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- 《Science》：Advice to a young scientist
Career Advice
Advice to a young scientist
By
Elisabeth Pain
May 12, 2015
“Sometimes, choosing a good research project … isn’t something that comes
out of a rational process.” —Pedro Miguel Echenique
BILBAO, SPAIN—In these days of increased competition and uncertain career
prospects in academia, it is easy for young scientists to forget why they do
science in the first place. But too much career anxiety can backfire, put young
scientists at risk of losing the fun of science, and harm their chances of
success. “Today, in contrast to our days, [young investigators] must be
continuously justifying what they do. They find themselves under a great
pressure, and I believe that this isn’t good for creativity, which is the essence of
the scientific activity,” condensed matter physicist Pedro Miguel Echenique of
the University of the Basque Country (UPV), told the audience of young
scientists last Thursday at the Science+ event, which was organized by the
associations of Spanish scientists in the United Kingdom and Germany and
UPV. Some fields are more competitive than others, but “the abilities to survive in
science can be learned,” Echenique, who is the president of the Donostia
International Physics Center and a past recipient of the Prince of Asturias
Award for Scientific and Technical Research, told his audience. Here, Science
Careers passes on some of the advice that Echenique gave during his talk. The
most important things, he said, are to cultivate your scientific curiosity, take
pride in doing things well, and nurture great but realistic ambitions. Here’s the
rest:
Choose well. When deciding where to do your Ph.D. or postdoc, do not base
your decision solely on whether the laboratory has a grant for you or routinely
publishes in high-impact journals. Choose “a place where one feels motivated, where one knows that some fascinating things are being done,” Echenique said.
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Also important is to choose a good supervisor, one who won’t treat you like
“cheap labor at the service of a great project,” he added. “To look after the
young people and their scientific and personal development … is the hallmark
of the great professors.” Choosing a good project is equally important. It’s hard to know in advance
whether a project is going to be good. You can ensure, though, that the project
you choose is significant and can be finished in a reasonable time. It’s also a
good idea for postdocs to work on several projects at once so that if one gets
stalled you can keep moving forward on the others. Learn broadly. Use the early years of your career to learn as many techniques
as you can; they will help you tackle an array of problems in the future. “Technical competency is very important,” Echenique said. Also make sure that
you learn the basic concepts in relevant disciplines, but always with a critical
mind and without trying to know it all. It is important to bring a fresh perspective, he added. Expose yourself to other ways of learning, thinking, and doing by exchanging
ideas with peers and colleagues, gaining experience abroad, and creating a
network of smart friends, Echenique said. Allow yourself to ‘waste time.’ The pressure on today’s young scientists is
such that many do not dare to leave their workbench or computer to pursue
other professional activities, for fear they are wasting their time. Yet it is
important to go to as many seminars as you can, Echenique said. “Sometimes, choosing a good research project … isn’t something that comes out of a rational
process. … One goes to a seminar on something that seems very remote from
one’s theme and suddenly realizes, ‘... I have the tools to tackle this problem.’ ” Get involved in teaching, he added: It will make you a better researcher. Show
interest in the work of your colleagues: that will make you more attractive to
prospective employers, Echenique added. While your years as a Ph.D. student or postdoc are the most decisive in your
career, do not confuse working hard with working all the time. Research is “hard
work in the sense of [having to provide] a great effort of concentration, not long
hours of routine work,” Echenique said. Take time to relax now and then, and
attend the tea and coffee breaks at work. Those breaks give you opportunities
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for informal exchanges with other researchers that can prove very productive. “Forgive yourself for ‘wasting time’,” he suggests. Establish a name for yourself. Young scientists must start making a mark in
their field, and many attempt to do so by joining a laboratory that is led by a
famous researcher or frequently publishes in high-impact journals. A danger of
such an approach is that it could make it difficult to step out of your principal
investigator’s shadow; the papers you produce may add to his or her prestige, not yours. “The best way to make a … name for yourself is [to do] a solid, rigorous, and honored piece of work,” Echenique said. Your research effort must
be balanced, though, with an ability to sell your ideas and secure credit where
credit is due, he added. Hone your communication skills. Communication is also really important, Echenique said. Learn how to give presentations by taking note of what you
liked in other speakers’ talks, and practice in front of peers and mentors. Put
yourself in the shoes of the audience, neither over- nor underestimating them, and ask yourself, “if I was there, would what I’m going to tell them really interest
me?” Learn how to write papers early in your career, even if it is time-consuming and
seems to delay publication at first, Echenique said. While quality is much more
important than quantity, keep in mind that there is a minimal amount of novel
information that is necessary to publish a new paper. “It isn’t a lack of ethics to
distribute the results of an investigation in series of articles,” he said. When the referees’ comments come back, take their criticisms earnestly and
allow yourself a cooling-off time before responding. “Come back to the paper
the next day and try to understand what the referee says, because the referee
is the most attentive reader of your paper,” Echenique said. Even if you don’t
agree with the critics, writing up your response will help you refine your ideas
and become a better researcher, he added. “Many of my colleagues … think that [during an academic career] one must go
through trials and errors, and that those who will survive will be … the strongest
or the most flexible [scientists],” Echenique said. But “I believe that it is better to
learn from the experiences of others than to make all the mistakes” yourself.
In spite of all the pressure and anxiety about securing a permanent,
independent position, never lose sight of your primary driver, the thing that
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really got you into science. “It is very important to have permanent positions, of
course … but they are a means to an end. The aim of a scientist is to advance
knowledge and bring something new. We cannot convert the means into an
end, because [otherwise] we are perverting the process,” Echenique said. It is
true that luck also plays a role, but “if you … do a serious and good piece of
work and you communicate it well, you will have all those things.” Above all, perhaps, to be successful in academia you need to develop your
persistence and preserve your creativity no matter what. “Creativity … is to find
solutions to problems for which there are no recipes,” Echenique said. So be
willing to take risks, he added, and regard each errant step you may take as a
step closer to the truth. Elisabeth Pain is contributing editor for Europe. 10.1126/science.caredit.a1500124
