Logo

Grad School 'Is a Monastic Experience'

Sep 03, 2010

Continuing with the "what not to do" theme from yesterday, Matthew Might — creator of the "Illustrated Guide to a PhD" — suggests the top 10 reasons grad students don't obtain their PhD at his blog. Might warns PhD candidates against seeking to achieve perfection, aiming too high or too low, procrastinating, trying to "learn too much," and treating grad school like school or work — it's neither, he says — among other things. Grad school, Might says, "is a monastic experience," adding that it "even comes with built-in vows of poverty and obedience. ... The end brings an ecclesiastical robe and a clerical hood."

Breaking News
The Scan

Study Finds Few FDA Post-Market Regulatory Actions Backed by Research, Public Assessments

A Yale University-led team examines in The BMJ safety signals from the US FDA Adverse Event Reporting System and whether they led to regulatory action.

Duke University Team Develops Programmable RNA Tool for Cell Editing

Researchers have developed an RNA-based editing tool that can target specific cells, as they describe in Nature.

Novel Gene Editing Approach for Treating Cystic Fibrosis

Researchers in Science Advances report on their development of a non-nuclease-based gene editing approach they hope to apply to treat cystic fibrosis.

Study Tracks Responses in Patients Pursuing Polygenic Risk Score Profiling

Using interviews, researchers in the European Journal of Human Genetics qualitatively assess individuals' motivations for, and experiences with, direct-to-consumer polygenic risk score testing.