Voices from the YCC

You’re a first-year graduate student and have gathered in a conference room with your colleagues. As everyone has been asked to present their research, you wait for your turn, feeling queasy and wondering why you’re even there, believing there is no way what you have to say can compare with what your colleagues have presented. […]

Many sources would agree that the biotech industry is growing rapidly. Biotech had a record-setting year in terms of funding with $7.3 billion, and raised $9.3 billion across 471 deals in 2017, making it the best year out of the last seven[1]. Another indication is the Nasdaq Index of the industry, which jumped more than […]

General Graduate School Advice When examining potential graduate schools, only consider ones in which there are at least three professors you might like to work with. It is fine to have not settled on an exact research topic, but it is important to have a general idea of what you might like based on previous […]

A few short days into my non-traditional science job, I was sitting in a meeting expecting some continued on-boarding. The goal of the meeting was to continue vetting plans for a new digital tool. A proof-of-concept webpage had already been created and feedback from scientific researchers who tested the site had been returned to the […]

When I was a senior in college the realty of graduation was dawning on me. I knew I wanted to teach at the college/university level, so I would need to go to graduate school. I haphazardly took my GREs and began applying to different schools. I was accepted into a Ph.D. program that was very […]

Finding joy in research is not something that every young scientist experiences in the setting of a chemistry laboratory course or lecture, yet many undergraduates take the next step of their early career by investing the next few years of their life in graduate school.  In 1939, Abraham Flexner expressed the importance of spiritual and […]

“A degree will give you a key, but your network will open the door.” –S.R. What is your biggest asset? Take a moment to think about it. Did you think about your savings account or the house you will one day own? Maybe you thought that you are just starting out and do not really […]

What do you want to be when you grow up? I’m sure we’ve all been asked that at some point in our lives. The reality is, do we really need to know? Certainly not at age 5. What about age 25? 55? I’ll admit, I’m an overplanner. I pick out my clothes for work the […]

Whether you have made up your mind, are curious or just stumbled here, reading this article will provide you with more insight about how to transition from chemistry to business. Once you make that decision to leave lab, prepare yourself for the next steps to ensure an easy and efficient transition. UTILIZE YOUR RESOURCES & […]

Transitioning to graduate school can be a really difficult time. You have probably moved to a new city, are in an unfamiliar environment, and must somehow manage to study for classes, prepare lesson plans, and be productive in lab. What does it mean to be successful in your first year, and what can you do […]

Congrats! Your hard work paid off! You’ve just been accepted to grad school. You’ve just been selected for a prestigious postdoctoral fellowship. You’ve just landed your first industrial job. You’ve just been awarded an international travel opportunity. Take some time to celebrate your accomplishment with family, friends, labmates, and pets (not necessarily in that order). […]

Have you ever noticed how your talent to procrastinate increases at the most inopportune time, such as a heightened workload, incoming due dates, and increased responsibilities? Do you suddenly have the urge to clean your house or continuously refresh your email inbox when you have a million things to do? Instead, you are unconsciously engaged […]

The importance of international collaborations came to me not in the form of chemistry at first, but in the form of a stranger on a bus. I was 16 years old and living in a suburb of Shanghai when a woman sat down next to me. We didn’t have much in common but what she […]

Time. It is an elusive and fickle beast. We all need more of it, and it never fails that the moment you think you have a breather, you’re sitting in your office at the end of the day, scratching your head and wondering where on earth the hours went. Time management is a surprisingly difficult […]

Many young professionals are asked to assume leadership positions, even when they are one of the least experienced people on the team. This can happen to a new volunteer who thinks they are volunteering to “help” with something and suddenly find themselves in charge, a new faculty member on a college or university committee, a […]

Let’s face it, grad school can be consuming. You start getting good results and the next thing you know, you’re pulling all-nighters in lab, sleeping on the grotesque sofa in the basement next to the liquid nitrogen fill station, and waking up everyday at 5:30 AM with the fear that the heating elements in your […]