Starting out in bioanalysis – early career essentials
Over the past 8 years, Bioanalysis Zone have supported and recognized outstanding early-career researchers in the field of bioanalysis. Since its initiation, there have been seven winners with this year’s winner soon to be announced. We followed up with our previous winners to get their tips and advice for those starting out in bioanalysis. Below you can read their top tips on:
- Applying for awards
- Applying for grants
- Applying for PhDs
- Writing a CV
- Poster presentation tips
Top tips for applying for awards
Matthew Lockett (University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, NC, USA; New Investigator Award winner 2017)
- “Apply for every award that will highlight your research or move your career in the right direction.
- Do not be disappointed if you do not win and do not be arrogant if you win.
- There are a lot of great people doing amazing work and being considered for an award is an honor in itself.”
Emmi Zheng (Smith & Nephew, TX, USA; Young Investigator Award winner 2015)
- “Applying and receiving an award only takes a couple days, but to gain it involves long-term preparation and self-improvement.
- Make sure you have passion for your work and keep motivating yourself to be a better you.
- Also, respect the award you are applying for.”
Top tips for applying for grants
Panagiotis Vorkas (Imperical College, London, UK; New Investigator Award winner 2016)
- “Power in numbers – more grants in, more chances.
- Try to be clear, avoid being ambiguous or too ambitious.
- Provide data from feasibility studies.
- Study eligibility and call specific preferences.
- Plan well ahead and check past accepted projects.
- Talk to people who got it and try to get as many people to read it as possible.
- Get feedback if rejected (but even if accepted).
- Contact the organization beforehand and discuss the 3Ps (project person place).
- Try to suggest reviewers if possible and avoid it falling into the hands of competitors.”
Matthew Lockett (University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, NC, USA; New Investigator Award winner 2017)
- “Do not be discouraged when you do not receive the grant.
- Use the critiques to improve your application.
- Trust your instincts when choosing a hard problem to study.
- If you do not truly believe that your research will make a difference, it will be hard to convince others to fund your work.”
Top tips for applying for a PhD
Michelle Johnson (Zoetis, MI, USA; Young Investigator Award winner 2011)
“Choose a PhD advisor based on their research since you will be dedicating the next few years in this area. Also, meet with current students in this research group to see if you would be happy with the group dynamic and expectations. I suggest learning more about the PhD advisor by reading their publications. It is also a good idea to find out if students have been able to publish during their graduate studies.”
Matthew Lockett (University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, NC, USA; New Investigator Award winner 2017)
“Remember that a PhD is not always a picnic and there will be aspects that push you to your mental limits. Choose a group whose philosophy matches your own— for me it was a group whose research excited me, where my fellow students were excited about science and are supportive of each other’s successes and failures and an advisor who understood that sometimes the best thing to maintain momentum and creativity was a short break from the lab.”
Emmi Zheng (Smith & Nephew, TX, USA; Young Investigator Award winner 2015)
“Try to think about what career path you are pursuing (at least industry or academia) and that will help to determine your research field. Find an advisor that is supportive and responsible to their students, understand what you expect to gain from graduate school and be prepared to work hard for it.”
Top tips for writing a CV
Matthew Lockett (University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, NC, USA; New Investigator Award winner 2017)
“Include all aspects of your career that you are proud of and that show who you are as an individual—your research interests, your outreach and dedication to service and achievements you are most proud of.”
Emmi Zheng (Smith & Nephew, TX, USA; Young Investigator Award winner 2015)
“Always adjust the content based on the viewers, highlight the outstanding achievements at the beginning and avoid repeating descriptions about previous experience. Remember to show the diversities of your skills.”
Michelle Johnson (Zoetis, MI, USA; Young Investigator Award winner 2011)
“Keep the CV concise yet highlight your strengths relevant to the job description. Include all instrumentation that you have experience with and indicate what skills you have developed an expertise in.”
Panagiotis Vorkas (Imperical College, London, UK; New Investigator Award winner 2016)
- “Adjust according to job area (academia/industry) and present everything as clearly as possible including relevant keywords (some recruiters use searching tools).
- Do not focus only on research achievements; also demonstrate teaching experience, outreach and public engagement, organizing events and activities demonstrating transferable skills.
- Present your acquired skills clearly.”
Top tips for poster presentations
Matthew Lockett (University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, NC, USA; New Investigator Award Winner 2017)
“Your poster should tell a story, even if you are not there to explain it. Put yourself in the shoes of the poster viewer and generate a list of the key pieces of information they would need to truly understand your work—that list should be used to generate a thoughtful story.”
Emmi Zheng (Smith & Nephew, TX, USA; Young Investigator Award winner 2015)
“Consider the audience background, introduce your poster as telling a story that is easy to understand and fully understand and be confident about your work. Make sure you have a good presentation structure.”
Panagiotis Vorkas (Imperical College, London, UK; New Investigator Award winner 2016)
- Maintain a flow.
- Replace words with figures.
- Balanced in terms of color.
- Make the title intriguing.
- Pay value to the submitted.
- Advertise your presentation (speakers from your lab at the conference and online).
- Fit for the conference audience.
- Ask for feedback relevant to your work.
- Be there and network.
