By Amy Chan

Got a big-name professor coming to town?
 
Paralyzed with adoration, but don’t know what to say?
 
Well, you’re not alone. Many of us find networking difficult—even intimidating—and end up at a loss for words at the most important moments. Here, we ask three senior academic staff a series of questions to find out how they approach new contacts and build professional relationships, with helpful tips straight from the horse’s mouth.
 
(Disclaimer: the responses that follow are personal views and do not necessarily reflect the positions and opinions of the author, the editorial staff, or The Scientista Foundation.) 

By Scott Rhodes

2.5 quintillion bytes of data is generated every day. That’s the equivalent of 3.3 billion copies of Thriller or 6.8 billion episodes of Mad Men. Every day. 
 
Technology clearly dominates daily life. More than just cell phones and laptops, there are now smart refrigerators, watches, GPS systems and more. Big data is everywhere — and it’s not going away anytime soon. Because of this, there’s a growing demand for big data analysts who can interpret the information and glean customer insights. Here are five reasons why students should consider earning big data analytics degrees:

By Ellice Patterson

Dear Baby First Year:
Wow, I don’t recognize you. And, I mean that in the best way possible. You will come so far in your journey through college and will transform into a successful young woman. There’s going to be some hard moments and great moments along the way. Take it all in because that is your college experience: wonderful, trying, and worth it. For the hard moments, here are a few words of advice that I wish I’d known when I was you.

By Ellice Patterson

As someone who took the GRE last month, I understand that the process can be daunting. My emotions ranged from “I’m the Beyoncé of biology, who can easily slay the GRE” to “I have no idea what I’m doing. My life is in shambles. I might as well drop out now and be a sailor.” The emotional roller coaster only ended after I got the scores back and realized that I—indeed—slayed the GRE! If I can do it, you absolutely can too. Here are some tips that really worked for me:

By Julie F. Charbonnier

My first year of graduate school is a hazy memory. I can still see myself in my roach-infested apartment, piles of articles on the floor, as I paced back and forth, sipping on my fifth cup of coffee and panicking about how little I knew about…just about everything. The research project I had proposed had been destroyed during a lab meeting, and my students despised my lecturing style. If this isn’t going to be on the quiz, why do we need to learn it? I couldn’t even get the software I needed to load on my computer. At the time, I was sure that I was failing miserably at graduate school, and I wasn’t exactly enjoying the graduate experience.

By Julie F. Charbonnier

When researching a new topic, you may one day come across a literature review. Or, perhaps you will need to write your own review, as part of a senior thesis project or as a chapter of your dissertation. Either way, you can use literature reviews as an important tool for understanding the research in an unfamiliar field and for developing your own writing skills.

What is a literature review? A literature review is a summary of the current, scientific literature on a particular topic or a specialized critique of an individual article. Literature reviews require you to find, collect, and organize past studies on a scientific topic or question. With this background material in hand, you will identify the emerging ideas in a very specific area, as well as important theories and questions that still need to be answered.

By Courtney Thomas

You spent weeks perfecting each word of your abstract and you finally get the email you have been waiting for:

“Your poster presentation has been accepted in the technical program for the upcoming meeting.”

From preparing data for your poster, to practicing your presentation, to attending the conference itself, there is a lot of hard work that goes into getting ready for any conference.

Here are some tips for preparing to present your first poster:

By Niharika Vattikonda

The abstract of a scientific paper serves two main functions: selection and indexing. Readers use the abstract to decide whether it is worthwhile to read the paper. Indexing databases search abstracts, not full texts, to find relevant results. Therefore, an abstract should both be easy to comprehend and contain all of the key words and phrases of the paper.

Most abstracts follow a strict format that includes the following sections: Background, Methods, Results, and Conclusions. Some journals may require additional sections, such as Objectives or Limitations. Always check with the professor, journal, or competition guidelines to make sure you have the required sections.

By Julie Wolf

Despite the U.S. News and World Report’s rankings, there is no one “best” college experience for everyone. A number of personal preferences are involved in choosing where to go to school, including location, cost, competitiveness, and interests. An important factor when it comes to choosing a school is the size of the institution. Will you go to the large, research-focused university? Or do you prefer a smaller, more undergraduate-focused liberal arts school? Either choice can contribute to a top-notch education, but it’s important to ensure you are making the most of your opportunities wherever you decide to attend.


Although there are a wide variety of university types, this two-part series will focus on the opposite ends of the spectrum mentioned above. Previously, we have discussed the benefits of a large, research-oriented university. This article will cover how to get the most from the opportunities offered by a small, liberal arts college. Nobel-prize laureate Thomas Cech has high praise for the research preparedness of liberal arts graduates, and we here at Scientista thought of a few ways to maximize your experience while in school:

By Chelsea Travers

I previously wrote a series on getting into medical school. But after only nine months of my new adventure, I was struggling to maintain the enthusiasm I’d felt when first accepted. This is how I dealt with my struggle.