One of the first things I tell people when I’m asked how I got my foot in the door in academia is that I had a really great mentor. I was in my second year of undergrad, lost and insecure as many of us are at that stage in our lives, and barely even knew what an MRI was. I often say that I have no idea where I would be if my mentor hadn’t taken a chance on me and guided me the way she did. This invaluable mentorship can be hard to find, even if you are actively seeking it. Especially as a new graduate student or early career researcher, it can be intimidating to seek out the help of the “rockstar” scientists we admire - and sometimes we overlook that the best mentorship can come from people that are closer in career stage to us.
Read MoreIn 2017, The OHBM Student and Postdoc SIG launched an International online mentorship programme where mentor/mentee pairs are matched based on their goals and experiences. This is a unique experience where mentees can find direct mentorship and guidance to navigate their career path from mentors with at least three more years of career experience. More details about the history of the programme, the mentor/mentee matching process, and tips on how to launch a successful online mentorship programme can be found in our recently published paper (Bielczyk, N. Z., Veldsman, M. et al., 2019). Currently, there are a total of 558 participants in the programme. In this blog post, we compare statistics from the previous three rounds of the programme.
Read MoreThe OHBM Student and Postdoc Special Interest Group (SP-SIG) are back in action for OHBM’s 25th annual meeting in Rome! This year, we are preparing new editions of our successful events that took place in Singapore: the annual Mentoring and Career Development Symposium, the Lunch with Mentors and the Monday Night Social. Thanks to our sponsors, the Child Mind Institute, the Montreal Neurological Institute, the Wellcome Center for Integrative Neuroimaging and PLOS, we have expanded the scope of our activities to feature brand new events in the form of workshops.
Read MoreJoke Durnez has a background in psychology, a MSc in statistical data analysis and a PhD in neuroimaging, and now works as a data scientist in Silicon Valley. In this interview we ask her bout her experience from transferring from academia to industry.
Read MoreAlejandro Arias Vásquez is working at Radboud University, Nijmegen, researching the neuropsychological traits associated with the genetic and environmental risks of neurodevelopmental disorders such as ADHD and autism. Alejandro is strongly oriented at consortia-based research (a.k.a. Team Based Science), and involved in several big international projects. We present an interview with Alejandro in which he introduces his views on mentoring and supervising his students in times of Team Based Science.
Read MoreNatalia Nowakowska is just completing her PhD at the Department of Oncogenomics of the University of Amsterdam, the Netherlands. She is also doing a freelance job as a copywriter, content writer, and marketing advisor in the blockchain industry. In this interview, we will find out how Natalia found her new job, and what the pros and cons of working as a freelancer are.
On October 15th 2018, Jeff Hawkins gave a keynote lecture at the Open Day of the prestigious Human Brain Project summit in Maastricht, where he introduced his theory of grid cells in neocortex (a.k.a. a Thousand Brains Theory of Intelligence) as the fundamental framework for cortical computation. Interestingly, Jeff is a self-made success: he was never awarded an MSc title, not mentioning about a PhD, and he proposed his new theory as a founder and a director of his own research institute.
Read MoreAnita Bowles is currently Head of Academic Research & Learner Studies at Rosetta Stone in San Jose, California. In the past, she conducted research on linguistics and cognitive psychology and was a research faculty member, while now, she is a manager in a company that produces software to help people learn languages. In this interview, we will find out the story behind Anita’s career path and the reasons for the choices she has made.
Read MoreDr. Ricarda Braukmann is a fresh PhD awardee. Today, she works as a Program Leader for Social Sciences at Data Archiving and Networked Services (DANS), the Dutch institute for permanent access to digital research resources. In this interview, we are going to find out how Dr Braukmann found her current job, how a day of her life looks like right now, and how she thinks about her past, present, and her future.
When looking at the requirements in prestigious grant programs, one could get a fatalistic picture that only a perfect CV following certain standards can lead you to ultimate success in academic career. Recently, there is a body of evidence suggesting that ‘standard career paths’ are not as standard in academia as one might think.
Read MoreThe Online International Mentorship Programme by the OHBM Student and Postdoc Special Interest Group is an ongoing initiative, in which every member of the OHBM community can apply for a mentor or volunteer to mentor earlier career stage researchers. Mentoring pairs meet both online, and face to face during the OHBM annual meeting in a venture to work together on the career development of the mentee.
Read MoreThe OHBM Student and Postdoc SIG runs an international, online mentoring programme. We interviewed a mentor and mentee as part of an ongoing series to gain an insight into what our participants expected and gained from joining. We spoke to Alexander Leemans who generously volunteered his time to mentor four trainees from the UK, US, Italy and Switzerland.
Read MoreIn academia, where a career means a journey, choosing the right mentors is necessary to steer yourself in the right direction. But, what can mentorship mean? According to the Google dictionary, mentorship is a guidance provided by a mentor, especially an experienced person in a company or educational institution. According to Wikipedia on the other hand, mentorship is a relationship in which a more experienced or more knowledgeable person helps to guide a less experienced or less knowledgeable person. Both these definitions are not very specific...
Read MoreThe Mentorship and Career Development symposium is an annual initiative by the OHBM Student and Postdoc Special Interest Group (SIG) dedicated to trainees and early career researchers. This year, the theme of the event is ‘The Secrets behind Success’.
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