Queen bee and equal opportunities
Have you ever thought about how a beehive chooses a queen? They don’t. Potentially any of the eggs or larvae can become a queen. They are not specific eggs that are chosen. They are just any egg from the same gene pool. Beehive is an equal opportunity community. Theoretically anyone can become a queen. Why […]
Become an excellent lab book keeper
Keeping a workbook of all experiments is a daily routine for many scientists in a wide variety of disciplines. Workbooks are readily available when the hands-on work is done and it is easy to scribble anything on those pages. However, most young scientists – and sometimes older and more seasoned as well – have serious […]
Trust and safety
Trust and safety. Two things you should feel at work. Hands up, who feels that way? I can imagine that there are people who do not. Some might say, though, who cares. And truth be told, you do not need trust and safety to be successful, you can still make a great career without them. […]
One Note to rule them all
I love being organized. I am not perfect at it, but I strive to keep my home, desk and computer organized. Long time ago, during my PhD studies, I one day had an epiphany that science is just organized knowledge. Later I learned that I was not the first person to extrapolate this from my […]
The power of positive intent
Imagine your colleague presenting the results of the work the whole team did. The whole department is listening and outsiders as well. But your colleague only talks about himself. How he did this project and how he succeeded. There are two ways you can react to this. Thinking that ‘what a jerk, taking all the […]
One tiny step at the time
There comes a time when you are tired, unmotivated and depressed. It might be today or weeks from now. Project is not going so well, the boss is being difficult or you have challenges in your personal life. In these times, all work seems to be extremely hard and it would be easier to just […]
Is this the best you can do?
There is a tale about Henry Kissinger, President Nixon’s secretary of state and his speechwriter, Winston Lord. One day Kissinger gave Lord instructions for a specific speech and asked him to write the speech well before the time he needed to present it. Lord gave the speech to Kissinger and the next day Kissinger came […]
Be proactive
Many years ago a friend recommended me a book 'Seven Habits of Highly Effective People' written by Stephen Covey. I thought immediately that it is just one more of those annoying self-help books and was not interested. Years later, I reluctantly took the book in my hands and started reading. The book blew my mind. […]
Welcome to Academic Pitstop!
Welcome to my brand-new website! I am Merja, a scientist with over 20 years of experience in both academia and the pharmaceutical industry. I have done research in many areas of life sciences and in many research groups. I have made many mistakes, experienced few successes and learned a lot on the exciting journey in […]