Category Archives: Education and Training

More time doing research, less time applying for money – sounds great, right?

As I’ve mentioned on here before – if you are involved in health research in Canada, you should read the CIHR’s proposed changes to its granting system.  This is a chance to assess and give your opinion before things are … Continue reading

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Posted in Education and Training, Policy | 2 Comments

CIHR Grant Reform: Speak now or forever hold your peace

Over the last months, the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR) have conducted an extensive review of their grant programs and have released a document to describe these changes.  In a demonstration of top tier accountability, they have opened a … Continue reading

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

2012 Taxes for Postdocs: Dredging up the Past

A landmark decision was made late last month by the Ontario Labour Relations Board regarding the status of postdoctoral fellows.  Jesse Greener, President of the University of Toronto’s Postdoc Association has recently, and nicely, summarised the impacts of this ruling … Continue reading

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Posted in Education and Training, Policy | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 35 Comments

Pitching solutions: Transition awards and Targeted Hiring

Read Jonathan’s earlier related entries to catch up on the series: Making the Case for Increased Federal Support of Biomedical Research and The Problem: A lack of faculty positions at top-tier Canadian Universities and Research Institutes One approach, in which Canada is … Continue reading

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Who do universities want to hire – scientists or politicians?

In his article The Vanishing Voter, Harvard professor Thomas Patterson makes a statement about modern political campaigns that made me a little nauseous: Ambition, manipulation, and deception have become as prominent as issues of policy and leadership You might scoff at … Continue reading

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The Problem: A lack of faculty positions at top-tier Canadian Universities and Research Institutes

Related post:  Making the Case for Increased Federal Support of Biomedical Research Science, technology, and innovation are critical drivers of economic growth and national well-being. In the context of health research, their impact extends to matters of human health, quality … Continue reading

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It can be done: Moving labs with your CIHR fellowship

Winning a postdoctoral fellowship is not trivial and when you land in a suboptimal research situation after bringing in your own money, things can get pretty stressful. Today’s post is a guest post from a former colleague of mine who … Continue reading

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Google Scholar “My Citations” – Useful tool or the height of narcissism?

Since I first read about it on the Piece of Mind blog by UBC Professor Nassif Ghoussoub, I have been trying to figure out whether or not Google’s new “My citations” is a useful tool for researchers.  Essentially, this tool … Continue reading

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Bidding You Adieu

So, a while back I mentioned that I would be applying to CIHR’s Science-to-Business (S2B) program, which provides scholarships for individuals with PhDs in a health related field to do MBAs. And the good news is that I was fortunate enough … Continue reading

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Happiness Outside of the Academy? One year later… see how this former postdoc is doing

This is a follow up on my previous blog post where I described my choice to enter an industrial position: “Academia vs. Industry: A former Postdoc’s perspective”.  I have been in my current position (a management position in a small start-up … Continue reading

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Posted in Education and Training, Jobs | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 3 Comments