Reminiscing the year uno that ClubSciWri has lived through, it is amazing to see how many different voices it has had. Born out of the need to represent the not so widely spoken issues of graduate school system it has not only been an effective platform reaching thousands of PhD students worldwide, it has been a hub of creativity as well.
It is now a crucible that grooms many a writer among us letting us express ourselves in varied literary forms-essays, cartoons, paintings and discussions. And the range of topics that we have seen in the past one year has been spanning over the struggles of Indian PhD students, both in India and abroad. We have seen discussions on how mental health is often ignored in academic setups under the veil of academic rigor. We have had many write-ups talking about career planning and effective ways to deal with dilemmas around it, for those yet struggling to find the right match in the real world out there.
As we wholeheartedly appreciate and thank our writers for their valuable contributions, here is a compilation of some of the more popular articles of the past year.
- The grass is always greener….or is it? – Namrata Iyer compares the graduate school system in India and in the west
- Seeking and finding my dream postdoc position – Shreyas Gokhale emphasizes on the benefits of planning well ahead in time to be able to carve out a near perfect postdoctoral position
- To each his own – Namrata Iyer talks about the ups and downs of a PhD student’s life in India
- The very personal story of my depression – Ipsa Jain stresses on the importance of mental health awareness among PhD students
- J1 Waiver: A step by step guide – Ashootosh Tripathi outlines the precise steps to follow for the J1 waiver application for the USA visa
- Rejecting academia’s gilded mirror – Debaleena Basu talks about the vulnerabilities of walking the PhD way
- Transitioning to a faculty position in India – skills that defines one during screening – Debanjan Sinha enlists the desirable skills that can help you transiting into a faculty position in India
- My Green Card Application Story – Balabhadrapatruni Chakravarthi describes the steps of applying for green card in the USA
- Laapataa- The Disillusioned Graduate Student– Sujit Chakrabarti takes to a non-conventional way of expressing the Indian PhD students via cartoons
- Meanwhile @IISc on any public holiday – Sujit Chakrabarti
- Laapataa- The Indian PhD – Sujit Chakrabarti
- The Dancing Scientist – Paramita Sarkar puts forth the perks of pursuing a hobby with academia
- Transitioning to Academia in India- Face to Face with Punit Prasad , interview by Abinav Dey – Know the do’s and don’ts from Dr. Punit Prasad as he begins his journey as a faculty member at Institute of Life Sciences, Bhubaneshwar, India
- Face to Face with Dhirendra K Simanshu, interview by Ananda Ghosh – Know Dr. Simanshu’s career trajectory from Indian Institute of Science, India to being a team lead at Frederick National Laboratory for Cancer Research, USA
- Reading scientific literature – for dummies – Czuee Morey makes it easy for the newbies in academia to make sense of the over-brimming scientific literature
- Changing track with a new postdoc position – a personal account – Rati Sharma’s story of how planning a postdoc with enough time in hand helped her choose an apt position
- Tackling the networking monster for introverts – Debaleena Basu sheds light on the introvert’s tryst and triumph with networking
- Face to Face with Dr. Senthil Arumugam, edited by Ananda Ghosh – Get glimpses of the academic journey from TIFR to New South Wales
- My PhD journey: changing views, changing priorities – Adway Mitra shows how one’s career can be redesigned and redirected while pursuing PhD
We, from team Club SciWri are always eagerly waiting to share your insights to inspire, motivate and support the graduate school community. Let this space grow even wider!