Author Archives: Dave

About Dave

David grew up in St. John's Newfoundland, completed a Bachelors degree in Genetics and English Literature (UWO, London, ON) and completed doctoral studies in stem cell biology at the Terry Fox Lab (UBC, Vancouver, BC). He coordinated the UBC Let's Talk Science Partnership Program from 2004-2007. David is currently completing postdoctoral research at the University of Cambridge, UK and also writes for the Canadian Stem Cell Network Blog

A deeper look into the “80% of PhDs who do not become professors”

In a recent comment left on the site by SubC, a request was made to “look deeper” into the 20% number of PhDs becoming professors.  Specifically, the question was raised as to “how many that wanted an academic career in … Continue reading

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University Affairs commentary on our CSPC panel

On November 30, University Affairs posted two articles  that summarise and discuss the major issues that came up in our session at the 3rd Annual Canadian Science Policy Conference: Is Canada producing too many PhDs? Yes, no and maybe The … Continue reading

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Canadian Science Policy Conference – Food for thought

For those who will be attending the conference this week and in particular those who will be attending the panel on the Education and Training of Scientists on Thursday afternoon, I have pulled together a list of popular posts on … Continue reading

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Good news from the Border – Keeping international PhDs in Canada

QUICK REMINDER: For those that missed it, I’ll be chairing a session on the Education and Training of Scientists at this year’s Canadian Science Policy Conference in Ottawa next week.  I posted on the topic a few weeks back and would … Continue reading

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What to do with all the Scientists… find out at the 2011 Canadian Science Policy Conference

In a break from normal lab routine, I’ll be dabbling in the black arts of science policy this November and running a session at the 3rd annual Canadian Science Policy Conference.  The conference runs from Nov 16th-18th and features an … Continue reading

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Quarterly Summary: Guest Bloggers are Great!

This summer featured our second summer series.  Last year’s “So you want to be a…” was followed up this year by “Notches in the STIC” which navigated through the key points of the Science and Technology Innovation Council’s recent report … Continue reading

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Adding Shades of Grey into Science Policy

I was forwarded two articles last month (thanks Mike O!) from the world of Australian science policy.  In these articles, the debate centred on whether or not academics should be involved in making public policy.   The article that started the … Continue reading

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The 24/7 lab: Motivated scientists or slave-driving supervisors?

At the end of August, an article popped out from Nature News that sent many PhDs and postdocs into a tailspin.  After asking 11 labs with a reputation for “working hard” and being allowed to visit just one of them, Heidi … Continue reading

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Quick Hit: Recruitment of Policy Leaders Program to run Oct 3-17, 2011

The Government of Canada has released details of its 2011 Recruitment of Policy Leaders program.   We’ve written before about becoming a public servant which contains information about this program and others in the Canadian Public Service.  If you are aware of … Continue reading

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Council of Canadian Academies: Another Progress(?) Update

Quick Hit: The Lane Anderson Award for the best science writing in Canada has announced its finalists and a decision is expected on September 14, 2011.  Until then, consider browsing through the finalists for a glimpse at great Canadian science … Continue reading

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