Your Scientific Year in Review

It’s time for a scientific year in review.
Photo by Luke Gattuso.

It’s the end of another year. 2014 drew to a close with the ASCB’s annual meeting earlier this month, which brought some of the year’s best science under one roof. (If you weren’t there, you missed out! But there’s always next year!) The time period around New Year’s Eve is usually occupied with a lot of events, from holidays, family, travel, celebration, gifts, parties, delicious food, and at some point the inevitable reflecting on how this past year has gone by. In addition to our life achievements during the past year, as scientists it’s also important to look back on our scientific accomplishments and progress—something I like to call “my scientific year in review.” Here’s how to go about your own science year in review:

• First things first, how has your research project developed? It’s important to look back at your research progress through the calendar year. Have you gone forward or stagnated? What have you proved and how has your story developed? Or have you gotten bogged down trying to prove a hypothesis? If it’s the latter, then it’s time to reconsider your approach or the hypothesis. In the case of any positive progress in your work, this is as good a time as any to start thinking about where to go next, what to do in terms of experiments, or wrapping up a manuscript in the upcoming year.

• Now that you’ve looked at your project progress, career progress comes along. Has your project developed to the point of fruition? Is it time to wrap it up and move on, whether that means writing and defending your thesis, moving to a new postdoc, or applying for a job (academia, industry, anything)? That can be gauged usually by asking yourself two questions. Can you take your project in directions that constitute a natural extension of your hypothesis? It’s important to consider the benefits of pursuing major advances versus spending a long time at any one position. The second, and to me essential, question to ask is whether there is anything left for you to learn where you are. Are there techniques that you want to learn, or do you have the potential to develop new strategies in the lab? If you feel that your personal development is stifled or that there is barely any more room to develop, then it may be time to consider moving on to new pastures.

• Up next come the scientific interactions. Did you go to any conferences? If not, that is definitely something you should try to pencil in or seriously consider (or sometimes push your PI to let you) this upcoming year. If you did attend any, look back at your conference experience: was it a large conference (like ASCB, AHA, or others) or a smaller meeting (like a Keystone or a Gordon conference), and think whether you want to try a conference of a different size in the coming year. Consider the seminars you attended. Did you use any of the newfound knowledge in your work, and if not, can you incorporate it or build on it? Has your ability to grasp, assimilate and question others’ scientific data improved? Asking questions, in my opinion, significantly improves our ability to critique ours and others work and is an important quality required in a scientist. Did you make new contacts, and if so, can you initiate collaborations or even maintain a healthy scientific discourse with them on topics of interest to both? Then look back at your own impact at the meeting. Did you have a poster or a talk? Did your contribution generate conversation, attract people to your poster or to discuss and ask questions after your talk? Did that provide any new ideas or suggestions that you can implement in your work or career development?

• How have you impacted the scientific field this past year? Did you publish any manuscripts? How were your manuscripts received by other scientists? Did you hear any feedback (not common, but you sometimes get emails from scientists who have seen your publication) or have your papers been cited or received a lot of “traffic,” as can be measured using Altmetrics? One thing you can do is see how your manuscript(s) fit within the current framework of knowledge and how it can push our knowledge further, and then brainstorm a possible review or opinion article that you can start writing. This can serve as a platform for you to share your ideas as well as your interpretation of the field you are working in, and the direction it is heading in. Furthermore, it will allow you to put your name in the “center-stage” of your field at the beginning of the upcoming year.

• And finally, it’s important to think about how you can develop yourself further. Applying for a fellowship, grant, or award goes a long way on your CV as well as in your scientific career development. Registering for classes or even just auditing classes can be very useful to expanding your knowledge and providing new ideas, as well as simply deepening your knowledge of a field. Learning new techniques will help expand your laboratory skills. Reviewing scientific papers or writing reviews will help you grow as a scientist. Other options for personal scientific development include judging science fairs for high schools, getting involved in STEM mentoring programs, becoming a teaching assistant for a course at your institute, or even organizing a small conference (ASCB offers graduate students and postdocs the opportunity to organize their own meetings)!

I like to consider this my way of coming to terms with my scientific achievements of the year, which in turn helps me plan for the year ahead. I can determine what I want to achieve, what projects I should focus on and finish up in the coming year, what conferences I want to attend (and even what classes I want to register for), collaborations I would like to initiate within my institute and outside, and where I see my career progressing in the coming year. Hopefully these tips for reflection will be of use to you in directing next year’s endeavors! And with that, and on behalf of everyone at COMPASS, I wish you all a happy holiday season, and a successful and productive 2015!