simply blood

Moving and traveling is an integral part of being a scientist. Whenever you go abroad for a study or work, it means you have to adapt to a new place, language, and culture. While we all speak the language of science and blood research, fitting into a new country and finding your way around can be challenging and confusing. In this blog post, I wanted to reflect on my own experiences working on two sides of the Atlantic Ocean, and to share advice from my 3 colleagues from South Korea, Sweden, and Japan, on succeeding in different research cultures. The reasons for traveling as a scientist are multiple, and time spent abroad can vary dramatically from a few days to many years. The majority of important conferences rotate their locations all over the world (I am looking forward to the ISEH meeting in LA this year!). Wanting to pursue a particular topic or learning a unique technique often means you have to travel to a new country or even a new continent. Moreover, in some parts of the ...

Happy 2018! The start of a new year is a time for making resolutions, reflecting on the past and looking forward to new opportunities. We have written many blogs about work-life balance and succeeding in science, and a common theme in many of these blogs is that none of us do it alone. We need friends and family to keep us grounded. At home, our partnerships are vital for maintaining our sanity and supporting our family responsibilities. Collaborations at work often allow us to take our science into new realms and also share both the fun and the burden of getting a project done. Friends in science are also necessary for venting; they can relate to struggles with experiments, publishing, and funding, sometimes offering a helping hand or simply a sympathetic ear.  The community of ISEH is overflowing with close friends and collaborators. It is an ever-growing group that has the close-knit, inclusive feeling of family. Some friendships were forged at the annual ISEH meeting, while o...