Keeping up with scientific literature, career development, experiments, and the rest of life can be a bit overwhelming as a graduate student. To streamline information, I’ve found some great websites and tools to stay on top of science and professional development giving information to you in bite sized chunks and often straight into your email inbox!
Science Magazine
Every Friday, you can sign up to get the latest Science magazine issue sent straight to your email inbox! It’s a great way to start your Friday and keep up with the coolest new research. One thing to keep in mind, however, is you need the AAAS subscription to get this feature.
Nature Daily Briefing
Another way to keep on top of the latest research is to sign up for Nature Journal’s daily science briefing! Once again, this is sent to your email every afternoon and it’s completely free.
Besides covering the science, I also love Nature’s career section, where they have guest writers share their experiences, how they landed a job in a certain sector, and just good pieces of advice to succeed in STEM.
The Morning New York Times
I have a new impossible time staying up-to-date on the news, but one big oversight I think when we discuss keeping up with science news is how important it is also to stay on top of general news too! The two are much more related than you might first think.
One of the best resources I’ve found to know the latest US and world news is New York Time’s Morning email. These emails cover in depth one topic, and end with big highlights of news covering health, sports, wars, and more. An even bigger plus to this daily email is that while the NYT itself requires a subscription, you can sign up for the Morning email for free! Just keep in mind you won’t be able to read the full articles they link without a subscription.
Endpoints News Early Edition
Another way to stay on top the news specifically related to science business, is signing up for Endpoints News emails. This website keeps abreast of everything biotech startup to big pharma and everything in between! They have multiple different briefings, but the one I find easiest to learn from is the Early Edition.
BBC News Daily Email
Being based in the US, a lot of the news I end up reading is US centric. I think it’s important to stay in the loop of what’s going on in other countries too, so I sign up for the BBC daily email every morning.
Professional Societies Newsletters
One of the most useful resources to know what’s happening in your field is signing up for professional societies and reading their emails! This is very field dependent, but some of the societies I am registered with include American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS), the American Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology (ASBMB), and the American Chemical Society (ACS). These societies will tell you what conferences are happening, networking events, and many have free webinars on topics from resume workshops to how to land your dream job.
Researcher (App)
One of the biggest struggles I have in academia is reading enough scientific literature. It always falls through the cracks, but I find having access to reading papers on my phone helps me narrow down the papers I’m looking for and read much more efficiently! I use an app called Researcher which connects to your university account to make sure you get free access to articles. You can narrow down the search criteria by topic and journal, but the feature I like the best is having a running feed of newly published papers matching your preferences.
Social Media
Perhaps the most prominent and most underutilized tool for any scientist is social media. LinkedIn, Twitter, and Instagram are all excellent ways not only to network and meet other scientists, but learn & read about literally “trending” research. I say most underutilized tool because, while most scientists know what social media is and perhaps have private accounts on one or more platform, social media can revolutionary science if we have more scientists publicly share and talk about research!
