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STEM Professional Development

Here are some library resources for building professional development skills: writing, communication (including presentations and poster sessions), ethics, and more.

Starting places, including vocational "survival" guides. See also

Your professional organizations (IEEE, AMS, ASCE, APS, ACS, etc.), both at the national level and UCSD chapters
IDEA Center, Jacobs School of Engineering
Student Success Center and Research Communications Program, Division of Physical Sciences
Office of Research Compliance and Integrity, Research Affairs

O'Reilly for Higher Education
48,000+ ebooks, videos, and case studies from O'Reilly and other publishers. Includes titles related to professional and presonal development, including data science and programming languages, project management, written and oral communication, presentation skills, and interviewing.
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A Guide to the Scientific Career: Virtues, Communication, Research and Academic Writing Written by a team of experienced professionals to help guide younger researchers, A Guide to the Scientific Career: Virtues, Communication, Research and Academic Writing features ten sections composed of seventy-four chapters that cover: qualities of research scientists; career satisfaction and its determinants; publishing in academic medicine; assessing a researcher’s scientific productivity and scholarly impact; manners in academics; communication skills; essence of collaborative research; dealing with manipulative people; writing and scientific misconduct: ethical and legal aspects; plagiarism; research regulations, proposals, grants, and practice; publication and resources; tips on writing every type of paper and report; and much more.
Making the Most of the Postdoc: Strategically Advancing Your Early Career Based on the personal experiences of the author, this book logically outlines the flow of the postdoc experience from beginning to end by providing actionable advice on how to get the most out of postdoctoral training while laying out strategies for choosing the right research environment to thrive along with planning, and executing, a successful postdoc tenure. Written for current and future postdocs, as well as their mentors, this book covers what they need know, and do, to strategically advance in their early research career.
Life in Science: Stories, Opinions and Advice for a New Generation of Scientists This book is a collection of stories, reflections and advice written by proficient scientists. They address the question of what doing science means to them, and describe attitudes and working practices that have proved effective and rewarding. The book is aimed in particular at young people who are attracted by science or already undertaking undergraduate studies, and who are considering making science their long-term profession. It will also be helpful and revealing to early-career scientists who are searching for their own best route to success.
Practical Career Advice for Engineers: Personal Letters from an Experienced Engineer to Students and New Engineers Written by an experienced engineer, Practical Career Advice for Engineers: Personal Letters from an Experienced Engineer to Students and New Engineers is a series of personal conversation-style letters that offers practical career advice to all engineers. It guides them through their entire career from early education, to professional certification, on into the workplace, and eventually to retirement. Important topics such as how to acquire leadership skills, improve communication skills, and develop the business side of engineering, as well as how to find a good engineering job, are also addressed. The book targets all engineers working in all disciplines, all industry sectors, and all locations. Engineering students can also learn more about a career in engineering and what they need to do to prepare for it by reading this book.
Becoming Leaders: A Practical Handbook for Women in Engineering, Science, and Technology Intended for people interested in the advancement of their own careers or in the development of human resources in their organization. Information is given in a reader-friendly format with easy-to-find bulleted lists supported by current research in sociology, education, and psychology. This second edition includes new information on implicit bias, other factors affecting leadership success, the impact of social media, management of diversity and inclusion initiatives, and creating respectful workplaces. Professional women in STEM, and managers interested in their progress, will quickly recognize the context of many of the information bytes and see the application in their own workplaces. This handbook provides readers with action plan elements for achieving important goals—both personal and organizational. A sample organizational leadership skills checklist is included.
Demystifying the Engineering PhD Demystifying the Engineering Ph.D. explores what it means to be an engineering Ph.D. holder, including insights from engineering professionals working in academia and industry across multiple institute types and companies. Topics covered include motivations for obtaining a Ph.D., the added value of a Ph.D., and career options for Ph.D. holders. The book concludes with recommendations for transforming engineering doctoral education to preparing doctoral students for diverse careers in industry and academia.
Navigating Academic Life: How the System Works This engaging collection of recent essays reveals how a professorial career involves not only pursuit of a scholarly discipline but also such unwelcome features as the tribulations of graduate school, the trials of teaching, and the tensions that develop from membership in a department. The author, who enjoyed a distinguished career as a professor of philosophy and senior university administrator, draws on his extensive experience to offer candid advice about handling the frustrations of academic life. Combining philosophical principles, practical concerns, and personal observations, this book serves as a reliable guide for both new and veteran academics as well as for anyone seeking to understand the inner workings of colleges and universities.
The Professional Skills Handbook For Engineers And Technical Professionals This new handbook covers a wide range of engineering skills generally not taught in today's college-level technical programs. New engineers, though technically sound, need to master these other skills upon entering the professional world. Topics covered include teaming, root cause analysis, Lean manufacturing and management, presentation skills, innovation, and change leadership. Based on the author’s 30　years of engineering and leadership experience, this work contains a wealth of practical tips and advice, as well as lessons learned the hard way. Portable and concise, the handbook can help new engineers thrive in and enjoy the technical world and their professional careers.
A Survival Guide for Research Scientists Research scientists play a pivotal role in society. Their passion for science will drive them forward, leading to new discoveries that will ultimately make the world a better place. Unfortunately, as the professional environment becomes more and more competitive, research scientists today cannot just rely on technical knowledge to carve successful careers. Besides technical skills, they will need to acquire other skills, such as how to communicate their science to the outside world. A Survival Guide for Research Scientists is a one-stop-shop that will help you to develop those core skills not often taught at school or university.
Learning Engineering Practice This book explains engineering practice, what engineers actually do in their work. The first part explains how to find paid engineering work and prepare for an engineering career. The second part explains the fundamentals of engineering practice, including how to gain access to technical knowledge, how to gain the willing collaboration of other people to make things happen, and how to work safely in hazardous environments. Other chapters explain engineering aspects of project management missed in most courses, how to create commercial value from engineering work and estimate costs, and how to navigate cultural complexities successfully. Later chapters provide guidance on sustainability, time management and avoiding the most common frustrations encountered by engineers at work. This book has been written for engineering students, graduates and novice engineers.
Good Work If You Can Get It: How to Succeed in Academia This is a short, punchy book about the real professional life of an academic. It provides hard data on what academic jobs are like and who gets them; on how to succeed in graduate school; on how to find time to write, teach, and have a personal life; and on what a person might do if academia does not work out. Written by a successful professor, the book warns aspiring academics about the harsh realities of an oversupplied job market and prepares them for playing by the rules that govern success in the academic profession
A Field Guide to Grad School: Uncovering the Hidden Curriculum Some of the most important things you need to know in order to succeed in graduate school—like how to choose a good advisor, how to get funding for your work, and whether to celebrate or cry when a journal tells you to revise and resubmit an article—won’t be covered in any class. They are part of a hidden curriculum that you are just expected to know or somehow learn on your own—or else. In this comprehensive survival guide for grad school, Jessica McCrory Calarco walks you through the secret knowledge and skills that are essential for navigating every critical stage of the postgraduate experience, from deciding whether to go to grad school in the first place to finishing your degree and landing a job.
Scientific Collaboration : Strategies for Successful Research Teams A narrative guide to help scientists improve their collaboration techniques and build trusting relationships with their research teams.The days of scientists conducting solitary inquiries in isolated labs are effectively over, with most researchers instead collaborating in cross-functional teams. In addition to mastering the technical skills necessary in their respective fields, scientists must now learn strategies for better communication and relationship building to succeed in reaching increasingly sophisticated and interdisciplinary research goals. In Scientific Collaboration, biosecurity researcher and animal disease ecologist Jeanne M. Fair shares exciting—and occasionally cringeworthy—stories of scientists working together as an approachable way to introduce and explain the principles crucial to effective scientific collaboration.

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STEM Professional Development

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