Academia advice

Here's a handy guide to posts from myself and others related to academia (as well as links to great advice from scientists). Some of my posts are modified versions of posts I wrote for the Integrative Biology Honors blog at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. The subreddits r/AskAcademia, r/GradSchool, and r/GradAdmissions (from the online discussion forum reddit) are good resources for tips on graduate life and academia, too.


For undergraduates
- Help for figuring out what research you're interested in, how to get involved in research, how to structure e-mails to professors:
http://mattgrobis.blogspot.com/2013/04/how-to-get-into-grad-school-for-bio.html

- Retrospective advice for undergrads to make the most of their four years:
http://mattgrobis.blogspot.com/2013/04/nine-months-out-of-college-bubble.html 

- A time I nearly wasted hundreds of dollars because I was disorganized (and why you shouldn't be!):
http://mattgrobis.blogspot.com/2013/04/keeping-good-lab-notebook.html 

- Why start grad/med/law school right away? There's a whole world out there:
http://mattgrobis.blogspot.com/2013/06/gap-years-trying-things-out.html

 
For undergraduates and Masters students
- Application advice for those interested in applying for a Gates Cambridge scholarship (written by Paul Bergen):
http://mattgrobis.blogspot.com/2013/04/gates-cambridge-paul-bergen_1541.html

- Interview advice and an overview of the application process and overall experience of the Gates Cambridge scholarship (written by Dr. Corina Logan):
http://mattgrobis.blogspot.com/2013/04/gates-cambridge-corina-logan.html

 
For undergraduates, Masters, and PhD students
PhD reflections
- 1st-year reflections:
http://mattgrobis.blogspot.com/2014/06/phd-1st-year-reflections.html 

- 2nd-year reflections:
http://mattgrobis.blogspot.com/2015/10/phd-2nd-year-reflections.html

- 3rd-year reflections:
http://mattgrobis.blogspot.com/2016/08/phd-3rd-year-reflections.html 

- 4th-year reflections:
http://mattgrobis.blogspot.com/2017/09/phd-4th-year-reflections.html 

__________________________________________________________________________
R
- 1 - Introduction:
http://mattgrobis.blogspot.com/2015/12/introduction-to-r-1-what-is-r.html

- 2 - Random data and plotting:
http://mattgrobis.blogspot.com/2015/12/introduction-to-r-2-random-data-and.html

-3 - for loops and random walks:
http://mattgrobis.blogspot.com/2016/04/introduction-to-r-3-for-loops-and.html 

- 4 - Functions and if statements:
http://mattgrobis.blogspot.com/2016/05/introduction-to-r-4-functions-and-if.html 

- 5 -  The apply functions:
http://mattgrobis.blogspot.com/2017/02/introduction-to-r-5-apply-functions.html

- A useful "How to get started" resource from R Bloggers:
https://www.r-bloggers.com/15-page-tutorial-for-r/

- Random R - for loops vs. apply:
http://mattgrobis.blogspot.com/2017/07/random-r-for-loops-vs-apply.html


 
__________________________________________________________________________
Grad school life
- Advice for generals/quals/prelims:
http://mattgrobis.blogspot.com/2015/07/generals-summary-and-advice.html

- What's the protocol for tattoos in academia?
http://mattgrobis.blogspot.com/2013/04/tattoos-in-academia.html

- What is fieldwork in Africa really like? (written by Tyler Coverdale and Jen Guyton)
http://mattgrobis.blogspot.com/2014/09/perspectives-on-fieldwork-in-africa.html
___________________________________________________________________________
Writing effectively
- Advice for those interested in applying for a Fulbright research grant:
http://mattgrobis.blogspot.com/2013/04/fulbright.html

- Advice for those interested in applying for a National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship (NSF-GRFP):
http://mattgrobis.blogspot.com/2013/04/nsf-grfp.html


- How do I write something anyone will read?
http://mattgrobis.blogspot.com/2013/11/writing-self-contained-universe.html 
_____________________________________________________________________________

Advice from researchers
- "From undergraduate to faculty member: critical decision points in the academic career"
   Dr. Claus Wilke, Assistant Professor in Integrative Biology at the University of Texas at Austin

- "The importance of stupidity in scientific research"
   Dr. Martin A. Schwartz, Professor of Microbiology and Biomedical Engineering at the University of Virginia


- "Some modest advice for graduate students"
   Dr. Stephen Stearns, Professor of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology at Yale University

- "It's a wonderful life: a career as an academic scientist"
   Dr.  Ronald D. Vale, Professor of Cellular and Molecular Pharmacology at the University of California, San Francisco

- "The awesomest 7-year postdoc or: how I learned to stop worrying and enjoy the tenure-track faculty life"
    Dr. Radhika Nagpal, Fred Kavli Professor of Computer Science at Harvard University

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