Bradshaw Corey J. A. - Effective Scientist : A Handy Guide to a Successful Academic Career (9781316800072)

Cambridge University Press is part of the University of Cambridge.

It furthers the University's mission by disseminating knowledge in the pursuit of education, learning, and research at the highest international levels of excellence.

Corey J. A. Bradshaw 2018

This publication is in copyright. Subject to statutory exception and to the provisions of relevant collective licensing agreements, no reproduction of any part may take place without the written permission of Cambridge University Press.

First published 2018

Printed in the United Kingdom by TJ International Ltd. Padstow Cornwall

A catalogue record for this publication is available from the British Library

Cambridge University Press has no responsibility for the persistence or accuracy of URLs for external or third-party internet websites referred to in this publication and does not guarantee that any content on such websites is, or will remain, accurate or appropriate.

I know the last thing that a young or up-and-coming scientist wants is to have to read yet another book, for there are far too many things one must read these days to stay on top of your science. Keeping up to date with the latest articles is difficult enough if not impossible let alone reading all that peripheral literature dealing with how to improve your writing, increase your mathematical skills, and communicate with the public. As for reading for pleasure, I will wager that a fair few of you have not read a good novel in years, or you have been stuck on the same one for months. More is the pity of the modern information overload.

So why would you want to read this book? Having read even up to here you have ipso facto either already bought the book and intend to read it, or you are currently contemplating the purchase while standing in the aisle of your local bookshop (or hovering over the purchase button on your favourite book-seller's website) and sipping a coffee from the caf around the corner. You are busy, your coffee is almost gone, and unless I get to the point soon, you will put down this book and find something more entertaining to read.

So, I will get right to the point if you are a young scientist, or are planning to become one someday, you will absolutely need to know quite a few of the things that I describe in this book if you want to be an effective scientist. What do I mean by effective ? While I attempt a subjective definition of that adjective in more detail in , suffice it to say here that effective is slightly more complex a concept than successful or good . I argue that all the scientific knowledge, skill, and insight in the world will not be sufficient to ensure that you will indeed be an effective scientist unless you master these other issues as well.

The irony is that practically none of this subject material will ever be taught to you formally while a student at university, or even during your first few years as a full-fledged (i.e., employed) researcher. It might seem a wee bit crazy that these essential scientist skills are not taught to you directly, and I most certainly agree with your shocked assessment. Let us not contemplate the why not right now though, for the inadequacy of the modern tertiary educational system would require many more books to cover sufficiently. It is enough to say that you will need these skills during your career development, and it is probably best that you start to acquire them now.

That is why, in hindsight, I wish that I could have read this book, had it existed, when I was a young scientist, and it is the main reason I have now written it myself. Another few questions forming in your mind at this very moment are how I came to acquire these skills, and what gives me the right to claim that I can teach them to you? I have not been awarded a Nobel Prize, even putting aside for the moment that it is not even possible in my chosen discipline (environmental science). Let me be honest even if there were a Nobel Prize category for my branch of science, I probably never would win it. Most of you reading this book will probably never win one either, so in that sense I am perfectly qualified to lecture you. I have, however, been reasonably successful in the following categories of academic expectation:

In short, and far from boasting (although I suspect many of you will think that I am), I am merely attempting to demonstrate that I have done most of the things that have been expected of me as an academic scientist. If I had not done all of these things for someone at my stage of his career, then you might even claim that I had not been effective . My point here is that knowing what or how to achieve what you will be expected to do is not necessarily intuitive or easy.