Tuesday, April 21, 2009

Career advice from my mentor

I was privileged to do a postdoc with John Wilkins at Ohio State University. I not only learnt a lot about physics from him but also important skills for surviving (and prospering) in research. I still remember him getting a room full of postdocs and graduate students to chant, "17 point type is the smallest! 17 point type is the smallest! " over and over again, after he got sick of us using too small of fonts in our practice talks for the APS March Meeting. Much of Wilkin's advice is distilled in one page guides which are available here. Topics covered include interviewing, giving a terrible talk, writing a Physical Review Letter, getting a grant, ....Some are quite humorous.

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