How to Succeed in Science

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00:00:07.03 Hello, my name is Enrique De La Cruz
00:00:09.03 from Yale University.
00:00:10.28 Thank you for tuning in.
00:00:13.00 In the forthcoming presentation,
00:00:14.17 I'm going to present a few things that I've
00:00:16.12 learned during the last 12 years
00:00:18.08 as a professor.
00:00:21.13 This is a talk that I've given several times
00:00:23.16 in very different contexts,
00:00:25.01 but the very first time that I was asked
00:00:26.15 to give this talk was for an event
00:00:28.19 in which I was asked to give
00:00:29.29 career advice to graduate students,
00:00:32.20 specifically on how to succeed in science.
00:00:36.21 You know, when I was asked to do this,
00:00:37.25 I wasn't exactly sure how to do this,
00:00:40.02 because I had been to many
00:00:42.17 career development seminars,
00:00:46.02 and every time that I went
00:00:47.13 to one of these talks,
00:00:50.11 the speaker just went on and on
00:00:52.23 about how great he or she was,
00:00:55.24 they went on to list all of their awards and
00:00:58.05 honorifics and how this essentially
00:01:01.11 defined the success of their careers.
00:01:04.19 Now, I never got much from these talks
00:01:06.13 because I think in hindsight I didn't share
00:01:09.00 many of the privileges that they had.
00:01:13.14 For example, I did not always know
00:01:15.08 that I wanted to be a scientist
00:01:17.02 and I admittedly did not know
00:01:18.12 if I was even qualified to be one
00:01:20.06 when I started to go to graduate school.
00:01:22.26 In fact, when I went to graduate school,
00:01:24.10 I didn't even feel entirely prepared.
00:01:28.04 If I had to describe how I felt I would say
00:01:30.12 that I felt ill-equipped, alienated in many
00:01:33.15 respects, but certainly doubtful
00:01:35.04 of my own potential.
00:01:37.11 What I needed to get from these career talks
00:01:39.29 was not what to do to be successful,
00:01:42.23 but rather how to do it.
00:01:45.06 And I was just not getting this information
00:01:47.19 despite listening to these talks.
00:01:50.02 And listen carefully I did.
00:01:52.20 So when I was asked to do this
00:01:53.28 at first I was reluctant to do it
00:01:56.09 and I certainly did not want to talk about
00:01:58.25 what I had done to get to this stage
00:02:01.08 of my career, at least not directly.
00:02:04.27 So what I decided to do was to
00:02:06.19 pick some useful quotes from
00:02:08.23 famous, more credible people that
00:02:11.17 convey what I had found to be the
00:02:13.25 "general truths" regarding some factors that
00:02:16.29 are required for a successful scientific career.
00:02:21.27 Certainly strategies that are needed
00:02:23.28 to minimize the risk of failing.
00:02:26.23 You know, there is no guarantee for success.
00:02:28.23 I think we all understand that in any career
00:02:32.22 that we pursue.
00:02:34.08 But in my experiences, the chances of success
00:02:37.07 are lower if some very obvious things
00:02:39.21 are ignored or overlooked.
00:02:41.16 And what I hope to accomplish in the next
00:02:43.12 10 or 15 minutes,
00:02:44.17 which will hopefully be of use to you,
00:02:46.10 is to try to condense some of these things
00:02:48.11 in a manner that they're collectively
00:02:51.24 going to give you strategies that
00:02:53.13 you would need to be successful.
00:02:56.03 And the very first obvious thing is a very
00:02:59.21 famous quote from Thomas Edison,
00:03:01.26 in which he says that
00:03:02.28 "Being busy does not always mean real work.
00:03:06.20 The object of all work is production or
00:03:09.03 accomplishment and to either of these ends
00:03:11.13 there must be forethought, system,
00:03:13.27 planning, intelligence, and honest purpose,
00:03:16.13 as well as perspiration."
00:03:19.03 When you go on to pursue your career,
00:03:21.22 whether it's in college or in graduate school
00:03:24.13 or as a post-doc or even as a faculty member,
00:03:26.22 you will certainly be busy.
00:03:28.24 That is an absolute requirement to achieve
00:03:32.25 the goals that are put forward.
00:03:34.27 But this is not enough.
00:03:37.10 You can't just be busy, but rather, you have
00:03:40.00 to work hard and you have to work wisely.
00:03:42.25 The key is to use your time effectively.
00:03:45.09 And it helps to have a plan.
00:03:47.26 Now, in my lab, when I have my lab meetings
00:03:50.18 and particularly with my graduate students,
00:03:52.24 but I expect, or I at least request,
00:03:54.22 from my post-docs and my graduate students
00:03:57.19 on a weekly basis their goals for the week.
00:04:00.29 What they hope to accomplish that week
00:04:03.00 experimentally and often even personal goals.
00:04:06.18 And why do you do this?
00:04:07.14 Because you have at least a concrete example
00:04:10.20 of what you hope to achieve
00:04:12.02 during those 5 or 6 days of work.
00:04:15.22 And after they've passed,
00:04:16.22 you have a chance to go back
00:04:17.22 and look at what you thought
00:04:19.01 you wanted to do and evaluate
00:04:21.04 how well you've done.
00:04:23.13 Because if you need to be the first person
00:04:25.18 to know if you're doing a good job or not,
00:04:28.02 then this is how you can self-assess
00:04:30.11 if you're achieving your own expectations
00:04:33.02 and accordingly the expectations
00:04:34.26 that are required for you to succeed
00:04:36.26 in the career path that you're choosing.
00:04:39.05 If someone else has to tell you
00:04:40.25 you're not doing a good enough job,
00:04:43.01 it's probably too late.
00:04:46.05 You need to realize that yourself
00:04:48.04 before someone else has to tell you.
00:04:50.11 And by defining these goals and
00:04:51.27 checking them is one of the ways
00:04:53.10 that you can actually do this independently.
00:04:57.10 The other important thing to realize is that
00:04:59.15 when you pursue a degree,
00:05:01.22 certainly a Ph.D. in science,
00:05:04.00 is to understand that you are in charge
00:05:07.15 of your career.
00:05:10.14 No one else is as responsible for your success
00:05:13.22 than you are.
00:05:15.28 Students often ask me, "Well, how long
00:05:18.09 will it take me to get my Ph.D.?"
00:05:21.21 And I just say I don't know.
00:05:24.02 It really depends on how hard
00:05:26.01 you're going to work.
00:05:27.24 I had one student graduate in 4 1/2 years and
00:05:31.02 I had others that graduated in 6 1/2 years.
00:05:33.16 I could give you a mean, you understand
00:05:35.22 that there's a distribution and there's
00:05:37.11 a lot of variants.
00:05:39.12 But there's no specified amount of time that's
00:05:42.11 going to tell you how long it's going to
00:05:44.01 take for you to get this degree.
00:05:46.02 And it's up to you.
00:05:47.17 You can do it sooner or later.
00:05:49.20 But you can't just sit around
00:05:50.23 and wait for it to happen,
00:05:52.03 because it's not going to happen.
00:05:54.14 You are in charge, and the moment
00:05:55.29 you understand that, you are empowered
00:05:57.28 with the liberties that you need
00:05:59.29 to achieve your own career goals.
00:06:02.18 Without that, you're just going to sit around
00:06:04.10 and wait for somebody else to do something
00:06:06.02 for you that they will likely never do.
00:06:10.16 Benjamin Franklin had a wonderful quote
00:06:12.17 that's certainly relevant to modern science
00:06:15.01 and the way that we evaluate each other.
00:06:18.06 This was true back then and it's still true now,
00:06:20.17 where he said,
00:06:21.05 "Either write something worth reading
00:06:23.04 or do something worth writing."
00:06:25.24 Okay, why is this?
00:06:27.02 You have to leave a paper trail,
00:06:29.11 because scientific publications
00:06:31.06 are the scientific currency.
00:06:34.05 This is how we value our science.
00:06:38.03 We can discuss if it's the right currency
00:06:40.03 or not--this will take an hour.
00:06:42.18 But it's irrelevant, because we all understand
00:06:45.13 that it's our papers and the content
00:06:48.02 of our papers that reflects our
00:06:51.14 scientific contributions.
00:06:53.16 And you agree to this when you choose
00:06:55.20 this career path.
00:06:57.05 These are the rules.
00:06:58.14 They may not be the best or most reliable
00:07:01.12 or accurate rules for assessment,
00:07:03.12 but they are the rules that are in place.
00:07:05.18 And you have to understand that.
00:07:07.23 And if you work for 5 years on something
00:07:10.12 and you never publish it, I'm sorry to say,
00:07:12.22 but it's like it never really happened.
00:07:15.28 Publishing is what makes your work real.
00:07:19.03 And it's good for you.
00:07:21.09 But the community also deserves your effort
00:07:24.22 and they deserve those papers.
00:07:27.13 Particularly when you understand that
00:07:29.00 "success" in science relies heavily
00:07:32.16 and often entirely on what others think
00:07:36.01 about you and your contributions.
00:07:38.29 And this is based on your published works.
00:07:42.11 So you have to give your colleagues
00:07:43.28 something to value you for.
00:07:47.03 And at least communicate your value and
00:07:50.02 contributions to the scientific community.
00:07:52.28 And this is in your publications.
00:07:55.22 And then Linus Pauling had a wonderful quote,
00:08:00.09 which is relevant as we try to decide
00:08:03.03 exactly what kind of scientist we want to be.
00:08:06.27 Linus Pauling said,
00:08:07.19 "The best way to have a good idea
00:08:09.10 is to have a lot of ideas."
00:08:11.24 No one's going to question
00:08:13.05 Linus Pauling's greatness
00:08:15.16 and the endless contributions
00:08:17.10 he's made to science.
00:08:19.18 Some of you know that he also had
00:08:21.05 a few things wrong.
00:08:23.06 But it's okay--we forgive him,
00:08:25.01 because he had so many other brilliant ideas
00:08:28.05 that proved to be correct.
00:08:29.25 That a few mistakes are not so bad.
00:08:33.17 And so, as you start moving forward
00:08:36.13 into your career and pursue research activities
00:08:40.21 in graduate school or at college
00:08:42.22 if you're at a younger stage in your career:
00:08:46.09 Keep in mind that this is the best time
00:08:48.05 in your life to try something new.
00:08:51.06 You can try a new area of research,
00:08:53.26 a new methodology, a new way of thinking,
00:08:56.27 a new way of doing science.
00:09:00.06 Because it's going to get increasingly
00:09:02.05 more difficult to do this as you become
00:09:04.25 more specialized and are relied on
00:09:07.21 for utilizing the skills that you've
00:09:09.10 already demonstrated.
00:09:11.22 But the other thing to keep in mind
00:09:13.03 with Linus Pauling's quote is that
00:09:16.29 if you have many ideas, some are likely to fail,
00:09:20.18 and you can't be afraid to fail.
00:09:23.01 I've talked to so many students, and there's
00:09:25.00 this tremendous, paralyzing fear of failure,
00:09:29.04 which I don't fully understand why it's so
00:09:32.03 pronounced, but it is very strong.
00:09:34.28 And it's important to be aware
00:09:37.00 that you have these emotions
00:09:38.18 if they're there, and don't be afraid to fail.
00:09:41.04 Some would argue that in fact
00:09:42.12 you should try to fail.
00:09:44.10 Because when you actually fail,
00:09:46.16 you understand what your limitations are.
00:09:49.06 And when you know where your
00:09:50.06 limitations are, you know what you
00:09:52.23 need to work on to overcome them.
00:09:55.17 And so failing is not as bad as it seems.
00:09:58.26 In fact it's something that one can actually
00:10:00.17 strive for to achieve self-improvement.
00:10:05.03 But throughout this path it's important
00:10:06.25 to be realistic and fair to oneself.
00:10:10.06 This is a difficult and demanding career
00:10:14.03 that often what it does is it forces one
00:10:17.18 to judge oneself unnecessarily harshly.
00:10:22.15 But Albert Szent-Gyorgyi had this
00:10:23.19 wonderful quote.
00:10:25.16 He said, "When I first took up fishing,
00:10:27.14 I always used an enormous hook.
00:10:30.29 It is more exciting not to catch a big fish
00:10:34.01 than not to catch a small one."
00:10:37.21 And he went on to say,
00:10:39.02 "Now I have reduced the size of my hook."
00:10:43.01 And the lesson here is that you can't set
00:10:45.09 your research and career goals
00:10:47.10 on only the big result.
00:10:50.03 There are people that I know--
00:10:52.02 professors, students, post-docs--
00:10:54.17 that come into work and they keep trying
00:10:57.02 to do that big, you know,
00:10:58.20 that big experiment that's going to get them
00:11:00.15 that big high-profile publication, or something
00:11:04.24 that's really going to shake up the community
00:11:06.28 and the way that we think about things.
00:11:10.03 And you can't just do that.
00:11:12.09 You need to go to work every day with
00:11:14.29 some purpose and get something done.
00:11:17.20 What will happen is that if you do this
00:11:19.15 for a few years, you're going to turn around
00:11:21.07 and after those few years you're going to
00:11:22.21 actually realize that you actually learned a lot.
00:11:25.02 And you actually did get something done.
00:11:27.13 Now, I'm not saying don't
00:11:28.21 try to get the big result.
00:11:30.19 In fact, the key to success is to diversify
00:11:33.29 your portfolio in your research portfolio,
00:11:37.12 just as you would an investment portfolio.
00:11:40.01 You want to have some high-risk projects
00:11:41.20 that may not work and if they fail,
00:11:44.09 well, that's okay.
00:11:48.04 But if there are other projects that you have
00:11:49.23 that are less risk and they're predictable,
00:11:52.14 the product of your manuscripts
00:11:54.15 is likely to be realized.
00:11:56.21 And so if you have high-risk projects
00:11:58.02 and low-risk projects, the chances of you
00:12:00.23 succeeding with one or both of these
00:12:02.29 are greater than if you just go after one.
00:12:06.13 And as you think about what your purposes
00:12:09.18 in science are--now, I just emphasized
00:12:11.16 the significance of research publications.
00:12:15.04 But let's not forget what I consider to be
00:12:18.21 the real job of a scientist.
00:12:21.11 As George Washington Carver said,
00:12:23.16 "Since new developments are the products
00:12:25.08 of a creative mind, we must
00:12:28.02 therefore stimulate and encourage
00:12:30.09 that type of mind in every way possible."
00:12:33.28 Now, it's absolutely necessary to teach
00:12:37.17 what you have learned, both
00:12:39.19 experimentally, scientifically, personally.
00:12:45.19 To your friends, colleagues,
00:12:47.12 students, and trainees.
00:12:49.02 It will be a rewarding and fulfilling
00:12:50.23 experience--I'm certain of it.
00:12:53.03 At times it will be extremely frustrating.
00:12:55.23 But it's important to realize that
00:12:58.11 trained scientists are probably among
00:13:03.23 the most significant and valuable products
00:13:07.00 that the scientific community can make.
00:13:09.24 We can discuss the merit of publications
00:13:12.27 and research dollars.
00:13:16.20 But our most important product really is
00:13:19.16 a well-trained scientist.
00:13:21.12 And that is our greatest contribution
00:13:23.05 to society.
00:13:25.18 And Oscar Wilde had an interesting quote,
00:13:30.09 where he realizes that in order to achieve
00:13:34.26 any of these things, it's really
00:13:36.28 up to the individual to do it.
00:13:39.25 So as you're teaching others,
00:13:41.29 it's important to realize that you can't
00:13:43.25 force anything on one.
00:13:46.02 And Oscar Wilde said that
00:13:47.04 "Education is an admirable thing,
00:13:48.28 but it is well to remember
00:13:49.29 from time to time that nothing
00:13:51.23 that is worth knowing can be taught."
00:13:55.01 So if you're a teacher, try not to control
00:13:57.19 all of your students' activities.
00:13:59.29 If you're a student, don't let your advisor
00:14:02.20 determine what you do.
00:14:05.28 It's very difficult to learn anything new
00:14:09.04 when you are controlling or being controlled.
00:14:12.17 You have to do it yourself, and you have to
00:14:15.12 go through the experience and the process
00:14:17.07 of doing it to understand what it's really like
00:14:19.27 to do this.
00:14:21.06 In many ways it's like being in love.
00:14:23.21 You can read all about it.
00:14:25.21 You can read books about it.
00:14:28.02 But you'll never have a true understanding
00:14:30.03 of the power and magic that come
00:14:32.08 from truly being in love.
00:14:34.18 So go out there and do it.
00:14:37.09 And Oscar Wilde also had a very relevant
00:14:39.01 quote, which is important as you try to identify
00:14:42.12 your individual contributions in science.
00:14:46.28 He said, "Be yourself--everybody else
00:14:49.17 is already taken."
00:14:51.22 This is humorous, but it's also relevant,
00:14:54.24 because what science values is
00:14:56.28 the free and independent thinker.
00:15:00.15 And being yourself is the one thing that
00:15:03.07 you're better at than anybody else.
00:15:06.13 As we try to learn from our advisors
00:15:09.08 and our more experienced colleagues, it's
00:15:12.24 almost--we're inclined to try to emulate them.
00:15:17.18 But you shouldn't try to be like them.
00:15:19.27 You cannot be like your advisor.
00:15:22.23 You have to be who you are.
00:15:24.22 And this will be valued and embraced
00:15:26.28 by the community.
00:15:28.17 And accordingly, you have to try to see others
00:15:31.10 for who they are.
00:15:34.04 And this is very important as you start
00:15:36.21 to develop valuable relationships
00:15:38.26 with your colleagues.
00:15:40.27 You have to interact with your colleagues.
00:15:43.11 We are part of a community.
00:15:45.29 What one needs to realize, which we're told
00:15:48.21 over and over again:
00:15:51.06 The smart person learns
00:15:52.10 from his or her mistakes.
00:15:53.19 Yes, yes, we know that.
00:15:54.19 We know that.
00:15:56.09 But the brilliant person is the one
00:15:58.13 who learns from the mistakes of others.
00:16:01.23 And so you really need to take advantage
00:16:05.17 of your close colleagues.
00:16:08.06 You'd be foolish not to do this.
00:16:10.19 This is not necessarily for personal things.
00:16:14.12 Not necessarily just the people that you know.
00:16:16.19 This applies broadly to science.
00:16:19.21 You'd be foolish not to read what is known
00:16:21.19 about a field or an area before you decided
00:16:23.29 to go and work on it.
00:16:26.23 When I was in graduate school, someone said
00:16:29.03 to me that an hour in the library
00:16:31.03 will save you a week in the lab.
00:16:34.06 Most of you don't go to the library anymore--
00:16:36.04 you use the internet.
00:16:37.23 And I can tell you that an hour on the internet
00:16:40.08 will save you a week in the library.
00:16:42.28 You can do the math to figure out how much
00:16:44.17 time that'll actually save you in the lab.
00:16:47.17 But one thing that I've learned over the last
00:16:49.23 12 years, is that an hour with
00:16:53.02 a knowledgeable colleague will save
00:16:55.19 a week or more on the internet.
00:16:59.17 Time spent reading and finding papers.
00:17:02.20 You can get this information much more
00:17:04.22 readily by interacting with your colleagues.
00:17:09.17 A few years ago, someone asked me,
00:17:13.03 "What is the most important thing
00:17:15.17 that you learned as a professor?"
00:17:19.16 And when I thought about this,
00:17:21.20 I wanted to give a romantic answer.
00:17:25.09 But I paused and I stopped and thought
00:17:27.25 about that a little bit more deeply
00:17:30.17 before I answered that person.
00:17:33.12 And I realized that the most important thing
00:17:35.01 that I learned as a professor is that I cannot
00:17:39.03 impose my values onto the other people
00:17:41.24 that are around me.
00:17:44.24 I'm an academic scientist
00:17:46.10 and this is my career path.
00:17:48.16 This is the path that I've chosen to take.
00:17:51.06 But not every person that comes to work with
00:17:53.06 me in my laboratory or every student that
00:17:55.23 I have in my classroom wants to be like me.
00:17:59.25 They don't necessarily want to be
00:18:01.16 an academic scientist.
00:18:05.02 And I said earlier that it's important to see
00:18:07.24 people for who they are.
00:18:10.05 But it is equally important to see other people
00:18:12.19 for who they want to be.
00:18:15.12 And this is essential to be a successful and
00:18:20.12 helpful advisor and mentor to your trainees.
00:18:24.08 It's really the only way that you can help
00:18:26.15 someone achieve their career goals.
00:18:29.01 You have to see them for who they are
00:18:31.08 and where they want to be.
00:18:34.12 You don't necessarily have to try to help them
00:18:37.02 be like you.
00:18:41.24 But pursuing one's own career path,
00:18:44.23 an independent path, which I hope all of you
00:18:48.09 will do if you aren't doing already,
00:18:52.07 brings with it often these feelings
00:18:54.20 of alienation and isolation, because one's
00:18:58.25 trying very hard to define themselves
00:19:00.27 as an individual.
00:19:04.12 And there's a quote that I love
00:19:06.19 by Dr. Julie Freischlag,
00:19:08.26 who's Head of Surgery at Johns Hopkins.
00:19:12.23 Shortly after starting that position,
00:19:15.15 she went to the Dean of Faculty,
00:19:18.10 Janice Clements, and said to her,
00:19:21.11 "Janice, I don't know, but I just don't fit in."
00:19:29.00 And there are a couple of things I get from
00:19:30.14 this quote, this statement that she made.
00:19:34.20 One is, here's an incredibly accomplished
00:19:37.25 woman, an incredibly recognized surgeon,
00:19:43.12 who is in charge of a division
00:19:45.18 where surgery started in this country.
00:19:50.06 She's acclaimed and an influential leader.
00:19:55.24 But she has this feeling that she probably had
00:19:59.24 for several decades.
00:20:03.07 Presumably because she was a woman
00:20:05.09 growing up and pursuing a career
00:20:07.15 in a male-dominated system.
00:20:11.00 But now she's in charge, yet she still feels
00:20:14.07 that she doesn't fit in.
00:20:17.05 So this tells me that those feelings that
00:20:19.14 one might have may never go away.
00:20:24.21 But it also tells me that these feelings
00:20:26.23 don't necessarily have to stop you from
00:20:28.19 achieving great strides in your career.
00:20:34.02 They don't have to get in your way
00:20:35.18 and stop you.
00:20:38.05 But how do you deal with this?
00:20:39.11 How did Janice Clements respond to this?
00:20:42.06 So she said quite simply,
00:20:43.18 "Your job is not to fit in. Your job is to lead."
00:20:50.09 And this is precisely what she was doing.
00:20:54.08 The other thing to realize is that this
00:20:55.28 career path is not something that you do
00:20:58.00 on your own.
00:20:59.26 It's a path that one takes with companions.
00:21:02.26 And the better and stronger your relationships
00:21:04.27 are with your companions, the better and
00:21:07.27 more pleasurable this ride will be.
00:21:10.13 And Margaret Mead had a wonderful quote,
00:21:12.24 where she said,
00:21:13.24 "Never believe that a few caring people
00:21:15.20 can't change the world.
00:21:17.15 For, indeed, that's all who ever have."
00:21:20.24 So as you embark on your journey,
00:21:23.00 make sure that you find someone,
00:21:26.11 a mentor or an advocate,
00:21:28.02 who cares about your world.
00:21:30.20 Someone who really cares about you as an
00:21:33.08 individual and your success in your career.
00:21:36.11 There are many people out there.
00:21:38.16 I would not be where I am today if it were not
00:21:41.07 for half a dozen or more of people who
00:21:44.09 often cared more about my own career
00:21:47.16 than I did myself.
00:21:50.05 But what happens once you move on is
00:21:54.24 the understanding that you have
00:21:56.14 an obligation to extend this to your students
00:21:59.17 and your trainees.
00:22:01.17 You can't just receive this from people.
00:22:04.23 You're also responsible for making sure
00:22:06.14 that you give it on to others.
00:22:09.16 And then the last quote
00:22:10.11 that I'm going to leave you with
00:22:11.25 is among my favorite quotes ever,
00:22:16.24 because it reveals the power of
00:22:18.12 positive thinking and endless optimism.
00:22:21.17 It's from Joe Strummer,
00:22:22.18 among my favorite people
00:22:23.25 to ever walk the face of the earth.
00:22:26.11 He had a quote where he said,
00:22:27.15 "The future is unwritten."
00:22:30.08 This is something that is absolutely
00:22:33.14 empowering as you begin to pursue
00:22:36.27 your career and you begin to do your
00:22:39.11 research activities.
00:22:41.23 Almost anything is possible.
00:22:44.26 And if you work together and you contribute
00:22:48.13 and participate actively in your community,
00:22:51.27 almost anything can actually be achieved.
00:22:55.12 And with that, I'm going to stop,
00:22:56.25 and I thank you for your time.
00:22:59.09 And hopefully you got something from this
00:23:01.08 as I did over the last 12 years.
00:23:04.04 Thank you.

This Talk

Speaker: Enrique De la Cruz

Audience:

General Public
Educators of H. School / Intro Undergrad
Student
Educators of Adv. Undergrad / Grad
Researcher
Educators

Recorded: July 2013

Talk Overview

De La Cruz explains that when he was a student most of the career advice talks that he attended explained what you needed to do to succeed in science but not how to do it. In this talk, De La Cruz communicates lessons he has learned from well known scientists, as well as some more surprising sources, on how to increase the likelihood of a successful scientific career.

Speaker Bio

Enrique De la Cruz

Enrique M. De La Cruz is a Professor of Molecular Biophysics and Biochemistry at Yale University. After receiving his Ph.D. from Thomas Pollard’s lab at Johns Hopkins University, Dr. De La Cruz went on to a post-doc with Dr. H. Lee Sweeney and E. Michael Ostap at the University of Pennsylvania before starting as faculty… Continue Reading