27 August 2008
Posted in Conferences, Ethics, Tips for senior scientists
A scientist should behave as a good citizen in the scientific community. You cannot expect that other colleagues
perform all the unpleasant jobs and that you can spent all your time on science. I am referring to low-reward activities like reviewing papers, reviewing grant proposals, sitting on review panels, being an editor of a scientific journal, sitting on program committees and - which is the subject of my present post - really organizing a conference.
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24 July 2008
Posted in Ethics, Tips for junior scientists, Tips for senior scientists
I still remember those days that my thesis supervisor didn’t have to justify why he wanted to buy a particular, expensive, piece of equipment. When I became a group leader those golden days were already gone forever.
Nowadays scientists fight for research money in fierce competitions. I certainly agree that some competition is healthy. Although, I would like a situation where the science policy makers themselves and the board members of science-supporting agencies, for the sake of improving their quality, would have to write and defend as many proposals as we scientists have to do; given the funding rate that these science managers find socially acceptable for us, I would suggest for them also a funding rate of about 5%.
Read more (505 words, 1 image, reading time 2:01 minutes)
23 June 2008
Posted in Ethics, Speaking in public, Tips for senior scientists
After many years of experience I come to the following conclusion: Giving a good talk for a lay audience is extremely difficult and not very rewarding. Reading this statement will upset a number of people. So I have to do some explaining.
Read more (398 words, 2 images, reading time 1:36 minutes)
27 May 2008
Posted in Tips for senior scientists
I very much like the following quote from Groucho Marx:

I don’t care to belong to a club that
accepts people like me as members
Recognition
Many professional societies like to acknowledge members that are exceptionally good at their profession. If in addition the activities of these specialists are useful and visible to a broader public, acknowledgment can also come from outside the professional circle. As a result prizes, without and with competitions, and other tokens of recognition are bestowed on the exceptional achievers. The community of scientists also has its medals, prizes, and decorations.
Read more (623 words, 1 image, reading time 2:30 minutes)
Latest reactions
By the end of the introduction, there should at least be a fairly accurate description of what _type_ of result ...
20 Aug 2008 18:08, Allard Mosk
Understood. However, by inaccurately using a French word, you have drawn the the (French speaking) reader’s attention away from your ...
12 Aug 2008 9:09, Timmo
Timmo, Philip, Thank you for your comments. Please note that I absolutely did not intend to start a discussion on the ...
11 Aug 2008 17:58, Ramy El-Dardiry
"Vulgus" is the word for "the people" in Latin. In fact, the version of the Bible that was used by ...
11 Aug 2008 14:40, Philip Chimento
I think you have a very interesting point. It is probably either the number of claims that go up ...
7 Aug 2008 21:53, Eugen Tarnow