Life Scientists' Guides

Whether you are writing up your dissertation, struggling in the lab, or a new PhD student, our Science PhD Survival Pack has resources to support you...

Most of us will face rejection at some stage in our careers, and while we can’t avoid it, we can choose how we cope with it. In our Life Scientist's Guide to Coping With Rejection, scientists from around the world share their experience of academic rejection, and how it ultimately shaped their careers...

Peer reviewing your first scientific paper? Just thinking about it? Or perhaps looking to refresh your skills? This essential guide gives detailed and straightforward advice to help scientists review their first manuscript, and also to help those who simply want to refresh their paper-reviewing skills.

Like many professions, life scientists are finding themselves in an unprecedented situation right now as the COVID-19 pandemic impacts scientific research around the world. We've spoken to some members of our life science community in the UK, USA and Europe to find out what the impact on their research has been, how they’re planning on spending their time away from the lab productively, what they’ve learned from this global situation, and what words of advice and encouragement they have for fellow scientists around the world.

Need advice on writing a scientific paper? For a lot of scientists the task of putting pen to paper can feel daunting. To help you prepare and write your next scientific paper with ease, we’ve spoken to our fantastic community of life scientists around the world and put together this Life Scientist's Guide to Writing Scientific Papers. Enjoy!

How do you cope with nerves when presenting at a conference? What's the best way to practise giving your presentation? And how do you write your content? The Life Scientists' Guide to Presenting at Conferences is packed full of advice from experts, as well as some excellent tips from our community of scientists - helping you deliver your next scientific presentation with confidence and flair!

One of the biggest challenges for life scientists is working within budgets to make grants and funding go further. In this Life Scientist's Guide To Cost-Saving In The Lab, neuroscience PhD student Karolina Farrell from UCL shares her top tips for cutting costs (not corners) in the lab...

Promoting yourself and your work is an important part of any life scientists’ career, but that doesn’t mean it’s always easy. To help get you started, we’ve put together The Life Scientist's Guide to Promoting Yourself and Your Work. We hope it gives you the tools and know-how to get your research heard, and the confidence to get out there and share your brilliance.

One of the things we’re most passionate about is supporting early career life scientists.

As well as publishing our PhD guides here on the blog, speaking to brilliant PhDs for our ‘Interviews with Scientists’ series, and giving our community a platform via our guest blogs, we also have a whole host of resources to help and support you once you get going in the lab. Read on to find out about them...

We know you love what you do, and we understand how hard life scientists work – and that it’s often out of choice, rather than necessity. But working hard doesn’t mean you have to neglect yourself. Read our guide to find out what wellbeing actually is, and how we scientists can look after ourselves better, and support our colleagues to do the same.