Monthly Archives: January 2010

Thoughts on the “Science to Business” Program

Posted on January 31, 2010 by Beth

While looking at the Canadian Institutes of Health Research’s (CIHR) funding opportunities1 the other day, I came across this interesting opportunity: Science to Business: CIHR‘s Science to Business (S2B) program is designed to encourage individuals with PhDs in a health … Continue reading →

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Science Policy in Canada: We should be ashamed…

Posted on January 21, 2010 by Dave

When asked to identify the most important issues affecting their country, Canadians often list three items: economy, healthcare, and environment. Though often underappreciated, the advancement of science and technology is a common thread that underpins and indeed is inextricably tied to these three major issues. We live in a world where the economy is driven by innovation, medicine requires further advances each day to save and improve lives, and an environmental crisis is upon us as our climate changes as a direct consequence of our modern lifestyle. Continue reading →

Posted in General, Policy, Science Communication | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

What Is Science?

Posted on January 17, 2010 by Beth

I can honestly say that I never truly experienced science until I was a graduate student. Sure, I had a fair chunk of labs in my undergraduate degree – first year involved a full year of biology, chemistry and physics lab sections, and upper years included labs sections in analytical chemistry and organic chem and an entire course that consisted of a biochemistry lab. But each of these labs was what we like to call “cookbook labs” – we weren’t generating and then testing any hypotheses; rather, we were following a recipe that we were given to try to find a predetermined answer – the person with the answer closest to the one the prof has already determined gets the best grade. We were learning the technical skills – how to use a pipette, run a DNA fingerprint, or perform a titration, but that was all… Continue reading →

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Grades are everything! or are they… knowing about and winning scholarships (hint: yes, you should apply)

Posted on January 10, 2010 by Dave

In 2002, I was one day away from selling knives for an entire summer in the heat of Southwestern Ontario, then I got a letter reading “someone has turned down their summer NSERC … you are on the waiting list – want it?”

First things first… as an academic your entire career will probably depend on continually getting funding. It is no surprise that when a hiring squad looks at potential tenure track applicants, a key question is: “How fundable is this person?”

… Continue reading →

Posted in Education and Training, Financial | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments