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• Advice to Young Scientists - Jeremy Nathans

Teacher of the Year Advises Young Scientists By Lai Hock Tay

Dr. Jeremy Nathans, M.D. Ph.D., who won the Teacherof- the-Year award for 2003, addressed a crowded auditorium of student researchers on the topic “Advice to Young Scientists”.

Dr. Nathans shared with the students one of the important lessons he learned in graduate school and in fact also during his undergraduate days was that most experiments don’t work. Everybody burst into laughter. He had one year of “nothing works” period in his graduate school. “In the long run, things would average out, you have to be accustomed to the ups and downs,” said Nathans as he drew a wave of peaks and troughs on the board.

Students should try to do a few projects in parallel, he recommended. In this way, successes are more likely to offset failures. Moreover, it is always satisfying to be part of something bigger. He cited an example of a man who washes dishes everyday to earn a living. This man goes to church on Sundays. Why? He wants to be part of something bigger. To narrow down the scope of one’s work, one can do “killer experiments” to eliminate projects that don’t work and focus on those that work. If the data collected is promising at that point, act on them immediately. “Do not wait for 6 months before attending to them because by then, you will be busy with something else.”

“Read widely. Pay attention to areas that you normally don’t.” He suggested reading the article on the opposite page to that one intends to read. He believes that every student has a unique combination of skills that distinguishes him or her from others. One can be good in Math and programming while another can shine in molecular biology and genetics. “There is no need to look over your shoulder, every student will contribute to science in his or her unique ways”, said Nathans.

Nathans did not stay in the same research area throughout his research life. One advice he gave to the students was to avoid overcrowded research areas. “If others in the same area can do the research as well as I do, then I am not needed in that area. I will go into an area where my contributions are needed”, he said. “Also, you do not want to wake up every morning thinking that someone will discover and publish something before you.” He added that a good scientist should learn his fundamentals well. “Knowing the fundamentals is more important than knowing the latest scientific trends that you read from Cell. Nail down important concepts and they will be yours forever.”

“It is important to be the first to publish”, he noted. This lesson dated back to the days of Isaac Newton and his work on Calculus. “The first one to publish gets all the credit.”

Next, he moved on to talk about the “Sociology of Scientists”. He said, “Learn to handle difficult people, do not lose your cool in front of them, for who knows, the plasmid you need may be with them.”

Scientists must make time for friends. “Science is a marathon, not a sprint. It’s ok to run a gel tomorrow; go join your friends for a drink."

A scientist must be able to speak and write well. He strongly recommended Lubert Stryer’s Biochemistry textbook as an exemplary book for scientific writing. Finally, he advised that students should also consider careers outside the academia. There is a limit to the rate new faculty positions are made available, which is certainly exceeded by the rate at which Ph.D. students graduate.

Jeremy Nathans is the second of 3 children of Daniel Nathans, M.D., who was a 1978 recipient of the Nobel Prize in Medicine or Physiology, shared with his colleague Hamilton O. Smith, and Swiss microbiologist Werner Arber for the discovery and use of restriction enzymes, which are “biochemical scissors” to analyze DNA.

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