A PhD Is Not Enough!: A Guide to Survival in Science

by Peter J. Feibelman

Overview

Everything you ever need to know about making it as a scientist.

Despite your graduate education, brainpower, and technical prowess, your career in scientific research is far from assured. Permanent positions are scarce, science survival is rarely part of formal graduate training, and a good mentor is hard to find.

In A Ph.D. Is Not Enough!, physicist Peter J. Feibelman lays out a rational path to a fulfilling long-term research career. He offers sound advice on selecting a thesis or postdoctoral adviser; choosing among research jobs in academia, government laboratories, and industry; preparing for an employment interview; and defining a research program. The guidance offered in A Ph.D. Is Not Enough! will help you make your oral presentations more effective, your journal articles more compelling, and your grant proposals more successful.

A classic guide for recent and soon-to-be graduates, A Ph.D. Is Not Enough! remains required reading for anyone on the threshold of a career in science. This new edition includes two new chapters and is revised and updated throughout to reflect how the revolution in electronic communication has transformed the field.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780465025336
Publisher:	Basic Books
Publication date:	01/11/2011
Sold by:	Hachette Digital, Inc.
Format:	eBook
Pages:	176
Lexile:	1280L (what's this?)
File size:	505 KB
Age Range:	13 - 18 Years

About the Author

A Senior Scientist at Sandia National Laboratories, Peter J. Feibelman received a Ph.D. in Physics from the University of California at San Diego, did postdoctoral research at the C.E.N. Saclay (France) and the University of Illinois (Urbana), and taught for three years at Stony Brook University. Feibelman lives in Albuquerque, New Mexico.

Table of Contents

Preface: What This Book Is About xi

Acknowledgements xix

Chapter 1 Do You See Yourself in This Picture? 1

Chapter 2 Advice from a Dinosaur? 19

Chapter 3 Important Choices: A Thesis Adviser, a Postdoctoral Job 27

Chapter 4 Giving Talks 39

Chapter 5 Writing Papers: Publishing Without Perishing 53

Chapter 6 From Here to Tenure: Choosing a Career Path 69

Chapter 7 Job Interviews 91

Chapter 8 Getting Funded 107

Chapter 9 Establishing a Research Program 121

Chapter 10 A Survival Checklist 135

Afterthoughts 141

Editorial Reviews

"It took me over forty years to learn from experience what can be learned in one hour from this guide."
—Carl Djerassi

"Breezily written, irreverent, and filled with useful information. I wish something like it had been available when I was starting out."
—Michael Weber, Cancer Center Director, University of Virginia, Charlottesville

"I loved A PhD Is Not Enough! I couldn't put it down. His writing is delightful, and he is on targed with virtually all of his advice."—Steven H. Strogatz, author of The Joy of X

From the Publisher