Unofficial Academic Checklist

For biomedical graduate students but take it with a large grain of salt

Graduate school

  1. Year 1
  • Find a lab with healthy environment
  • Take required courses
  • Shadow a senior student / postdoc
  • Explore scientific questions and directions in the lab
  • Learn to read academic publications
  • Learn techniques
  • Get some data, good or bad, pos or neg
  • Mess around and have fun with colleagues
  1. Year 2
  • Take required courses
  • Experiments may not work but keep messing up
  • Continue to learn techniques
  • Get good at reading papers
  1. Year 3
  • Find which direction will work
  • Master techniques
  • Get really good at reading papers
  • Bring new ideas to your PI
  • Present at meetings
  1. Year 4
  • Have an idea of what kind of paper your project is going to yield
  • Get real data
  • Be your own boss
  • Present at meetings
  • Have an idea of what you want to do after graduation
  • If applicable, do interns in summer
  1. Year 5-6
  • Give talks at meetings
  • Write your paper
  • Send papers out
  • Find next position (industry or postdoc interview)
  • Get dissertation done
  • Get yourself out of the lab ASAP

Post-doctoral

  1. Year 1
  • Write a review
  • Learn techniques
  • Yield preliminary data
  1. Year 2
  • Know what’s ahead of you and determine if to leave academia after this
  • Collaborate on other projects
  • Get real data so that you know what to chase for
  1. Year 3-4
  • Write paper
  • Submit paper
  • Apply for K99
  • Resubmit K99 application
  1. Year 4-5

TBD