Happy 2021!!!!!

As we turn our backs on 2020, a real jackass of a year, I wish you all good fortune. May your grant applications be funded, your papers be published and your exciting new science keep you jumping to see new data every week.

I’m not a big fan of huge sweeping goals and resolutions, personally. And right now, I am going to be satisfied with putting my research program back together.

As you will recall, I changed jobs in early 2019. We were juuuuusst getting the laboratory into something resembling operational shape in January 2020. And then Covid hit.

This has been very much not-fun for me. As you can imagine. The hardest thing of all is the loss of the data stream. As I may have mentioned before this is the bulk of the reason why I do this job. To see the data.

But I also picked up some new responsibilities in 2020, in part due to the job change and in part due to the death of George Floyd, murdered by Minneapolis police officers in May. Our various academic institutions had a bit of a moment. This caused an opening. A “strike while the iron is hot” moment. From my perspective anyway. So, despite a certain weariness with institutional efforts on diversity, I’m back in the fight. I say yes to way more things than I would have prior to May of 2020. I am accepting more obvious tokenism offers. I am bearing down.

I plan to continue that for a little bit more. Until the steam seems to have escaped and the ingot as cold as the earth.

I have been delighted to see many of you doing the same. Recognizing this moment and getting down to work with hammer and tongs. I know you can’t all sustain these efforts forever. Do it as long as you can. And then rest knowing you did your part.

Happy New Year.

Minor update

I’m in the midst of a significant career….something. Plainly put, I’m changing jobs in the very near future and will be moving my laboratory. As you are used to, Dear Reader, I have a tendency to work out stuff I’ve been thinking about on the blog. Sometimes it is long delayed from the triggering event(s). Sometimes it comes up as a weird pastiche of many different experiences that I have drawn together in my mind. Most of the time I think that what I have been pondering may have some value in terms of the career aspects of this blog that keeps some Readers coming around.

This will be no different.

So I thought I should give a little bit of alert and outline to my remaining Readers.

Up to this point, as you know, I describe my job as an exclusively soft money gig. I’m responsible for securing grants to fund my lab operation and the salaries of my staff. Most pointedly, my own. I tend not to be highly specific about my career timeline on the blog but I’m coming up on two decades as a lab head and as a continuously NIH funded one at that. (touch wood). So this feels like a big mid-career change of the variety that I would prefer there be only one. I’ve been thinking a lot over the past two years about “the second half of my career” in the context of this transition.

Oh yeah. It has been a two year process. And it has a story. Actually, it has many stories. With many, many moving parts and it involves an unusually large number of other people. So. It is not impossible that I will feel unable to talk about some parts of this and may have to flat out lie about some other things if I think it violates someone’s privacy too much. And I will use my usual unreservedly heavy hand of moderation in the comments if anyone strays too far afield with specifics.

At any rate, the thumbnail sketch is this. I will be in a University med school department environment within a few months. It is still a soft money type gig and the expectations of me do not change. I’m supposed to get grants, do science and publish science. I do, however, get partial hard money support of my salary which is a change. Other major changes include the fact I’m going to have to do some teaching and service work that I’ve been able to essentially dodge up to this point, but nothing terribly onerous. I anticipate dealing with a lot more bureaucracy than I had to negotiate up until now.

So….why?

Before I address that, I have some more blog notes. I started this blog in 2007, using a pseudonym for various reasons of which only some involve me in a personal way. As part of that, and to support those reasons, I tried to keep a lot of personal specifics out of the discussion. This has had its pluses and minuses over the years, and some hilariousity when people assumed I was older, whiter, more female and a host of other things compared with my actual self. Nevertheless it was always my mantra that pseuds only work in a particular direction and if anyone knows your real voice they are going to sniff out your pseud in a trice. And I’ve found this to be true. It is occasionally so obvious to some people that they literally cannot believe you mean the pseud to actually be detached from your real identity and they will bust out with the connection in broad daylight without any particular malign intent. Some time ago a not-all-that-close-to-me colleague referred to my pseud as “the worst kept secret in drug abuse (science)”. Probably true. Most pertinently, my current department colleagues know, my trainees know and my colleagues’ trainees know. The point person on the hire that has resulted in my new job has known since before this all started- pretty sure some key communications occurred on Twitter DMs. Some of the colleagues in the department I am joining know. The blog is something I mention on career brag documents so anyone who was asked to write a reference letter for me knows. The point is that this narrows the space of who I am potentially talking about when I indirectly mention others who are involved in my current job transition. Or when I only mention things that involve other people. So I’m going to have to be a little bit careful, although inevitably my points about myself may draw some contrasts or point some fingers.

On to the “whys”.

• I miss being on a University campus.
• I’ve always existed on the outskirts of a department that is itself on the outskirts of my current institution. Scientifically and politically, which has had implications for my career, believe me. I am joining a department for which my work is more in the comfort zone. For now, at least, I feel my work will be a lot more appreciated.
• My current institution has had its financial and administrative instability hit the papers occasionally. No need for specifics but ultimately I cannot be 100% certain my job in it, or the institution itself, will last my desired career length. The University I am joining will still be here after my grand children are dead.
• Partial hard money salary, with a tenure guarantee of same until I retire, is a large contrast with my prospects in my current gig.

I was going to say “in no particular order” but right now reading this, it looks like my actual order. fwiw. As far as the other stuff goes, you may assume it is all workable at the worst. Space and support for my work and what not. All good enough to make it work.

Twitter Cloud

Sounds just about right

Happy 2017!

Happy New Year everyone!

Generate knowledge.

Act like a decent person.

Oppose and illuminate the indecent behavior that crosses your path.

Twelve Months of Drugmonkey (2016)

I’ve been doing these year-end summaries for quite some time now. Previously I’ve posted a link to the first post of every month. For this year I’m going to shake it up and post the last entry of the month.

Jan: In the NIH extramural grant funding world the maximum duration for a project is 5 years.

Feb: There are these moments in science where you face a decision…Am I going to be the selfish asshole here?

Mar: Jocelyn Kaiser reports that some people who applied for MIRA person-not-project support from NIGMS are now complaining.

Apr: The Ramirez Group is practicing open grantsmanship by posting “R01 Style” documents on a website.

May: By now most of you are familiar with the huge plume of vapor emitted by a user of an e-cigarette device on the streets.

Jun: A Daniel Sarewitz wrote an opinion piece in Nature awhile back to argue that the pressure to publish regularly has driven down the quality of science.

Jul: The other lesson to be drawn from recent political events and applied to science careers is not to let toxic personalities drive the ship.

Aug: From the NYT account of the shooting of Dennis Charney:

Sep: The NIH FOAs come in many flavors of specificity.

Oct: Imagine that the New Investigator status (no prior service as PI of major NIH grant) required an extra timeline document?

Nov: So. A federal judge* managed to put a hold on Obama’s move to increase the threshold for overtime exemption.

Dec: If you love the NIH and its mission, your mantra for the next four years is a simple one.

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[2015][2014][2012][2011][2010][2009][2008]

Seven jobs

Someone asked about your first seven jobs on the twitts:

What were your first 7 jobs?

Babysitting, janitorial, slinging coffee, yard work, writing radio news, voice-overs, data entry/secretarial

— Marian Call (@mariancall) August 5, 2016

It’s especially interesting to me because I have on again, off again conversations with a peer or two about how the employment history of academic trainees makes a difference. In essence my position boils down to thinking the more you’ve learned to work hard in shitty jobs, the more you are able to see academic science as a fine privilege that deserves a little bit of hard work. And the less you see it as your entitlement by birthright that functions as an optional vocation that should reward you with a comfortable life regardless of performance.
(#7firstjobs might be entertaining)

My answer was:

1) baby sitter: Probably the first thing I ever did for cash. 11 years old? maybe? It was basically the covering for the parents going out on a date type of deal. So, very easy work putting the kids to bed and watching television for a few hours. We didn’t have a teevee so that was part of the compensation as far as I was concerned.

2) lawn mower: I always mostly enjoyed the mowing of my own lawn as a kid. A straightforward job with a clear endpoint. And you could look at your work and see a difference. So I mowed a few lawns around the neighborhood. Not totally sure start and end dates but lets say before the age of 12. Pretty easy money.

3) forestry labor: pulling christmas trees out of the woods in knee high snow, fertilizing and trimming trees in the summer. tree tagging. maple sugaring. clearing stuff from place a to place b. off and on from about 8 or 10 to mid teens, I think. Learned all about getting the thing done, no excuses*, in this stint. And about actual hard work. And, eventually, something about the rewards of being the guy the boss can trust to get the thing accomplished.

4) table waiter: for a few years I worked summers at a Gordon Conference location. three meals a day and all the breaks in between to screw around with the other kids who worked there. high school years…..MAN we had fun. One summer at a real restaurant- better money, shorter overall hours, but way less fun.

5) contractor crew: Dumb labor of “move all this heavy shit over to where the skilled people are” to start. Also “hold this”. Eventually learned a little bit of framing, sheetrocking, insulation and some other stuff. Formative job for sure. 10 h days, 4 days a week. Work, home, eat, shower, sleep, off to work again. Trying to get in my bike training- remember that post work scene in Breaking Away? Like that. Working next to 40-50 y old guys for whom this was all it was ever going to be. Boss who rode you no matter the fact you were a dumb laborer (in pay) because he expected you to act like an experienced carpenter. Another really clear lesson about being the guy who gets shit done- my friend joined the crew at same time and was fired in two weeks. Ended a bust ass exhausting summer and went back to school where I wrote a tuition check for essentially the entire amount I had earned all summer (lesson learned, Dad, lesson learned).

6) dishwasher: really brief stint in a nasty, cramped kitchen of a pretty chi chi resort restaurant. The meals we got when on shift were phenomenal, but the work…I may never have been so grimy in my life before or since. Had some exp with industrial dishwashing due to number 4 but…ugh. This blew.

7) music festival roustabout: Built staging, ran spotlights, picked up the talent from the airport. Don McLean (American Pie fame) was an asshole. Remaining Mommas and Poppas were cool. Bonnie Rait concert was amazing.

How about you, folks? What were your first seven paying gigs?

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*One of my favorite lines, issued in the context of putting hay into pickemuptrucks, from the boss of this outfit (who is kind of uncle-like in my development as a man): “Don’t wish it up there, Randy!”.

Toxicity

The other lesson to be drawn from recent political events and applied to science careers is not to let toxic personalities drive the ship. 

Yes this means not giving them control over anything that is really important. 
But it also means not letting them control you to the extent you are reacting to them, more than doing your thing. 

It applies to grant and paper revisions. It applies to the science you do, how you do it and who you choose to work with. 

It means you need to wall the toxic actors off in their own little silo, only dealing with them at need or desire. 

I should really post something science related

Really I’ve been meaning to, Dear Reader.

I’ve been distracted by a couple of work related things.

But I do want to draw together a thought from the Democratic convention speeches this week and the profession of science.

We are stronger together. Science works best when it is collaborative…we all parrot this truthism at one time or another. And we do collaborate. Within our laboratories if nothing else.

There is also competition. No doubt, no doubt. Very pointed in some ways. We’ve talked about the long odds of making it through to the professor chair, of getting the grants funded and of getting the paper published in just the right journals.

It’s tempting to go low.

Michelle Obama says she always goes high when they go low.

She’s right, you know? In the short term it may cost you a bit. Missing that opportunity to do dirt to your professional competition may let them advance in some small way beyond you. Maybe a not so small way.

I’m convinced, however, that taking the high road tends to work out better in the long run.

My confidence in this was wavering a tiny little bit in recent times. It’s nice to be reminded that people who act the ass eventually are going to pay a price. You can get by for a little while but eventually, eventually, you are going to run out of those willing to give you a benefit of the doubt. Run out of friends and supporters. Run out of collaborators.

Because when it comes right down to it there are many scientific collaborators out there to work with. If you develop a bad reputation, they will choose others.

It took until this week to see a full slate of unreserved admiration and respect for the political life of Hillary Clinton on display. To my recollection anyway. It took a long time for her. I don’t know that she always took the high road but she sure didn’t take many low ones, especially given the vitriol directed at her over the years.

So I’m not saying take the high road because it will lead to immediate recognition and reward. It may take some time. It may never occur.

But hey, at least you can look yourself in the mirror every day without flinching.

Sunday Sermon

I just want you to think about that which you do. 

You meet the nicest people on the science blogs

I was recently reminded, again, that the science folks on social media are pretty good folks to know. If you happen to notice that you will be travel overlapping in a city with someone you only know via the blogs or the Twitters, reach out.

It won’t always be possible* to meet up for a coffee, beer or meal, sure. But if you can work out the scheduling, it is well worth it.

In other news, I finally got a chance to meet Dr. Rubidium. So that was nice.

In case you missed it on the twitters, she’s Scientopia’s latest newly hired Assistant Professor, starting in the fall.

@David_Dobbs I'm joining @stedwardsu as an Assistant Professor of Chemistry

— Raychelle Burks (@DrRubidium) February 11, 2016

Please join me in congratulating her, if you missed the chance to do so on Twitter.

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*and yeah, I know, creepers are on social sci-media too. Be circumspect. Get references from people you trust if you have to! 🙂

A comprehensive guide to using social media to your advantage

1. Entertain yourself.

Nine

Nine years.

Nine years ago my dismay at the way certain Ecstasy and pot enthusiasts conducted misinformation campaigns online, and dismay over certain realities of the scientific career arc reached a threshold.

I had been reading science blogs and, particularly, several ScienceBlogs, so the outlet immediately presented itself.

Much spleen has been vented and my sanity kept near the critical line.

I’ve read comments from people that I would have never known, still don’t beyond the confines of this blog in many cases* and learned a great deal as a consequence.

I’ve gotten to know people in my field that I would have known only at a handshake level. I’ve gotten to know some fantastic people in other fields or walks of life that I would have never run across.

In short, it has been a lot of fun writing this blog over the past nine years.

I can quit anytime I want.
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*as recently as the last few months I’ve had a long term blog commenter out self to me and I was shocked to discover it wasn’t a woman like I thought.

Twelve Months of DrugMonkey (2015)

Jan: Here’s to wishing all of my Readers a fantastic 2015. May your grants be funded, your papers accepted and your promotions obtained.

Feb: Some people try to get into a mental frame for grant writing with disruptions of their normal workaday routine.

Mar: There is one thing that concerns me about the Journal of Neuroscience banning three authors from future submission in the wake of a paper retraction.

Apr: challdreams wrote on rejection.

 These things may or may not be part of your personal life, where rejection rears its head at times and you are left to deal with the fall out.

May: Neuroscientist Nikos Logothetis (PubMed) has informed his colleagues that he is stopping his long running nonhuman primate research program.

Jun: First of all, if you don’t understand that anything featuring groups of humans is in the broader sense “political” than you are a fool.

Jul: I still get irritated every time a PO gives me some grant advice or guidance that is discordant with my best understanding of the process.

Aug: Sometimes, I page back through my Web of Science list of pubs to the minimal citations range.

Sep: How many staff members (mix of techs, undergrads, graduate students, postdocs, staff sci, PI) constitute a “medium sized laboratory” in your opinion?

Oct: Are you familiar with any Universities that award some sort of official recognition of the completion of a postdoctoral term of scientific training?

Nov: PAR-16-025 invites applications for the R50 Research Specialist award.

Dec: It emerged on the Twitts today that sometimes postdocs can defer student loans and sometimes they cannot.

Who are you, what are you doing here and why are you looking at me??? The Reboot

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.]

Open Thread

Whatcha got for me today?