A PhD Is Not Enough! Quotes

“No technical skill is worth more than knowing how to select exciting research projects. Regrettably, this vital ability is almost never taught.”
― Peter J. Feibelman, A PhD Is Not Enough!: A Guide to Survival in Science

“There has to be some theme to your work - some objective - something you want to know. There has to be a story line.”
― Peter J. Feibelman, A PhD Is Not Enough!: A Guide to Survival in Science

“Thus, it is absolutely fatal not to have given thought to your scientific direction, not to be able to articulate what you plan to do in the next two or three years and why. Under”
― Peter J. Feibelman, A PhD Is Not Enough!: A Guide to Survival in Science

“My solution to this problem is to start thinking about the first paragraph of an article when I begin a project rather than when I complete it.”
― Peter J. Feibelman, A PhD Is Not Enough!: A Guide to Survival in Science

“… no technical skill is worth more than knowing how to select exciting research projects. Regrettably, this vital ability is almost never taught. When I signed on with a research adviser in my first year of graduate school, I was thrilled to be given a problem to work in the physics of the upper atmosphere. That I had no idea what motivated the problem did not prevent me from carrying out an analysis, on a supercomputer of the day, and publishing my first paper at the age of 22… I found myself assimilating technical skills without ever grasping the significance of the problem, without understanding how or whether it was at the cutting edge of science. This way of working became a habit, one that seriously threatened my career… I relied on a senior scientist to tell me what would be an interesting problem to work on; then I would carry out the task… Four years and two postdoctoral positions after earning a PhD—still having little sense of what I wanted to learn as a scientist—I was on the job market.”
― Peter J. Feibelman, A PhD Is Not Enough!: A Guide to Survival in Science

“In making my work meaningful to others, I had also made it compelling to myself. No longer was I just working on somebody else's problems. I was part of an intellectual enterprise with relatively well-defined goals, which might actually make a difference to humanity.”
― Peter J. Feibelman, A PhD Is Not Enough!: A Guide to Survival in Science

“If you know why you have chosen to work on a particular problem, it is easy to present an absorbing seminar. Start out by telling your story, why the field you are working in is an important one, and what the main problems are. Give some historical material showing where the field is, the relative advantages of different methods, and so on. Then outline what you did, and describe your results. Conclude with a statement of how your results have advanced our understanding of nature, and perhaps give an inkling of the new directions that your work opens up. Do not assume that your audience comprises experts only. There may be a couple of them, but even experts like to hear things that they understand and particularly to have their colleagues hear (from someone else) why their field is an important one.”
― Peter J. Feibelman, A PhD Is Not Enough!: A Guide to Survival in Science

“If your postdoctoral adviser suggests that you work on a major, long-term project, you should at the very least ask for an estimate of what you will have to show for your efforts by the time your job hunt is to begin. You might also ask whether you will continue to receive financial support if your results are still several months off when your postdoctoral term is due to end.”
― Peter J. Feibelman, A PhD Is Not Enough!: A Guide to Survival in Science

“to do next? Are you a leader or a follower? Will you take an interest in your colleagues’ work, or will you shut the door to your lab or office and never come out? Do you possess scientific curiosity, or do you view research as just another job? The drones, the followers, and the noninteractors, in general, need not apply.”
― Peter J. Feibelman, A PhD Is Not Enough!: A Guide to Survival in Science

“Are there arguments you have thought about and used but not written into your text? Are you wishy-washy about inferences you have drawn, instead of forceful, because there are missing links in the logic? If so, you either need to work a little longer before writing your paper, or be forthright about what is conjecture and what has actually been proven. Even if the referee does not catch the weak points of your manuscript, you must not forget that your paper will be on public view for a long time.”
― Peter J. Feibelman, A PhD Is Not Enough!: A Guide to Survival in Science

“Its structure should be organic, invisible. Your listeners should be propelled from idea to idea with the same sense of inevitability they feel on hearing a Bach fugue.”
― Peter J. Feibelman, A PhD Is Not Enough!: A Guide to Survival in Science

“The opening lines of a talk set the tone, make a first impression. The main impressions you want to make are that: 1. you know your field; 2. you are possessed of the scientific curiosity that will make you a valuable colleague; 3. you enjoy doing research; and 4. you plan to convey some useful and interesting information.”
― Peter J. Feibelman, A PhD Is Not Enough!: A Guide to Survival in Science

“They don’t mind hearing things they already understand—it makes people feel good to understand something.”
― Peter J. Feibelman, A PhD Is Not Enough!: A Guide to Survival in Science

“What you really want to achieve as a postdoctoral researcher is to gain the respect of three or four staff members where you work who will write you good recommendations. If”
― Peter J. Feibelman, A PhD Is Not Enough!: A Guide to Survival in Science

“You have three important tasks in your postdoctoral years: You must decide in what area of science to make your name. You must finish at least one significant project. And, you must establish your identity in the research community sufficiently to land an assistant professorship or a junior position in an industrial or government laboratory. You have little time to waste because it will not be long after you begin your postdoctoral work that you will be back on the job market.”
― Peter J. Feibelman, A PhD Is Not Enough!: A Guide to Survival in Science

“You want to be involved in one or several short-term projects.”
― Peter J. Feibelman, A PhD Is Not Enough!: A Guide to Survival in Science

“For you, however, a beginning scientist, the exercise of preparing a proposal is an integral part of what you must do to make the transition from someone who is technically able and somewhat knowledgeable to a real member of the scientific community.”
― Peter J. Feibelman, A PhD Is Not Enough!: A Guide to Survival in Science

“Scientists are like terriers, trained to chase down and pick apart reasoning that is not rigorous.”
― Peter J. Feibelman, A PhD Is Not Enough!: A Guide to Survival in Science