January 30 Professional Development

Professional Development Acquiring skills that help you to be successful in your profession as a research scientist Technical and scientific knowledge Lab management (equipment, people, money) Communication skills (written, oral; formal informal) “Politics” (knowledge about who does what, who is who, who has influence)

Communication skills Write – papers, technical reports for your group (this will make thesis writing easier at the end), thesis, conference abstracts, grant proposals and reports (ask your advisor if you can help) Teach – be a TA. It will solidify your basic physics knowledge immensely and you will learn firsthand how hard it is to communicate to different audiences. Engage visitors who come to OSU. Talk to them, learn what they do, what they know etc. Go to conferences. Talk to people. Learn and phone etiquette; polish your conversational and grammar skills. Next page is a list of “things to do” as a grad student. From Sherry Yenello at the Graduate Education Conference ( x.cfm)

Communication skills cont’d Give a talk to fellow physicists, Give a talk to a general audience Write a research paper, Write an abstract Write a proposal, Write a technical report Have a conversation about science Negotiate Manage a group of people Work within a team Do some budgeting / cost analysis Inspire others Sell an idea Critically analyze a problem and make a plan of action Create new knowledge Explain complicated issues to other people Run a project Know when to let go of a project Sherry Yenello: m

“Politics” For now, just be aware that research is an endeavor like any other – it involves people and money as well as “objective ideas and knowledge”. My best advice is to spend your graduate years learning as much science as you can. This will inevitably bring you into contact with the people who generate the ideas. Read their papers, meet them if they visit here or at conferences, be knowledgeable about all aspects of science. We’ll talk about funding another time.