentioned the blog to several colleagues.
I first discovered this place back when Young Female Scientist linked to one of your posts about postdocs overestimating their intellectual contributions. I get here through the Scientopia main page (no RSS or Twitter feeds).
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July 29, 2015 at 5:14 pm
1. Starting my 4th (gasp) year on the TT at a small private R1. I’m here for the career and grantswomanship advice. I’ve even asked a question or two that you’ve used here (thanks! another one on its way!). You’ve made a difference.
2. Yes, to colleagues and students.
3. Original h/t goes to Dr. Becca, circa 2007. Live bookmarks bring me to the blog these days. I miss Google Reader. I cannot abide the confines of 140 characters.
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July 29, 2015 at 5:15 pm
1) I’m a postdoc (not a disgruntleddoc, though I occasionally play one on twitter). I work in neuromuscular physiology currently, doing clinically relevant animal model work. Though I’m also in it for the evolution of mammalian physiology questions. My background is mammalian paleontology. Go figure. I’m here for the insights into NIH-funded careers, and the insights into the insanity that are academic professional relationships.
2) Mostly discussed the blog with various other colleagues who read it.
3) I think I’ve recommended it on twitter a couple of times. Most people I work with already read it.
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July 29, 2015 at 6:15 pm
1. Soon to be AssProf at R1 studying genomes and all things genetics. I like reading this cause I think we are the same person. At least we have the same mind.
2. I try to steer grad students and PDs here. I’ll fwd stuff to my PI which starts convos.
3. Found this via Twitter after reading all your blowhard tweets
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July 29, 2015 at 6:40 pm
I’m sort of in the middle of all of this- T granted, but will kick in in Sept, R1. I like to be more of a goofball, but still pretty serious in this guise. I’m a real person on Twitter and I don’t enjoy it as much.
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July 29, 2015 at 7:00 pm
1) Associate prof at a public med school working on neuro stuffs
2) Absolutely. lots of good careerism and grant stuff here.
3) smoke signals.
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July 29, 2015 at 7:23 pm
1) I’m a PD (foreigner now at west coast institution, 2 years in) just starting a K99. No glamor pubs. No BSD PI. First submission. Just lucky, I guess?
2) A few people. Usually about specific posts, and usually for entertainment value.
3) I stumbled upon your blog while googling my way through the WTF phase of my K99 application. Stuff I learnt here might very well have helped me limbo under that payline. So thanks!
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July 29, 2015 at 8:02 pm
1) Scientist, came for the postdoc baiting and career advice as a PhD student. Have been reading the blog through PhD, postdoc, and now faculty position. Much of the best advice I’ve received has been through this blog and the comments are a really important part of that.
2) Constantly. Almost any time I get asked for advice, telling people to search drugmonkey archives is part of my response.
3) Possibly Young Female Scientist blog, but don’t remember. I follow through RSS.
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July 29, 2015 at 8:16 pm
What “postdoc baiting”?
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July 29, 2015 at 8:43 pm
TT assistant professor, R1 engineering department. I think I came here via mikethemadbiologist. I read science “careerism” blogs with varying degrees of enthusiasm and disgust, depending on my mood. But overall I’m a fan.
Yes, I’ve forwarded posts now and then, and mentioned you in conversation. I mostly follow through RSS (feedly), occasionally follow a twitter link.
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July 29, 2015 at 10:09 pm
1. First year grad student. You all(Scientopia in general) seem to complain about a lot of stuff, and faculty I talk to have a bad habit of giving a “sunshine and rainbows” perspective on life in science (maybe I have a skewed perspective from recruitment weekends). I want to see the unpleasant parts and the stresses that affect scientists, so I stick around and listen. For DM in particular, I’m especially interested in the posts on how funding has changed over time.
2. Yeah, I’ve sent a few links to figures to classmates considering grad school. I try not to be discouraging to others, but I also try to avoid ignorant optimism.
3. Um, I think I searched “What is chemical biology?” a few years back. I found a blog on Scientopia, and eventually I just started following the whole lot of you by RSS.
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July 29, 2015 at 10:18 pm
1) TT assist prof from a 6-mo postdoc after a short PhD, hired due to very great fit and a lot of luck. Started independence this year, spitting grants like hot fire. (sept 14 start, nov 14 lab up and running, first hire january 15, will take students when first 3-yr+ grant is awarded). Landed small foundations and internal, and 2 collaborators sub-contracts, and just got a well received 20 impact score (no % yet) on a cover my @SS K22 for new tenure tracks.
I’m here because I have absolutely no idea on “grantsmanship,” I didn’t even know that was a thing, I thought it was all on the strength of 1) investigators ideas, 2) data to support said idea, 3) experimental design. I wrote NRSAs before: triage then mid-40s then graduated but had a T32 spot and a supportive mentor so I didn’t need it. You, my previous mentor and my institute head/department chair are the three legs that currently drive my approach to grant writing.
2) New grad students, postdocs, my previous graybeard mentor to explain why his worldview is for far removed from my reality.
3) Initially through Google. You are the first hit with the search term “Stock Critique.” Mazel tov on that accomplishment. Re-found you more recently through datahound.
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July 29, 2015 at 10:28 pm
1. Prof, mid career, not US based. Here because of the quality of the advice and interested in experiences of US colleagues. Plenty of excellent material here.
2. Occasionally refer on, frequently discuss with my colleagues.
3. Can’t remember, probably linked from somewhere on Scientopia.
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July 30, 2015 at 12:02 am
I’m an associate professor.
I regularly read this blog because of the helpful grant advice and the overall unique content. I enjoy reading stuff that is opinionated and that takes a snarky stand on things.
I found this place years ago on Twitter. I recommend it to people who are applying for NIH funding.
I’ve been blogging myself for 5+ years at http://www.ipscell.com
Paul
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July 30, 2015 at 12:10 am
1- TT Asst Prof with background in biophys/bioeng at a school that is somewhere between R1/R2 in flyoverland. CPP, of course, knows us as EBSU (East Bumfuckke State University, since you asked). Nobody in my department has NIH experience, so my mentors at other schools and this blog(ge) are invaluable. I’ve dug through the posts/comments in the archive back through 2012! As I start my 4th year on the TT, I’m hoping some of the insight gleaned will help me write better grants and get some funded as PI.
2- I encourage my grad students at postdoc to look here for an insight into the system. They do not get enough exposure to it by discussing with peers, since many of their peers are in labs outside the NIH sphere. I’m not sure they look here much, though. Maybe we’ll discuss some posts at group meetings next year?
3- Google when looking for some advice on how to write a particular section of an NIH grant ( I forget exactly what?).
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July 30, 2015 at 12:51 am
1. Like many others, I am a long-time lurker but first-time commenter. I’m a doctoral student that found this blog while writing an F31 grant. I’m very grateful for the content (both blog posts and comments) – my sponsor and committee were all very helpful with feedback/edits, but I felt like the blog was a great outlet for additional advice. In retrospect, I wish I had posed some of the questions I had during the process for objective advice here (as you and others seems like a great resource), but I didn’t want to get off topic in the comments section for any given post. Although the grant has been submitted, I still follow the blog regularly.
2. I’ve recommended it to other students that are writing an F31/F32 to go through the archives and read the relevant posts. I have also forwarded specific posts, such as ones related to the NIH biosketch format, to folks at my university.
3. I came across this blog when Googling F31 advice/resources. My version of following is just going to the URL when I need a break/distraction my day. =)
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July 30, 2015 at 8:16 am
1) Former postdoc. Currently a medical writer, primarily for academics, so it is all manuscript and grant writing. I enjoy the stats and perspectives on grant writing and funding. I am also easily amused.
2) I regularly refer other scientists to this blog. You are a bit out of my field for sharing with non-scientists.
3) Don’t remember how I found you. I follow mostly through RSS, but I have recently dusted off my twitter to observe the real-time drama when I’m not working for a client.
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July 30, 2015 at 9:31 am
1) I am currently at the end of my first post-doc position. Looking for a second post-doc. I am a cognitive neuroscientist, but my current position is clinical neurology – I want to get back to psychology/cognitive research.
2) I’ve definitely brought up something from a post with my PIs, but I don’t think I’ve shared with any non-academics.
3) I’ve been reading this blog since it was on Science Blogs, so I probably saw you linked there as well. However, I’ve really only started reading regularly the past two years or so. My grad school PI had been well funded with regularly renewing R01s. My post-doc PI is new faculty so I am seeing the real stress of funding for the first time – and I am learning a lot from it. This blog has been giving me some more perspective on the culture of science and funding.
Thanks for the blog, and for this post! I have wanted to pipe in a few times lately, so this gives me the chance to introduce myself.
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July 30, 2015 at 9:36 am
1) Leaving out the obvious (and also any easily de-anonymizing information), I come for the grant writing nuggets and to stay close to the issues young/mid-career investigators face. I’m not exaggerating when I say this blog has been almost as helpful as my formal job training.
2) I’ve forwarded several posts to colleagues at work and to friends in the field. Nothing to outside friends or family though.
3) Discovered this site in grad school, but stopped reading blogs during postdoc years. I now visit the site almost every day.
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July 30, 2015 at 9:48 am
1) Just finished my first year as a TT assist. prof at an R1. I’m a biophysical chemist in a molbio department. You have been helpful in shaping my views of how and when to get funding. It’s also been great to have a better understanding of what sort of battle I’m fighting to get that funding. I’ve had nice mentors but most have never discussed the sausage making process with me at all. You fill that void extremely well.
Recently, I have been particularly appreciative of your comments about crazy things POs say. I’ve been discussing an NSF CAREER with a PO there, and he started insisting that he likes grants to only have 2 scientific aims. POs have a lot more power at the NSF than the NIH, but I have never seen an example of a funded CAREER with anything fewer than 3 scientific aims (I have a handful of funded proposals from friends and colleagues). It’s nice to reread your comments and tell myself that I don’t need to remove one of my aims/sever my arm just because this PO told me his platonic ideal of aims is 2.
2) I’ve sent your posts to colleagues, my husband, my parents, and even a university grants officer. Reading above comments I should probably telling my PD about you.
3) I think I found you when I submitted my first NIH proposal as a postdoc and was trying to understand what scores and paylines were. I read you through Feedly (an RSS reader I adopted when google stopped maintaining its reader ). That was about 5 years ago.
THANK YOU
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July 30, 2015 at 10:00 am
1) TT assistant professor at BigState R1 (hopefully soon to be tenured – Departmental vote will be in a few weeks). Long-time reader, rare commenter. I come here to learn the ins-and-outs of grant smithing strategies from folks that are actually in the trenches writing and reviewing grants.
2) I have told many TT assistant professors about this blog – basically any newbies that are attempting to obtain NIH funding.
3) I think I came across the blog several years ago while searching for advice on how to put together a compelling R01 application. The blog is bookmarked on my web browser for periodic perusal.
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July 30, 2015 at 10:06 am
1) I am currently a postdoc in Philadelphia doing some reproduction related mouse genetics. I began following at Scienceblogs as a grad student in maybe 2008 or so, and read for both the articles and comments on research, funding, and science careers. I look at every new posting, but generally don’t click through on the drug-abuse articles (I definitely appreciate full articles in feeds).
2)
I’ve definitely brought the blog up with various trainees whenever people seem interested in learning how things look to people who aren’t their PI. I’ve pointed a lawyery brother this way as well.
3) Found the blog from the roster at Scienceblogs around 7 years ago. I find new articles by RSS exclusively. Have a Twitter account, probably follow you there, never make any effort to actually look at it. Google Reader briefly to Feedly and now through InoReader.
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July 30, 2015 at 10:08 am
1) Nearly-retired plant cell biologist, drop in here occasionally from leads on twtr, to read about science-related stuff which is just as important as (maybe more than) stuff only in my research area. E.g. the “they never cite our work” thing – identify completely. Teeth-grittingly infuriating, esp. when you think “they” have misinterpreted some fundamental data.
2) No, well, only forwarded to a few. Most of my colleagues don’t seem to read blogs like this. Have sent to twtr people who I’ve never met!
[One side of family = hardcore creationists, other side = anti-GM homeopaths afraid of microwaves. You can’t win, sometimes.]
3) Found & follow mainly via twtr. When retired, hope to read more & maybe even write some. Set up a webpage but have written/posted exactly nothing so far.
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July 30, 2015 at 10:28 am
1) Middle aged neurobiologist, expert patch-clamper, newly rechristened as an industry scientist after 11 year post-doc (gulp!). Loving the switch, though I loved grad school, and my PD to be honest.
2) Ya know, I’m not sure I’ve ever directly referred anyone to the blog. And yet I’ve never hid my brief blogging career and my sporadic twitter use from real life people. Weird.
3) I found you sometime early in the Science Blogs days, and never left because I forgot where I live.
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July 30, 2015 at 10:31 am
1] I’m a forensic toxicologist and analytical chemist in a private postmortem toxicology laboratory. I enjoy your blog posts on MDMA, substituted cathinones, synthetic cannabinoids, etc. I’m not in academia, so those other type of posts aren’t really my thing, but I do enjoy reading some of them. Kinda makes me glad that I’m NOT in academia. š
2] I have linked to this blog and blog posts in various scientific presentations I have given. I’ve also mentioned it several times in seminars and talks and have directed some colleagues in the field to the blog.
3] I found the blog via Twitter and DrugMonkey.
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July 30, 2015 at 10:43 am
Yay! One vote for drug content.
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July 30, 2015 at 10:50 am
1) I’m a 3rd year TT assistant professor at an R1 medical school in the northeast. Geneticist, neuroscientist and wearer of many hats. I am obsessed with graphs and stats so I love the grant writing and analysis of NIH funding posts in this blog and Jeremy Berg’s. I am also very intrigued and amused by the comment sections that sometimes go on forever and expose a lot of different points of view. I had the same experience with science posts being way less popular than career/grant posts and that has definitely swayed my blog in a different direction than originally intended, but being mentors is all part of our jobs as academics, isn’t it?
2) “Drugmonkey says…” has come up in casual conversation.
3) I was blogging in my own little bubble, mostly to write down my thoughts and experience until a year ago BiochemBelle found my blog and posted about it on Twitter. On Twitter I found this whole new world of scientists and science bloggers, which has been wonderful to explore.
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July 30, 2015 at 10:57 am
Grad student about 1 year from defense. You keep me update when I miss a Twitter-storm and when my PI is too concerned about being politically correct to talk about the back story of current science/NIH trends. I mostly follow through Twitter!
I’ve told a few fellow grad students about the blog when they ask about how to keep up with current science things outside of research literature. Also comes up a lot in convos with my husband who is not a scientist but catches bits of things through reddit.
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July 30, 2015 at 11:21 am
research scientist at a national lab and occasional commenter. Curious to hear about the NIH funded world (our group is mostly DOE funded) and concerned about all the naive young scientists I know who think they should go to grad school and become PIs.
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July 30, 2015 at 11:39 am
1) Recently (this year!) tenured prof at large Midwestern R1. I have also found this blog to be invaluable career support going through the process. I was another one who had always done okay at things and didn’t really get it that it takes active reworking and smithing of grants to get them where they need to be in the current game, and you also have always inspired me to do the things I think are necessary (like applying early, for lots of grants, and getting on study section early) rather than listen to the more conservative advice I often get from some senior colleagues.
2) I tell people about the DM/Datahound blogs all the time, for grant advice, careerism advice, general NIH business and data discussions, everything. Colleagues, trainees, students, friends. It’s always kinda funny because they usually don’t know I’m also a blogger here (well, in principle I am even though I don’t have time to do much anymore).
3) I started reading blogs as a postdoc in ~2007/2008 when an undergrad I was mentoring showed me Female Science Professor. I found you through FSP’s blogroll, started my own blog and added you to mine. Then after I posted my K99 post, you and CPP linked me and I ended up with a lot more followers than I ever thought I would have. I got invited along when Science Blogs blew up and Scientopia was formed, and here we are. š
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July 30, 2015 at 12:06 pm
1) I’m an experimental cognitive psychologist who was trained in brain and cognitive sciences, currently TT (go up next year) at a completely off the bottom of the charts non-elite SLAC/regional university (there is a liberal arts college along with a well-respected health care related professional degree granting side) after having been denied tenure at an elite SLAC. NRSA, NSF grants, although research now will take even more of a backseat with my even higher teaching load. I like to read about the current academic environment, especially since I’m one of the cautionary tales from the SLAC trenches about what happens when a small college wants to be a research college, and yet writing and getting a grant isn’t rewarded. I also read since it can be interesting (if not depressing) to hear about life on the R1 side of things, even though I never wanted that (had a very successful postdoc, but honestly was not interested in the kind of high-paced research environment of an R1 – I knew in grad school that I’d rather be teaching undergrads and doing less but quality research, in part as a teaching tool).
2) I don’t train graduate students (thank goodness), and try to steer even my best undergrads away from grad school if there is any chance they can find something meaningful/rewarding to do outside of academic, so I don’t tend to share my academic/science blog links with people other than the occasional link to colleagues.
3) I’ve been reading academic blogs for a long time – I can’t remember when I ran across science ones, but I probably ended up here via science woman/isis/etc.
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July 30, 2015 at 12:29 pm
Non-federal postdoc in a small research chunk of the USEPA. Come from a background of environmental tox, but with collaborators and colleagues also on more biomedical side. Program I did my PhD in was NIEHS funded, and I feel like my research interests fit in that spot between NIH and EPA (plus EPA has zippo grant money anyway).
I am definitely here for the career and the grantsmanship perspectives (came via a friend’s recommendation to follow on twitter). Been around actively for a year or two. I like that the blog and commenters come from a pretty different chunk of the research world than my wheelhouse. I am currently at a point where I’m looking at career trajectories differently than before, and this blog and other info sources are really valuable. I don’t think I’ve shared that value with GS or PD buddies who didn’t already know about it, partly because we seem to be on such different paths these days, and I’m one of the few of my cohort still actively interested in an academic position.
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July 30, 2015 at 2:46 pm
1). Neurobio Assistant Prof. at a private midwest R1, one year in. I am pre-R01, no kengaroo, with good (ok, excellent, actually) foundation funding. I am a bit worried that my foundation successes will make for tough ESI R01 evaluation, so I am choosing panels and thinking of submitting twin R01s right after second attempt at DP2 this fall.
2). “DM says” is definitely a thing. Send all my trainees here and other people’s PDs. Also, I don’t have many friends that don’t understand my career.
3). Check in here regularly for many years now. Recently, on twitters too. No pseud.
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July 30, 2015 at 4:14 pm
1) TT prof in ecology/geography at R1. Tenure packet goes in tomorrow(!) I know nothing about biomed or NIH except what I read here – I think it is interesting to learn how the other half lives. I also appreciate that you post often and link to broader discussions so that I can keep up to speed on those too … and become suitably outraged š
2) Not specifically, but I’ve directed mentees to Scientopia generally.
3) Scientopia bookmarked and sometimes twitter. I mostly use twitter to look for interesting links to read while I gobble my lunch.
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July 30, 2015 at 5:21 pm
1) Neurobio PhD student. Seeking real perspective on state of biomed research from people other than my old white dood PI.
2) Sure, to other PhD students. (Do I even know any non-scis anymore?) Have used the phrase “did you see what DM had to say about XYZ” to start the conversation.
3) The twitter machine.
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July 30, 2015 at 6:09 pm
1) Currently a postdoc at an ILAF, but shortly about to be a RAP at a non-coastal R1. Behavioral neuroscientist, so I find the addiction pharmacology definitely interesting, but the comments are a real strength of this blog and your commentariat really gets themselves into a froth on the careerism posts. Love it. Make some popcorn and watch.
2) My husband is not a scientist but he follows you on twitter for sure, and checks in the blog on occasion, because it is the low-down on the career I am dragging us both through! I tell my undergraduates and graduate students. I never mention it to people who rank above me, but I float the ideas that I glean here and note the reactions (“BSD loves people not projects, naturally…and so does struggling midcareer even though I am not sure he would benefit from such a scheme…hmm.”)
(Please note have not obtained IRB approval for these experiments on human participants. Benefits of a pseudonym, those bastards at the IRB will never find me. )
3) Fuckke, I finally started a stupid twitter and now you are telling me there is a DM Facebook? Stahp.
I use Feedly officially, but when I open a new tab in Chrome, this blog is one of the 6 most frequently visited pages it just presents as a quick link. You’re right behind Pubmed and Gawker (not necessarily in that order)! I’ve been reading and commenting since 2009ish, but it took me awhile to settle on a name.
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July 30, 2015 at 8:36 pm
DM, thanks for the advice. I do have a backup lab which would be an excellent option. We do a technique they’re looking to get into and they do science that I need to learn for my project. It should be a fruitful collaboration no matter what happens.
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July 30, 2015 at 9:10 pm
Don’t worry shrew. The Fb isn’t really a thing for the blog. I tried it out but it didn’t seem to be useful.
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July 30, 2015 at 10:08 pm
1) Soon starting my 7th year at a NE Medical School, recently promoted to Assoc Prof (tenure at Prof so it just means I get to pay myself more, yipee). I love DM, datahound, writedit, CPP, etc, and lurk around here all the time, occasionally comment but never enough to stake out a territory. The grantsmanship discussions and general savviness about the game of science have been invaluable for me in putting everything in perspective. And I use Georgia right ragged for all my grant apps, so CPP FTW.
2) Definitely mention this and the other blogs to my colleagues, students and postdocs, although surprisingly hard to get interest even amongst my younger peeps, their loss. I do post an occasional link to the blog on FB where some friends in the game are also followers. I even pointed it out (in a general sense, referring to “discussion on blogs”) in a meeting with my Dean, although I doubt he paid attention.
3) Found your blog back in the scienceblog days when I was first writing a K99, linked through somehow from Arlenna/ChemicalBIOlogy’s K99 advice page.
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July 30, 2015 at 11:04 pm
1) Postdoc at a public medical school ranked around #50 in NIH funding. In one of those disciplines where the average paper has about 8 authors. I just like reading members of the bioscience blog community (will restart my blog soon after long search for new job) and like the authorial voice here.
2) No, this blog is mostly about career and grant application stuff for PIs. In ten years as a grad student and postdoc I’ve barely known any fellow trainees who had any expectation of ever trying to be a PI, so the things addressed here don’t come up much.
3) Probably from Twitter.
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July 31, 2015 at 8:13 am
Automotive Editor at a high-profile technology site. Until June I spent six years in the policy shop at an NIH IC, and was a miserable postdoc for a few years before that. PhD in pharmacology, but cardiovascular stuff because unlike neuroscience it’s not all made up. š
Yep, have recommended it to friends and colleagues along the way, usually with regards to career stuff or grantsmanship.
Started writing Ars Technica’s science stuff back in ’04 and going to SBC/ScienceOnline so probably came to it organically. Now I just stay for the trolling (DM trolling other people, not me trolling).
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July 31, 2015 at 10:43 am
PI in public research institution in Europe, biology. I am from the US, and like to keep a bit in touch, as I hope to eventually get back. Funding is really different in the US & the EU.
I don’t tell anyone I spend time reading blogs.
I think through links at FSP
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July 31, 2015 at 11:10 am
1. As a TT “young” investigator, I am thoroughly invested in biomed research. Involved in teaching and training grad and med students. Not related to neuroscience or drugs of abuse. I’m here for career advice and maybe more-so for the occasional off-the-cuff remark that restores my hope for research as a career opportunity. I worry about the next generation and about disparities in science. The structural flaws and unfairness toward women, POC in science weaken the field. Worry about my own imposterism.
2. I tell others about this site often. Mostly other early career folks– PDs or new faculty. Spouse is concerned that I spend time lurking because of the DM name. I say, as long as I don’t misspell monkey as money…
3. Found this in my efforts to understand my 1st summary statement, I think. Now I hit a couple other blogs on scientopia. New to twitter, abandoned FB.
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July 31, 2015 at 11:19 am
1) female full prof – NIDA funded, interested in the blog entries on new drugs. Also teaching a grant writing class, appreciate the stories from the trenches. Blog is useful to confirm the various hunches and rumors regarding NIH funding.
2) have mentioned the blog to colleagues
3) cant remember how I found the blog
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July 31, 2015 at 11:36 am
@ NewPI- stunned
Yeah, that imposterism feeling has only gotten more imposing since starting TT. It is not an insignificant source of stress (and motivation to fake it til make it). Any hints on when that goes away from the more senior colleagues?
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July 31, 2015 at 11:44 am
1. Tenure track engineer. Using this for the career and grant advice, which (maybe because I’m a needy noob millennial?) it never feels like one can get enough of in his or her home dept. You, the comments here, the prof is in, and female science professor help fill in gaps.
2. Recommended a few posts to peers.
3. Found you when feeling mopey after my first grant rejection(S). Just read the blog. (Not millennial enough to tweet)
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July 31, 2015 at 11:51 am
1. Tenured Associate Professor at a State Medical School. Have a tenure denial under my belt from a previous institution despite having continuous R01 funding and my R01 grant renewed at tenure time. It was not even a denial from a top 20 institution, so that stung. : )
I really appreciate the advice, camaraderie and the blog really keeps me up to date on NIH issues.
2. I have mentioned the blog to current colleagues. Many of my current colleagues have decided that getting a grant is only about having friends on study section, so it is nice to hear the voices of people really trying to craft their grants and all the perspectives of study section etc that people have shared.
I have never posted in the comments until now though.
3. I believe I found the blog when searching for grant information many years ago.
Thank you very much to DM and his commentariat. I read you very regularly and really appreciate this blog.
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July 31, 2015 at 3:03 pm
1. Lab tech/biology undergrad. Come for healthy doses of realism to break up the prolonged periods of professors spewing out unrealistic sunshine & rainbows views.
2. I think I might have recommended this site to a chem grad student but can’t be sure.
3. I found the blog & follow pretty much entirely through Twitter.
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July 31, 2015 at 3:05 pm
1. Recently tenured associate professor at a medical school. I might have been reading the blog since my postdoctoral days, not sure. Definitely relied on the advice from this blog (in addition to mentoring from my colleagues) to obtain my first R01.
2. Haven’t told anyone but I think some of my colleagues might be reading it, based on the fact that we have discussed “how bloggers have reacted to recent NIH reforms, such as the new biosketch”.
3. Not sure how I found the blog but I have been reading science careerism blog since graduate school. Read online and follow on Twitter (and have been retwitted by DM once, yay!).
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July 31, 2015 at 3:12 pm
1) Neuro asst. prof at MRU. Come here for the straight talk.
2) yes, but most in my circle are all ready aware of the blog
3) first introduced to blog via my better half of my 2 body problem. Now follow on the twitter and the book of faces.
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July 31, 2015 at 3:58 pm
1. I’m a postdoc working in an immunology lab (5 years post Ph.D.!). I read the blog for the careerism and grantsmanship content, and to see what people at other career stages think about the current state of science and how it can be improved; funding, training, publication, peer-review, open access … all of these get discussed here and it’s always informative.
2. I show posts to my wife to prove that other people rant about the same stuff that I do. I have also shared posts with other postdocs.
3. I think I first found the blog a few years ago via a link from Mike the Mad Biologist. I come here regularly to check out new posts and comments, and also follow DM on twitter.
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July 31, 2015 at 4:16 pm
1. Was an NIH-funded investigator. Now an SRO at an IC. Originally, was interested in information that could help me secure funding. Now read the blog to try to stay connected with the current experiences/perspectives of applicants and reviewers. Also, this blog has the added value of being very entertaining.
2. Perhaps, but don’t clearly remember.
3. Don’t remember. It was several years ago. Catch up with posts at least monthly.
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July 31, 2015 at 5:02 pm
Recently promoted Full Prof at a R1 and Med Center. I was spiraling down the bowl towards th cull until a recent grant hit. Reading DM has made me feel normal when I was thinking of alternate career choices. I read the blog weekly to daily and also follow on Twitter, usually catching up each morning at breakfast. I have not posted until now, although have been tempted quite frequently.
I tell students and fellow faculty about DM and other blogs.
The blog was recommended to me by a faculty colleague who apparently thought I needed to have more distractions in my life.
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July 31, 2015 at 7:46 pm
1) Postdoc at an ILAF. K99 probable, all glamour pubs. I come here for grant advice and a more realistic view of the scientific labor force from outside the BSD microsphere. Mostly because I’d really not stick around this environment forever. Though I suppose cynically, if I do become a BSD, I’d want to know how the “little people” on the committees think.
Personally I think it’s incredibly odd that the people serving on NIH permanent study sections have not become incredibly influential.
2) I help with the Future of Research group out of Boston, and so I am constantly pointing out blog posts here, most often to to countermand the “disgruntle doc” arguments being raised. E.g. “PIs should pay us more!”, “Ok ,well, according to the numbers, they do, as a percent of R01 support.” This does not win me many friends, but I like to credit it for why PIs take us slightly more seriously than most.
3) Not actually sure. I think I was looking to find out how you discover if your grant has been designated a particular disease categorization (RCDC). Oddly enough, I don’t think I found the answer here or anywhere else.
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July 31, 2015 at 10:47 pm
1. From grad school all the way through to now, as asst prof. You and CPP get some of the credit/blame for that.
2. I used to, but not so much anymore. This way I can still astonish my elders with my remarkable command of NIH nuance, funding variations, and movements to de-populate grad school. Just the other week I told some tenured profs about success rates of R01 renewal vs new and they were surprised. So, you make me look smart, and I’m a fan of that.
3. When I open a new tab in Firefox, Scientopia is one of the choices.
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August 1, 2015 at 10:24 am
1. Established, tenured. An HHMI investigator, so a BSD I suppose, although my husband doesn’t seem to think so and he’d be in the best position to know, eh? Came of age in a different career climate, and fully aware that my first R01 application (funded on one try) would be quickly triaged today, with summary statements cut and pasted whole from Stock Critique. I come here for the snark and CPP’s way with wordes (like an earlier poster, I’m easily amused), I stay because it’s thought provoking. Perspectives on grants, NIH policies, and careerism in posts and, especially, comments are things more junior folks I know are probably thinking but generally won’t say to me. I worry about my trainees and junior colleagues who have to interact with the current world differently from the way I do, and aware that many aspects of my career experience aren’t a good template for them to follow. So, it’s useful to learn from other points of view.
2. A few postdocs. I’ve used info from here in a (mostly) friendly argument with an NIH division director about funding levels, review processes, and people vs projects funding mechanisms.
3. Followed a friend’s link from FB. What’s twitter?
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August 2, 2015 at 1:04 am
1. Postdoc in biophysics. Here for various bits of grant / careerism advice, general whining purposes.
2. Have definitely told some fellow postdocs about scientopia, and the things they didn’t know until they found it here were pretty interesting. I think we may be isolated from how bad it can be at the PI level, so it’s fascinating and discouraging to see the comments here from people a rung or two ahead.
3. Check fairly often, twitter and via main site.
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August 2, 2015 at 4:02 am
1) I’m a USian trained sci doing a postdoc in the UK. I find your (and datahound’s) explanations about grant smithing / funding agency workings a bit easier to understand than some of the NIH-y websites and guides. I’m still learning, and it has been helpful. Also enjoy reading your perspective on various careerism/social issues. Thanks, and I hope you (all of the scientopia bloggers, really) keep it up!
2) Yes, in grad school we (me & my cohorts) were reading DM. I haven’t found as many Brits/Euros who’ve read here, but I’ve definitely recommended it. I haven’t sent it to non-scis yet. But I suppose I would.
3) I think I followed a link to here via Dr. Isis many many years ago, but now I mostly follow via twitter.
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August 2, 2015 at 4:28 pm
1) I am a systems administrator for supercomputing systems at a national lab. I left a materials science PhD program when I realized I was miserable there, and also that I found my computers more interesting than my research. But I have a lot of friends still on the academic track in various fields, so I can sympathize with any of the issues in this blog; and the writing is good. š
2) I have occasionally tweeted links to posts here.
3) I’ve been reading since the scienceblogs days (and I was still a PhD student). The blog is in my feed reader.
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August 2, 2015 at 5:08 pm
Full professor at flyover U Med Center. Found blog several years ago by googling terms such as “NIH funding cuts” “grantsmanship” and “Don’t use Arial font or you will be leaving points on the table”.
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August 2, 2015 at 8:02 pm
Assistant prof at R1. Have been following since shortly after finishing my PhD. I only come for the career stuff, but this is really great. I have a small NIH funded lab in which I am very very happy. I owe much to this blog. I am sure it would have taken many more attempts and several more years without this blog. That could have been been the end of my attempt. Thanks to this blog I am also painfully aware of how lucky I am.
For a while I set my home page in the lab computer to the blog entry “Hey! Submit that R01 now!”. Another really great entry was the one on rookies in Study section. my first SS was almost exactly like that.
I still use the small superscript numbers in my applications.
I have shared the blog with a few people, all starting profs.
Only started commenting very recently. Hope I can contribute a little.
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August 3, 2015 at 10:54 am
1) I am a tenure-track assistant professor in my third year at a medical center. I come for the grantspersonship, careerism, diversity in science, and humor. I found this blog along with a bunch of others when I was seeking advice about applying for faculty positions. Sorry to say that I generally skip the drug posts (sheepish).
2) I have told people about this blog and sent links to posts often – faculty, postdocs, students, and those pondering a career in academic science. Usually I link to posts on either careerism or NIH maneuvering. I have referred non-scientists to posts, usually those in grants or academic administration. I haven’t sent links to people close to me that don’t understand my career – might consider that now, though.
3) I am a very regular follower and use google to find you. I mostly lurk and (very) occasionally post. I realize that my daily check ins with this and other blogs (and now twitter) are pure writing procrastination and I am trying to reduce the frequency – we will see how that goes.
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August 3, 2015 at 1:31 pm
1) K-funded “post-postdoc” trying to figure out how to cut the chord from my cushy position in my mentor’s lab. I’m coming up on the 5-year mark in this lab (3-year postdoc, almost 2 as “junior faculty”), so I’ve got to leave soon. Chasing the “big paper”… help me. I’m at an East coast Ivy school of medicine. I love my work and come here for career and grant advice. I’m especially interested in promoting more women staying in academia and working up the ranks. I’ve been reading this blog since grad school. I occasionally get heated about comments that shit all over postdocs. I also have a personal interest in addiction research as the sister of a recovering heroin addict.
2) I tell my mentees and peers about this blog and they love it. I’ve had a tougher time convincing any of my older mentors that they should read it. I’d send to my family if they’d have any idea what any of it means, but I’m not sure they’d be interested (first generation scientist/professional degree).
3) I found the is blog via Dr. Isis and follow regularly through Twitter.
Thank you for taking the time to write this blog. It has had a very real impact on my career and I consider you a valuable mentor though I’ve no idea who you are.
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August 3, 2015 at 8:07 pm
A not quite failed professorial techno-bunny, a year from retirement, at a wanna be research university that has a lot to be proud of but has swallowed the Kool-Aid. The usual frustrations, but Eli has been able over the years to more or less keep up with the fields (chemical physics and materials science) and stay funded. For amusement there is the blog (Rabett Run) that grew out of frustrations with sci.environment.
Read Drugmonkey for the insights into NIH culture and on occasion point out how things are at the other agencies.
Came here from Female Sci Prof who was always challenging and, of course, occasionally frustrating.
Glad to hear that Pinko got tenure.
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August 3, 2015 at 8:52 pm
1) Mid-career soft-money faculty at a R1 institution. I originally was drawn to DM’s playground to help hone the grants and learn which fonts would win over the reviewers (I Still think Georgia is sexy and seductive) since I’m constantly writing to keep the lights on, but stuck around as I got older to learn more about grantsmanship and that I should be resentful of greyhairs/beards. I also like to pisse the oldesters off with “edgy language”, which is sort of fun in a sad sort of way.
2) I tell no one about this blog, as it will only help the competition. I considered making a fake DrugMonkeey blog to disseminate bad advice to the gullible noobs (of course you don’t need preliminary data in R21s, it says it right there! Send it in, sonny!), but it was too much work and I figured most of us fukke up enough without additional help.
3) I was googling font porn and came across this area of the interwebs. While disappointing on on the font porn front, I have in fact learned some great stuff here.
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August 4, 2015 at 10:25 am
1) Tell me about yourself. Who are you? Do you have a background in science? If so, what draws you here as opposed to meatier, more academic fare? And if not, what brought you here and why have you stayed? OE, US public-university educated, applied scientist/un-civil engineer. Studied engineering after several years in the trades, kinda just fell into it while taking a couple of advanced math classes non-matriculated. Periodically daydream about cutting out and running away to sea. I can’t remember what caught my attention. I like your sense of humor. However, being in a consulting firm in the construction industry, there’s a helluva lot I don’t understand at all in your posts. But, then I go and look things up. Sometimes I actually figure out what you are writing about. Hint: It is usually not the chemistry — we have clients who pay our invoices (most of the time), grants are not part of the picture here. THAT is a whole ‘nother world!
2) Have you told anyone else about this blog? Why? Were they folks who are not a scientist?. Ever sent anything to family members or groups of friends who don’t understand your career? Yes. Yes. Yes.
3) How did you find us and how do you regularly follow us? Found you through FSP. I have you bookmarked and check you regularly. Also I get your e-mail notifications.
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August 4, 2015 at 12:19 pm
1) I’m a 3rd year neuro PhD student. I like seeing people talk about the problems and flaws in academia, both as a philosophic topic and as a practical one. I’d like to know what exactly it is I’ve gotten myself in to, what the reality of my chosen career path is as opposed to the “don’t worry about it yet, it’ll all work itself out” rhetoric that I get from way too many of the successful people that I try to get advice from.
2) I have not, but because I don’t know of anyone looking for this type of blog. This would be one of the first I’d recommend to someone coming into science that wanted to get a new point of view on how the system works in practice.
3) A link from some other science blog, probably Isis. I use feedly to see updates, and on interesting articles I click to the original post so that I can read through comments.
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August 5, 2015 at 10:31 am
1) 2nd year assistant professor at a barely R1. Basic research on model organisms that straddle the NIH/NSF divide. I’ve been a mostly lurker since my postdoc (posted under a couple old pseuds that didnt’ take, so I recently backronymed ASS). I stay for the terrific advice and CPP’s creative profanities.
2) Sure, I have pointed out specific posts to my students and friends/colleagues.
3) Googling for grant advice.
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August 10, 2015 at 6:58 pm
Just a random lurker NIH PO who thinks half or what you write is on target, half is crap and half is useful. The trick is figuring out what you write goes where.
PS Don’t assume that none of the crap isn’t also useful.
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