With young children and a job during graduate school, work life balance was a challenge, to say the least. But Oliver managed to not only finish his dissertation, but to feel like a peer to his professors during his defense. Listen to Oliver share his best and worst grad school moments, and how he ultimately became an associate professor at Clemson University.

Oliver is an associate professor at Clemson University in the Mechanical Engineering department. His research focuses on the characterization of smart materials and smart structure mechanics of systems ranging from nano- to micro-scales. He received his PhD for the University of Maryland Baltimore County in 2007.

• Having a family while doing his PhD

• Having the professor in charge of his qualifying exam not respond and keep postponing his exam for many many months

• His defense and feeling that he was finally a peer to professors he had looked up to.

• Habit: Time management
• Book: The Art of War by Sun Tzu and The Bible
• Productivity Tool: Apply iPhone or iPad combined with Dragon Dictation app
• Best Advice: Be true to yourself.
• Hobbies: Working out, fishing, playing golf, chasing after wife and kids
• Alternative PhD study: Oceanography or Archaeology

• Email: [email protected]
• Meyerhoff Scholars Program

Intro and Outro Music: http://www.bensound.com/royalty-free-music - Happy Rock

A PhD Life Coach? Jen never imagined a career as a life coach. But after her own challenges in graduate school, she realized that her passions and talents would best be used as an academic, life, and career coach for graduate students and PhDs. Now, Jen has launched her own business where she helps PhD students and recent PhDs identify their own passions and launch meaningful careers. Listen to her interview to hear about her experience in graduate school, how she decided to become a PhD Life Coach, and her advice for current grad students.

Jen has a PhD in history from the University of Toronto. You can learn more about Jen on her website. She has many useful posts and resources about being a graduate student that I encourage you to go check out.

• Not having a system for getting work done

• Her committee gave her 4 months to finish her dissertation but she didn't have a system

• Creating a newsletter for the department during her first year as a PhD student.

• Habit: Listening well
• Book: Writing Your Dissertation in Fifteen Minutes a Day: A Guide to Starting, Revising, and Finishing Your Doctoral Thesis by Joan Bolker
• Productivity Tool: Scrivener
• Best Advice: 1. Never explain and never apologize 2. The only good dissertation is a done dissertation
• Hobbies: Exploring the city, festivals, running, playing with her cat, and documentaries.
• Alternative PhD study: Philosophy of Science

• Twitter
• Website: http://fromphdtolife.com/
• Email: [email protected]

Intro and Outro Music: http://www.bensound.com/royalty-free-music - Happy Rock

John always knew that he wanted to be a writer, but his journey from grad student to contributing correspondent for Science wasn’t always clear. Now, John has spent half of his adult life traveling or living abroad, writing about science stories around the world. Hear him describe his rough start to graduate school, how he graduated, and how he made the career transition to journalist.

• Not getting anything to work for the entire first year of his PhD

• Was having a lab mate actually find the mutation that he was looking for after he had given up on finding it

• Finishing the PhD

• Habit: Great conversations to work out stories and ideas
• Book: The Road by Cormac McCarthy
• Productivity Tool: Python
• Best Advice: Get back to work (there was a point where he wasn't doing much science)
• Hobbies: Brazilian jujitsu and yoga
• Alternative PhD study: Something with computer programing

• Twitter
• Website
• Ted Talk
• Dance Your PhD

Music: http://www.bensound.com/royalty-free-music - Happy Rock

Melissa discusses her personal challenges with impostor syndrome and finding balance in her life. Melissa realized that graduate school is her life… meaning there are no set hours, and it can be easy to neglect your personal life. She says that you have to make the time to enjoy your friends and family. And that work life balance will lead to being more successful in your science.

Dr. Melissa Wilson Sayres is an Assistant Professor in the School of Life Sciences and The Biodesign Institute at Arizona State University. Her main research interests are in sex chromosome evolution, sex-biased processes, population genetics, and comparative genomics. Learn more about her research interests or read her blog.

• Impostor syndrome.

• Deleting many weeks worth of completed analysis.

• Realizing that graduate school is her life... meaning that you are never finished but you need to be able to take time to enjoy other things.

• Habit: Promptly answering emails.
• Book: At the Helm: Leading Your Laboratory by Kathy Barker.
• Productivity Tool: Having a child (Not recommended as a means of getting more done) .
• Best Advice: Not to take criticism personally.
• Hobbies: Hiking with her family, talking with people, and having different science outlets
• Alternative PhD study: Astronomy

• Twitter
• Email: [email protected]

Music: http://www.bensound.com/royalty-free-music - Happy Rock

Maggie struggled with uncertainty about her future career while she was a graduate student. But her fears disappeared during her last year of graduate school when she landed her dream job--assistant professor at Appalachian State University. Listen to Maggie's story to hear about her best and worst moments in graduate school, and how she went on to the career of her dreams.

Maggie is an assistant professor at Appalachian State University. She received her PhD from UNC Chapel Hill in Geography. She was awarded an EPA STAR Fellowship and an NSF Doctoral Dissertation Research Improvement grant while in grad school. Her research focuses on where and when heat-related illnesses occur and how these patterns relate to the environment, socioeconomic conditions, and climate.

• Uncertainty about future career.

• Receiving a 16 page single-spaced review from the same reviewer at 2 different journals.

• Receiving her EPA STAR Fellowship and NSF DDRI in the same year.

• Habit: Determination
• Book: Aspiring Academics: A Resource Book for Graduate Students and Early Career Faculty
• Productivity Tool: To Do List
• Best Advice: Some of the most successful people have been rejected many times
• Hobbies: Trail Running, reading, talking with girlfriends, and outdoor sports
• Alternative PhD study: Epidemiology

• Twitter

Intro and Outro Music: http://www.bensound.com/royalty-free-music - Happy Rock

Rock Your Research is a podcast created for you, the graduate student. If you are looking for inspiration, community, and advice then we have you covered. Each episode brings you an amazing PhD, who shares their journey. They talk about their biggest struggles and worst and best moments as graduate students. They also talk about their current career and the path they took to get there. The MINDFUL MINUTES ends the show with awesome resources that the researcher uses to stay productive and motivated. So join us on this journey and prepare to rock your research.