Publish or perish. Like it or not, prolific paper publishing dictates academic career success.  The quest to get the grant, land that postdoc, achieve tenure means that the necessary dirty work of science—replication—often gets brushed under the carpet. The Economist recently published an article—Unreliable research: Trouble at the lab—that looks at just how bad scientists [...]

This is a guest post by David Charbonneau, cross-posted from Women in Astronomy. I am sorry this blog post is late. I meant to post it Monday. Yes, the blog is important! But I think my daughter might have lice and I had to deal with that urgently. I am sorry I can’t accept the invitation to [...]

Cross-posted from Women in Astronomy A year ago, I made the transition from astrophysicist to data scientist. One of the harder parts of making the transition was convincing a tech company (during the interview process) that I could do the job. Having now been on both sides of the interview table, I’d like to share some [...]

This is a guest post by Caitlin Casey (IfA, Hawaii) and Kartik Sheth (NRAO) who recently hosted a “Diversity and Ethics” Seminar at the Aspen Center for Physics.  This post is a follow-up to their Ethics and Diversity Poll. Thanks to all astronomers who filled out the “Ethics and Diversity” poll back in September.  We hope it was an [...]

This is a crosspost from Women in Astronomy. The AAS Committee on the Status of Women in Astronomy is conducting a survey regarding two body careers. Please help us in our pursuit to better understand how two body careers impact the astronomical community. Go to http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/CSWATwoBodyCareers to complete a brief survey. We appreciate your input and welcome participation from [...]

This is a guest post from Dr. Joseph Harrington, a Professor at the University of Central Florida. The post is written in response to an earlier AstroBetter guest post, The Inside Scoop  on NSF Review Panels. A recent guest post on AstroBetter, The Inside Scoop  on NSF Review Panels, is an excellent writeup of the facts, [...]

The AAS Committee on the Status of Women in Astronomy and the AAS Employment Committee have compiled dozens of interviews highlighting the diversity of career trajectories available to astronomers. The interviews share advice and lessons learned from individuals on those paths.  Below is our interview with Eileen Chollet, an astronomer turned Research Analyst in the defense industry. If you have questions, [...]

On the AstroBetter Wiki, we’ve compiled advice about grad school in astronomy. What should a student know when deciding whether to apply? Where should she apply? What should she ask when visiting? We link to several informative pages, including my “So you want to go to grad school in astronomy?” page. There is also the [...]

The AAS Committee on the Status of Women in Astronomy and the AAS Employment Committee have compiled dozens of interviews highlighting the diversity of career trajectories available to astronomers. The interviews share advice and lessons learned from individuals on those paths. Below is our interview with Christine Jones, an astronomer turned research scientist at the Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory (SAO). She is [...]