Emerging Scholars Blog

InterVarsity's Emerging Scholars Network

postdoc

Making God a Priority In Grad School: How to Avoid the Spiritual Comb Over

calendar photoAs we enter the truly frenetic part of the semester, ESN writer Scott Santibanez shares a humorous and wise reflection on making time for God in grad school. Browse Scott’s other work for ESN here.

Biographical Note: Tito Scott Santibañez is a slightly balding adjunct professor at Emory University. As a volunteer physician, he has provided medical care for underserved populations for nearly 25 years. He also has a doctorate from seminary. [Read more…] about Making God a Priority In Grad School: How to Avoid the Spiritual Comb Over

I Found a Postdoc in the Sciences: Now What? (Pt 2)

Photo of a woman sitting alone on a mountain peak.
Postdocs can be solitary; create opportunities to build connections. (Photo by StockSnap)

The most popular Emerging Scholars blog post is “Finding a Postdoc in the Sciences: Nailing the Interview.” It’s part of a larger series on finding a postdoc which is also frequently visited. We figured it was time for a follow-up on what to do once you’ve found the postdoc you were looking for.
[Read more…] about I Found a Postdoc in the Sciences: Now What? (Pt 2)

I Found a Postdoc in the Sciences: Now What? (Pt 1)

liminal photo
The space between autumn and winter. (Photo by Jeff Youngstrom )

Let’s be honest: postdocs occupy a weird, liminal space in the path of the scholar. Is it a job? Are postdocs students? I was once told that my department considered postdocs students when it meant they didn’t have to provide faculty benefits, and it considered them special faculty when it meant they could withhold student benefits. We never even really bothered to give postdoctoral fellowships a real name; we basically just call them “that thing you do after you finish your doctorate but before you get a real job.” Postdoc positions are the Twenty Years After of roles.
[Read more…] about I Found a Postdoc in the Sciences: Now What? (Pt 1)

Faithful Is Successful: Interview with Matthew Cabeen

kids science photo
Photo by martincron

ESN continues its series of interviews with authors of Faithful Is Successful, chatting with Matthew Cabeen about career/family life balance. You can read Daniel Roeber’s post on Matthew Cabeen’s Faithful Is Successful essay here. Matthew Cabeen is a postdoctoral fellow of the Jane Coffin Childs Foundation studying in the Department of Molecular and Cellular Biology at Harvard University. He studies bacterial community behavior in Bacillus subtilis and Pseudomonas aeruginosa in the laboratory of Prof. Richard Losick. He conducted his doctoral studies with Professor Christine Jacobs-Wagner in the Department of Molecular, Cellular & Developmental Biology at Yale University. Matt lives with his wife, Rose, and their three young sons, Tommy, Benjamin, and Henry, in Boston, Massachusetts. The Cabeens attend church at their local Roman Catholic parish, St. Ann.

1. ESN: You talk in this essay about the delight and value of making space for a vibrant family life even as someone with a busy academic career. I’m curious if there are any ways that you find insights in your academic work and insights in your family life overlapping. Do you ever discover that God is teaching you about your family life through your academic career, or vice versa? [Read more…] about Faithful Is Successful: Interview with Matthew Cabeen

Scholar’s Compass Navigating Beginnings: Overcoming Fear and Anxiety

Image courtesy of Apolonia at FreeDigitalPhotos.net
Image courtesy of Apolonia at FreeDigitalPhotos.net

For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and a sound mind. – 2 Timothy 1:7 (NKJV)

Fear not, for I am with you; be not dismayed, for I am your God; I will strengthen you, I will help you, I will uphold you with my righteous right hand. – Isaiah 41:10 (NKJV)

Reflection

Fall has always been my favorite time of the year. Crisp mornings, warm afternoons, jumping back into rhythms and routines after a summer filled with barbeques, family reunions, and time to just sit back and relax. It is full of excitement and back-to-school activities bringing crisp new school supplies and football games and all things pumpkin spice.

I remember well that fall when I started graduate school–the excitement, the anticipation of starting something new. Orientation activities and faculty seminars inviting students to something big, something interesting, something important. Starting classes, wondering “when are they going to discover that they’ve made a mistake–I’m really not as smart as they thought I was!” Struggling to balance new and ever increasing demands on my time and energy and oh yeah, I really should fit exercise and rest in here somewhere, right? [Read more…] about Scholar’s Compass Navigating Beginnings: Overcoming Fear and Anxiety