GOAL Setting and Time Management For Postdocs

1. GOAL Setting and Time Management For Postdocs Sandra Schmid slschmid@scripps.edu

2. Congratulations!

3. Postdoctoral Training is a pivotal stage in your career • This is the first step of your career as an independent scientist • It's a transitional position, not a job • You are responsible for your success • Work with your advisor to attain both your research and career goals

4. Successful Postdoctoral Training Worth reading:

5. Successful Postdoctoral Training Worth reading:

6. Schmid’s Cliff Notes: Figure out where you want to go (Prioritize, Focus) • Plan the best way of getting there (Plan and Organize) • Mind your own business (Focus, Stay on track) 4.-6. Get others to help (Engage others) 7. Keep refueling, (Priorities shift)

7. Where are you goingand How will you get there? • Define your objectives : • short-term (days/weeks) daily experimental plan • intermediate term (months) a paper • long-term (years) be hirable/get a job • What career track is best suited to your goals? • Do you want to teach? • Do you want to work in teams? • Are you interested in applied research? • Are you passionate about pursing a specific research objective? • Set a path, place steps along the way • Don’t get side-tracked

8. Successful Postdoctoral Training Find and Engage A Mentor (0r mentors!)

9. Successful Postdoctoral Training Three things you must accomplish: Decide what area of science you want to pursue Finish at least one significant project Establish your identity in the research community

10. Successful Postdoctoral Training CAREER ADVICE: Eight Attributes of Highly Successful Postdocs Constance Holden Science (1999) 285:1527-1529 • ATTRIBUTE #1: Get ahead of the curve • ATTRIBUTE #2: Follow your heart • ATTRIBUTE #3: Remember the big picture • ATTRIBUTE #4: Acquire a track record • ATTRIBUTE #5: Do your homework • ATTRIBUTE #6: Demonstrate grantsmanship • ATTRIBUTE #7: Be proactive • ATTRIBUTE #8: Be a team player

11. Successful Postdoctoral Training • Decide what area of science you want to pursue Get ahead of the curve(#1) Follow your heart (#2) • Find what excites you • “Meld your own interests with an area that has a lot of growth potential.” “A postdoc offers the chance to form a unique collaborative relationship”

12. Successful Postdoctoral Training Become an expert in your field Read Go to seminars Talk to others Look for the WHITE spaces (open questions, new approaches) • Know how your area/expertise fits with others • Remember the big picture (#3) • Go to seminars !!! • Set up a journal club

13. http://www.grantsnet.org extensive, searchable grant database http://nextwave.org/pdn links to funding opportunities great advice on grantsmanship great career advice You want independence? Demonstrate grantsmanship (#6) Write a proposal, and get it funded; even if your advisor can pay you!!

14. Postdoc’s ‘toolkit’ http://nextwave.sciencemag.org/feature.cdctoolkit.shtml

15. Successful Postdoctoral Training 2) Finish at least one significant project ‘Finished’ means published!! “As important as a pedigree is a track record (Attribute #4). A strong list of publications says ‘This person is a 'closer'?’”

16. How many papers is enough? • Play the numbers game: Plan your research as a series of focused, complete projects. Ask important, but well-defined questions • “Publons” • What is the single important question you’re addressing? • How does it fit in the context of the field? • What data is needed to tell a compelling (but short) story? • “Home-runs” are great, but think strategically and • take the “base hits” • Collaborate with and contribute to other projects • (make yourself useful) 2) Successfully tackle a very difficult, very important and/or very novel problem

17. Successful Postdoctoral Training 3) Establish your identity in the research community • You will need 3-4 letters of recommendation for an academic job • Talk to other faculty members about their research and yours (Attributes 3,5,7) • Go to seminars and ask questions • Present your work, whenever possible • Learn what others around you are doing and be helpful (Attribute #8)

18. Top 10 Reasons To Attend Seminars To get your mind off your own problems To efficiently and effortlessly expand your knowledge: You get an overview and 3-5 papers worth in 1 hour To see examples of good (and bad) talks: learn from others’ mistakes To see and be seen by your colleagues: rec letters! To learn to organize your lab time around other commitments: get used to it! To ask questions: sharpen and display your ability to assimilate new data To learn to engage in meaningful scientific discourse: listen and participate in the discussion To learn the unexpected that could help your research: a new method or approach, a relevant paradigm To meet leading scientists: they’ll be hiring! To be a scholar:its not a bad idea to know a little about a lot

19. Aim to accomplish these three tasks: Decide what area of science you want to pursue Finish at least one significant project Establish your identity in the research community Successful Postdoctoral Training Work Hard! within 3 years !!

20. Transitional – cache – funding……NIH NIH Pathway to Independence (PI) Award: (K99/R00) • The NIH Pathway to Independence Award provides an opportunity for promising postdoctoral scientists to receive both mentored and independent research support from the same award. • 1-2 years of mentored support for highly promising, postdoctoral research. $90,000/year. • 3 years of independent support contingent on securing an independent research position, up to $249,000/year. • US and nonUS citizens are eligible • <5 years postdoc experience K01 Mentored Research Scientist Development Award K08 Mentored Clinical Scientist Development Award 3-5 yrs; Salary and $20-50K for research expenses

21. Transitional – cache – funding….cont. Leukemia and Lymphoma Society - Career Development Award minimum 2 years postdoc, $56K salary, $4K overhead x 3 yrs DoD - Era of Hope Postdoctoral Awards Breast Cancer announced each year, watch for them Burroughs-Wellcome Fund: Infectious Diseases, Medical Scientists, Interfaces in Science (up to 2 years postdoc, 3 years faculty support) http://www.grantsnet.org extensive, searchable grant database

22. To get an interview, you will need: A compelling cover letter, tuned to the job A strong CV/resumé: - solid accomplishments at each stage of your career - Evidence of competitiveness (awards, fellowships) - Evidence of ambition, self-determination A statement of research interests: past, present and future (2-3 pages): - make it linear, self-deterministic - emphasize significance of your work in the Big Picture - briefly describe future plans, i.e. an NIH grant summary A little help from your mentors: - ask them to make a phone call - help them by giving them names and phone numbers - have them read and critique your research statement

23. To get a job, you will need: A well-prepared and interesting seminar: - tell a story - be authoritative - make the future directions clear The ability to interview well and think on your feet A well thought out plan of research an NIH grant's worth of Specific Aims, back-up plans, big picture future directions To be a good fit: research and know your prospective colleagues and the institute

24. Time Management Harvard President Larry Summers “Women are unwilling to work 80 hours/week” Productivity  time • efficiency

25. Time Management Productivity  time • efficiency • Efficiency depends on: • prioritization • planning and organization • Focus/level of intensity • engaging others • staying on track • good Time Management

26. Time Management Productivity  time • efficiency How can you increase efficiency?

27. Time Management Multi-tasking is one solution….

28. Work on Important things before they’re Urgent STAY OUT OF THESE SPACES!! Not Important Important Not Urgent • On-going expts • Goal acquisition • Next month’s grant • deadline Urgent A Simple Time Management Matrix KISS(Keep it Simple Stupid) • Most email • Lab trivia • Computer games • Internet browsing • “You’ve got mail” alert • Ringing telephone • Inquiring colleague • A lab fire • Tomorrow’s • grant deadline

29. Time Management Time wastersandsavers • Get your email under control • Turn off the “You’ve got mail” alert • Correspond with friends from home • Don’t browse the Internet, use it efficiently and purposefully • Organize your work place • Create a quiet place (or time) to work • Go the library (or come in early) • Plan your day • Make a to-do list, set priorities

30. Stay in “Important, but not urgent”Space • Plan ahead, know your deadlines • Complete the tasks in logical order. Set this order by planning ahead • Break large tasks down into smaller tasks, • make a “To-Do” list • Set aside blocks of time for specific tasks, • match the time with the task • Plan and organize your day around the tasks at hand

31. The Big Experiment: Think and Plan Ahead Read the literature, talk to advisor, go to seminars, identify an important question • Design an experiment or series of experiments to get the answer: don't forget controls. Discuss the design with your advisor. Write a plan, check your rationale. • What reagents will be needed? Which will take the longest to make (stable cell lines?, PCR mutagenesis? Protein expression? Virus production?) Start these first. Project Management • Are there pilots you can do to optimize assays with currently available reagents, while you wait for new reagents? Measure twice, cut once • What might go wrong? Do you have back-up plans? Seek advice • Try to get preliminary results on the most risky aspects of the project using available reagents. Grantsmanship strategy • Are there techniques you need to learn? Is there equipment you need to borrow? Will you need to engage collaborators? Plan ahead

32. Productivity  time • efficiency Time Management=Planning and Organization Think “tangram”

33. Productivity  time • efficiency

35. 7:00 Breakfast, skim the newspaper 8:00 In the lab, start experiment (BIG TASK) 9:30 2 hour incubation (MEDIUM/SMALL TASKS). Read a paper Analyze data from yesterday Outline your next manuscript (envision your future!) Check sequencing results, design primers Pour gels 11:30 Stop incubation, load and run gels (BIG TASK) 12:00 Lunch: run an errand, answer emails, make a phone call, browse a journal, talk to your colleagues- ABOUT SCIENCE 12:30 Set up and run assays (BIG TASKS). Do cell culture for tomorrow's Experiment. Run PCR reaction. Plan a pilot experiment. 4:00 Go to seminar 5:00 SMALL tasks: run keyword literature search, download papers to read plan next experiment. Set up overnight incubations. 7:00 Home for dinner 8:00 Pour glass of wine. Read and respond to public email. Plan tomorrow’s to-do list. Watch Daily Show recordings. 10:00 Read a novel Staying focused No time wasted Using spare time to plan and think ahead Looking for new ideas- the big experiment

36. Time Management Schmid’s Cliff Notes: 1. Figure out where you want to go 2. Plan the best way of getting there 3. Mind your own business 4.-6. Get others to help 7. Keep refueling, upgrade your vehicle, increase your power, go more places

37. Schmid’s Cliff Notes: 1. Set out clear goals and make your expectations known. Make these Goals simple ones at first. Listen to ensure that these are understood. 2. Reward achievements and give praise soon after its earned 3. Reprimand and reinstruct: Give constructive feedback soon after its warranted Do this often and well at the beginning of a working relationship and you won’t have to do it as often later on

38. Engaging others… In practical terms In the lab: Train your tech, or student, to be organized Run a lab journal club Look for opportunities to collaborate/synergize Seek advice early when things don’t work At home: Hire housekeeping/childcare assistance Share the work-load with your spouse/partner Empower your children to take on responsibility Tell your children about your job Buy your way out of school responsibilities

39. Time Management Do what you are UNIQUELY qualified to do

40. Balance: Not every day Maybe not every week It’s an overall sense “A balanced life” Shifting priorities Engaging Partners Long-term Planning