La Jolla Interfaces in Science 2000 "Women in Academia"

   New advice is always welcome!  Please feel free to e-mail me a contribution.

Numerous colleagues have contributed their advice to this collection. Much of their advice is combined and paraphrased here. I am very grateful for their time, assistance, and consideration.   Emily Toth Ms. Mentor’s Impeccable Advice for Women in Academia University of Pennsylvania Press, Philadelphia, PA. 1997.   Richard M. Reis Tomorrow’s Professor: Preparing for Academic Careers in Science and Engineering IEEE Press 1997.   The Computing Research Association Committee on the Status of Women in Computer Science and Engineering (CRA-W) has held a number of career mentoring workshops for women (http://www.cra.org/Activities/craw/). Many chapters ("Getting a Job", "Building Your Research Career", and more) are on-line (http://cra.org/Activities/craw/mentorWrkshp/chapters.html).   Tomorrow's professor LIST SERVER at Stanford (http://sll.stanford.edu/projects/tomprof/home.html or http://cis.stanford.edu/structure/tomorrowprof.html).   Jeff Elman "The Academic Job Talk and Interview" (notes: http://crl.ucsd.edu/~elman/job-talk.pdf)   "Science's Next Wave" web site (http://nextwave.sciencemag.org/feature/careercenter.shtml)   American Women in Science (http://www.awis.org)

	Do some detective work Talk to women in your department and in your field.  Their advice is specific to your situation and will supplement the suggestions below.  Your advisor, whether man or woman, is your best source for advice.
	Practice your academic job talk Make this the best talk you've ever given.
	Prepare for the interview Questions that you might not have thought to ask.
	Negotiate your first position  Women are less likely to ask for more, and even if they ask, they are less likely to be told "yes."  Ask anyway!

	You need balance Don't burn out.
	How to motivate yourself and evaluate your success Everyone's research is different.
	Advice for success Tips from the best.
	Grants When at first you don't succeed, try try again.
	Committee Work You need to do service, so what are the best options for a new hire?
	Teaching How many classes you will teach (and how much it counts toward tenure) depends on the institution.  Private institutions require excellent teaching to justify the higher tuition to the parents of your students!
	Graduate students and postdocs Being a mentor.

Preparing for an Academic Position

Specific concerns for Women:

1. With the success of women in science over the last decades, what do you see as the remaining hurdles?
2. Do you think that it is better to have a husband who is academic or non-academic (or no husband...)?
3. How did you balance professional and personal obligations? (children, spouse's career)
4. Do you recommend waiting until after tenure to have children? Why or why not?
5. Are there special funding/award opportunities for women and minorities?

1. What is the best advice you can give a young woman starting her career in academia? What is the best advice you have received?
2. If you could have done something differently, what would it be?
3. What was your best opportunity? How did you recognize it and take advantage of it?
4. What was your biggest obstacle?

1. Do you know about non-tenure track job opportunities, particularly those that are likely to be flexible and permit having a family without dying of stress. Do such jobs exist? How can I find one?
2. What should I look for to indicate that the students at a particular institution will have a good background for interdisciplinary work? Which schools are setting up interdisciplinary positions?
3. What are the best committees to be involved in? What other community involvement is in my best interest?
4. What are the most important questions to ask during an interview? What are search committees looking for?
5. How do I negotiate an offer? What equipment/facilities can I expect to ask for?
6. What are the average research/teaching requirements?
7. How best to spend your start-up funds?  Were there any surprise expenses that you didn't account for in the beginning?
8. What agencies are promoting funding for early investigators? (particularly for equipment funding)

• Many young women may "poopoo" this in the glow of youth, but then later wish they would have listened: USE THE NAME THAT YOU ARE SURE YOU WILL USE ALWAYS, WHATEVER MAY COME. Whether this is a maiden name or a married name is not the issue. But name changes can play havoc.
• Look for options if your position isn’t 100% what you want: My husband and I both looked for industrial jobs that were very "academic" in spirit, and Xerox actually made us both an excellent offer. However, when it came time for the appropriate Vice President to sign, he would not have both of us in the same Division. One of us could work in the "desirable" basic research division, the other would have to go into applied work, and we could choose who. Well, I "sacrificed" myself and my husband went into the basic division, but instead of going into the applied area I decided to try for a postdoc at the University of Rochester. Although my salary would be about half, it seemed just a little better than the other option. That launched my academic career, and it was a turning point in my professional life. By the way, my husband stayed at Xerox and in time went into R&D Administration, something that I would not have liked and that probably would have been my future had I stayed there!
• Find someone with whom you can work well, whether it is a man or a woman. A good productive collaboration is incredibly important, worthwhile, and fun. It is also very important to find a good "mentor" - someone at a higher level than you who is truly looking out for your best interests. Even if you are a stubborn, independent type, you really need someone who is keeping an eye out for you at levels you cannot do anything about.

You do need to be careful that people who seem supportive of you to your face really are being supportive behind the scenes. Don't take them at face value - try to find out if they really are looking out for your best interests, or if it is just convenient words.

• Be flexible and keep your eyes and ears open for opportunities. They can come from the most unexpected sources -- faculty in other departments, professional organizations, special grant opportunities, word-of-mouth, campus initiatives, interinstitutional activities, etc. I know it sounds trite and just common sense, but I am amazed at how many people do not have any common sense.

• Make sure that your talk has a broader context, so that the importance and implications of your work are clear, not merely implied.
• If, when you write your talk, you focus on what you want people to be thinking about as they leave your talk, it will help you concentrate on the essentials.
• Be prepared enough to allow yourself to be spontaneous; preparation will also help you handle the unexpected.
• Make your talk interesting with good examples, relevant anecdotes, and significant details.
• If speaking to a mixed audience, avoid highly technical or specialized terms.
• Using humor in your job talk can be risky, but if it comes naturally to you, use it. But you don't have to, so don't fake it.
• There will usually be a "Question and Answer" period. There is no way to predict all the questions you might be asked, but you can practice by having friends listen to your talk and then ask you the hardest questions they can think of.
• Being a good public speaker helps - a well delivered talk will carry your message more effectively.
• Give your talk in front of friends who can give feedback.
• Try to view any nervousness in a positive way, as energy or dynamism.
• Few speakers reach everybody all the time; don't focus on unresponsive audience members.
• Some audiences (especially in science and engineering fields) will be serious and unresponsive on purpose to make it more challenging or simply because they're concentrating on the presentation and critiquing it.
• Write a thank you letter to your host saying how much you enjoyed the visit, mentioning by name the specific people you spent a reasonable time with, and making reference to any matters or observations that you found particularly worthwhile. Conclude by indicating your understanding of the next steps, and be sure to enclose any additional materials you promised to provide.

• In my second (and final) interview for my first job in academia, I asked each person the following question: "why should I take the job at this institution?" I learned a lot about why each member of the faculty thought it was good (or, in one case, not good) to hire me. I also learned a lot about what they expected of me.

Don't make the mistake of not knowing key information about the institution where you're a candidate. This applies to everything from the institution's mission and future direction to its name. Be prepared for the interview process by surfing the web for additional info on the department, faculty. Prepare yourself with information about the institution, department, philosophy, mission, etc. Have questions prepared for your potential employer such as "Where do graduating students go from here?" Is this a new or replacement position? Is collaborative work encouraged or discouraged? How often are new faculty expected to publish?" Take time to research the interests and subdisciplines within the prospective department and state in your application how you would advance their research agenda. Try to be familiar with the kind of work the department does, what particular faculty are known for. Remember that if you have been given an interview, the faculty are interested in you.

• Remember that you are also interviewing the department. The research above is vital to your decision as well as making a good impression.
• Before the search committee meets you in person, they meet you on paper. It's a big mistake to send a cover letter in which the position referred to is not the position you're applying for. More substantively, it's a mistake to send a letter or résumé that is excessively long. Personally, I prefer letters to be no more than about three pages, and résumés no more than six. Show that you respect the committee’s time and can focus on what is important to their search.
• There are perils in signaling how interested you are in the position. You don't want to appear too interested or not interested enough. I've seen committees react very negatively to a candidate who appears to be campaigning for a job. At the other extreme is the candidate who seems uninterested. Don't be too close to either extreme of this continuum.
• Think carefully about how you will speak about your past; there are many pitfalls here. It is never a mistake to speak kindly of another person or to praise their work. If you are working for a totally dysfunctional institution or a tyrannical boss, it is a mistake to report this to the search committee. It is unwise, particularly at an early stage, to seem to be blaming others.
• Discussions with potential colleagues and students at the interview institution should be focused primarily on intellectual concerns. Do not discuss salary, or fringe benefits, unless you are talking to the person who will be making the offer (e.g., the dean or department head). One possible exception - often it is appropriate to communicate some of your non-monetary objectives and concerns to your "host" (typically a member of the Search Committee), especially if they involve getting your work done (e.g., space, equipment, research and teaching assistants - but not salary, moving expenses, or housing assistance).
• The one mistake that I think trips up the most people is failing to convey a sense of energy.
• The most important thing is the people; do you feel that you will be comfortable in the environment that you've been interviewing. You must realize that your future department is always putting its best foot forward (these are all truisms, even in non-academic environments).
• When candidates interview with your own faculty, attend their presentation to know what to expect.
• Find out how long you will have for your talk. A common length of time is one hour, but that includes time for questions. Consequently, your presentation might be 30 - 40 minutes. Your contact (e.g., the department or search committee chair) should be able to give you some idea how long it should be. Plan it so it won’t go over the allotted time. Bad planning can result in people not being able to ask the questions they want, or even missing something that could help to convince them to hire you.
• Use plenty of visuals, and keep them clear and simple. Put all of your key points on visuals, along with any charts, etc., that will help them to understand what you are doing. If you will need certain equipment, such as a slide projector or videotape machine, be sure to let them know well in advance.

• I made the mistake of putting too much weight on the "horror stories" of bad start-ups, and I am sure you have heard some of those. What it did was make me defensive in my negotiating. At one point, my Chair told me that if I didn't give them put some trust in them, we were going to have some long-term problems. I felt like an idiot. Turns out that my start up has been great! There were benefits to my offer that I had never dreamed of asking for (obviously, their suggestions). Hiring a new faculty member is a big investment of money and resources. It is in their best interest to have you succeed, and they know that. Keep that in mind.
• There will always be surprises--promises made in writing may be subject to "interpretation" (e.g. you thought you had a 2000 sq. ft lab promised to you, but it's really a broom closet...) Best defense is to get everything in writing.
• Start as high as you can in institutional prestige. You can probably move down the institutional ladder, but it's almost impossible to move up any significant distance. However, keep in mind that at some schools the ratings of one department may exceed, by a considerable degree, the ratings for the school as a whole. You also want to know which way the school is heading in prestige. Some schools are clearly making the effort to move up and they are often willing to hire the very best young faculty by making available the necessary resources.
• The most important part about negotiating a startup package is to realize that it's not about money! It's about getting your career launched as quickly and effectively as possible. In addition to salary, you have to ask for laboratory/office space, professional development support, equipment money, student support funds, and reduced teaching commitments. If you are expected to do research, the reduced teaching load is probably the most important part of your startup! In addition, a departmental or school commitment to reduce your teaching load can be used to demonstrate to funding agencies the "institutional commitment" This is time that you can use to write proposals, publications, and do research.
• You need to be forthright in your approach and not worry that the school is going to withdraw its offer because of it. How you ask for something is often as important as what you ask for. Always try to use work quality or productivity as the rationale in your negotiations.
• For expensive laboratory equipment and computer support always try to make it a win-win arrangement for both you and the department. Explain to the department why you need a particular piece of equipment and point out how other faculty members could benefit from its use. Keep in mind that your idea and the department's idea of what you need may differ simply out of misunderstanding or ignorance. You are in the best position to know your needs, but in trying to meet them, be open to approaches that you might not have thought about. The department may not have the computer you need, but may be willing to work with you on obtaining it as a gift from a local technology company.
• Employers will respect you even if your requests seem excessive if the underlying goal is to do a better job. Seed grants, RAs, computers, and a more manageable initial teaching commitment could significantly enhance productivity; a higher salary, moving expenses, or housing assistance could enable you to focus on your job rather than seek extraneous summer or consulting income.
• Make requests in an informal, rather than controlling manner. People are much more likely to respond positively if they perceive it to be an honest attempt to inform rather than a manipulative attempt to control behavior or to gain personal resources. This principle is especially applicable to situations involving the negotiation of multiple offers.
• Since a job offer is worthless if there are "fatal flaws" in it that put it "out of bounds," you should stand firm on requests designed to fix these flaws. On the other hand, you can probably afford to compromise (or even give in) on things that are "in bounds" (i.e., satisfactory but not ideal). Some satisfactory elements of a job offer may become "fatal flaws," however, if you are negotiating multiple offers.
• A higher starting salary means that future percentage increases will be based on a higher number, thus accelerating your salary at a somewhat faster pace (all else being equal). On the other hand, assistant professor salaries fluctuate only within a very narrow range, so that there's usually not much point in pushing too hard on this component of the job offer.

Balance   

• Your husband has to meet you half way. You have a lot of responsibilities as a professional (whether in academia or in industry). You have to share responsibilities for your family and your home, or you will drop from exhaustion.
• You must have a supportive spouse. There are enough barriers out there that you need someone willing to support you and help you succeed.
• Ask about "spousal relocation programs" either at your interview or during your negotiation.
• You don’t have time for house cleaning, cooking, taking the dogs to the vet, taking the car in to have new tires put on, gardening, picking up the laundry, shopping for groceries, etc. I have always been a believer in using all my time on work and family, so I pay a small fortune to have others do as much of "the other" as possible. You won’t lack time for work or family, but it may take a big chunk of your income, or some of your privacy (e.g. by having someone else work around the house).
• Take advantage of the wonderful world of take-out food!  
• I had children after I got tenure, probably because I was more relaxed (and finally got pregnant).
• I married a man whose career is more "mobile" than mine. He was able to more easily find jobs in whatever city I found a job. I chose not to have any children. Although this was the right choice for my husband and I, it is not the right choice for everyone.
• Effective researchers try hard to prevent "negative spillover" of their professional duties into their family and private lives. Protection of your private personal space and commitments is very important.
• Being a pessimist, be sure you want to go the academic path, else I would suggest a position in industry, which is much more favorable for a woman interested in having a family. The people I know who decided to go to an industrial position after a PhD or postdoc seem pretty happy, although they occasionally voice regrets that they may have missed something. However, the people who were in academia and then left to go to industry, seem as happy, and don't seem to have any regrets.
• Please take your holidays off!  No one will notice if you do or don't, but you will be much better for the rest.  

• Do what you want. Academia is a wonderful opportunity to be creative. You are your own boss and can pursue whatever scientific areas excite you.
• Do not compare yourself to others. Everyone is different. You will progress at your own rate.
• Do not worry what your colleagues think of you or your work. The important thing is success is to develop mechanisms by which you are able to objectively assess your progress so as not to fall into comparing yourself to colleagues. This is particularly important in interdisciplinary research, which is not flashy and sometimes takes longer to appreciate - i.e. the significance can be longer term. You will have colleagues who brag about 10 papers per year in Tet letters etc. and it is important to not compare your sell-assessed success to these sorts of researchers. Objective assessment comes from manuscript reviews and grant reviews.
• Do everything you can to identify "friendly" reviewers and then take every comment they make seriously and try to improve your work based on their advice. If you are getting papers published and grants funded (even if never on the first try) you are doing GREAT and should not worry about your success.
• Be prepared for difficult transitions after landing your job and after promotions. Faculty often initially feel directionless. In addition, you may also have a sense of being an "impostor." Having joined the ranks of your more senior colleagues, you may be plagued with a sense that they don't fit in. Just knowing that it is a normal experience should ease the adjustment.
• Keep in mind that the university did hire you in the first place. They did so at a time when they were able to be pretty selective, so they most likely want to keep you.

• Find a mentor. Stay away from current chairs, they are too busy anyway. But an ex-chair is ideal. Spend time with more senior faculty, take them to lunch, get to know them, and pick their brains. Even if you get contradictory advice, your movement up the "learning curve" will be tremendous - and every one likes to give advice.
• PUBLISH! Publications mean visibility, professional esteem, and career mobility.
• I realized the value of 'establishing my absence.' You have to make research a priority at least some of the time every week, otherwise everything else will fill all your available time. Setting limits for myself this way also sets limits that others have for me. Set aside blocks of time for long-term important things (proposal writing, developing a new course, and writing up your research results).

 
• Quick starters aim for balance and work intensely on their coordination and timing. First, they pay close attention to how they organize their workweek. No one function, such as research and writing, gets put on the back burner. The real problem is not time management but task management. Limit the amount of time you spend on writing by being efficient. Write in brief, non-fatiguing, daily sessions lasting about an hour, and hardly ever write in the evenings and on weekends.

Devote about one hour each day to networking - such as phone calls, visits, e-mail. Try to do this all in one block of time and don’t answer the phone every time it rings! The same goes for e-mail; it will eat up your whole day if you let it!

• Try to add something to your CV every month. Doing so forces you to think about what you have accomplished and to look at the kind of story you want to tell about your career.
• Advertise your success!  Each paper, each grant, each award... tell your department head and your dean. 

Do double duty wherever possible. Combine your work with graduate students and directed studies courses, with the kind of research you are doing. Go to conferences and come out with names and research ideas. Bring speakers to campus; it gives both of you visibility and it gives you a good future contact. After writing a grant, consider writing a review! Teach the same course a few years in a row.

• Conflicting advice on consulting: (1) Do not do consulting until after you have tenure. It is a time-sink and does little or nothing for your research productivity. (2) If you are in an applied science you must stay connected to the private sector. Taking five years off from practical work in today's fast-moving technology only guarantees that your ability to understand and connect with industry will atrophy. (3) A compromise is maybe to limit consulting to only during the summer.

 
• In the "Next Stage" approach, you think ahead, look ahead, and to some degree act ahead of the stage you are currently occupying. By doing so, you not only demonstrate your willingness to assume the role of the position you are seeking, but also your readiness to do so. You need to begin doing some of the things professors do while you are still a graduate student and postdoc. In all cases, the key question is: am I likely to encounter this situation as a professor or as an industrial researcher, and if so, what can I learn from it that will prepare me for that role? (1) Find opportunities, both formal and informal, to review papers, grants, and proposals written by others. (2) In addition to reviewing others’ proposals and contributing sections to your advisor's proposals, write your own proposals and grant applications for research that you want to do. (3) Play a more formal role in the supervision of other students, both undergraduate and graduate. (4) Publish! Coauthorship is fine, but make sure you publish at least one article in which you are the first author. (5) Go to conferences. Establish a record of giving technical presentations at conferences in which faculty and industrial researchers are present. Start to build a good reputation.

 
• The semester before the formal review process begins, seek an evaluation of the likelihood of success (1) Clarify all policies and procedures regarding the review process… written guidelines or seminars may be offered on how to develop a dossier. (2) Actively manage your review case, including the development of your candidate dossier. What is considered research, teaching, and service varies by institution. Develop a strong case in each area, placing stronger emphasis on the greatest importance at your particular institution. Seek written peer reviews from colleagues and retain letters from students that offer praise for teaching, advising, or mentorship. It is best to address your weaknesses head-on by showing how you have worked toward improvement in those areas. (3) Regardless of the predicted or eventual outcome of the review process, remember to retain control of your career. Failure to receive tenure or contract renewal does not close all your options. The path to a new career may not be easy, but a diversity of opportunities is available and, with the appropriate efforts, obtainable.

• Most people do not get a grant on the first submission. Don’t give up! Try, try, and try again. Think of all the talented scientists you know… they have all had papers and grants refused. When this happens, just remind yourself that you are in excellent company!
• For difficult reviews: It’s a chess game. Your submission comes back with a review (that’s their move). You improve your paper/grant and present a counter move.

Elements Found in Most Successful Proposals 
General Considerations
1. Relates to the purposes and goals of the applicant agency.
2. Strictly adheres to the content and format guidelines of the applicant agency.
3. Is directed toward the appropriate audience, i.e., those who will review the proposal.
4. Obviously addresses the review criteria of the funding source.
5. Is interesting to read.
6. Uses a clear, concise, coherent writing style, free of jargon, superfluous information, and undefined acronyms -- i.e., it's easy to read.
7. Is organized in a logical manner that is easy to follow.
8. Calls attention to the most significant points in the proposal through the use of underlining, differences in type, spacing, titles, and appropriate summaries.
9. Is paginated from beginning to end, including appendix when directly appended to the proposal.
10. Makes appropriate use of figures, graphs, charts, and other visual materials.
11. Is meticulously proofread so that it has few (if any) grammatical errors, misspellings, or typos.


The Proposal

12. Has title that is appropriate, descriptive, and (perhaps) imaginative.
13. Unless it is brief, has a table of contents that is straight-forward and accurate.
14. Has a clear, concise, informative abstract that can stand alone.
15. Has clearly stated goals and objectives that are not buried in a morass of narrative.
16. Follows naturally from previous/current programs or research.
17. Documents the need to be met or problems to be solved by the proposed project.
18. Indicates that the project's hypotheses rest on sufficient evidence and are conceptually sound.
19. Clearly describes who will do the work (who), the methods that will be employed (how), which facilities or location will be used (where), and a timetable of events (when).
20. Justifies the significance and/or contribution of the project on current scientific knowledge or a given population of people or a body of writing/art.
21. Includes appropriate and sufficient citations to prior work, ongoing studies, and related literature.
22. Establishes the competence and scholarship of the individual(s) involved.
23. Does not assume that reviewers "know what you mean."
24. Makes no unsupported assumptions.
25. Discusses potential pitfalls and alternative approaches.
26. Presents a plan for evaluating data or the success of project.
27. Is of reasonable dimensions -- not trying to answer all the questions at once.
28. Proposes work which can be accomplished in the time allotted.
29. Demonstrates that the individual(s) and the organization are qualified to perform the proposed project; does not assume that the applicant agency "knows all about you."
30. Includes vitae which demonstrate the credentials required (e.g., do not use promotion and tenure vitae replete with institutional committee assignments for a research proposal.)
31. Documents facilities necessary for the success of the project.
32. Includes necessary letters of support and other supporting documentation.
33. Includes a bibliography of cited references. Citing in press work of other groups shows that you are well connected within the scientific community interested in your problem.


The Budget

34. Has a budget which corresponds to the narrative: all major elements detailed in the budget are described in the narrative and vice versa.
35. Has a budget sufficient to perform the tasks described in the narrative.
36. Has a budget which corresponds to the applicant agency's guidelines with respect to content and detail.

• BE CAREFUL not to get drawn into too much committee work!!! As far as I know, no one ever got tenure at a university or promoted in industry for being a dutiful citizen and serving on lots of committees, or getting involved in community service activities. You will be flattered and thanked for this, but the bottom line is going to be productivity, however it is measured, and is unlikely to significantly include how dutifully you have served on committees or helped the community. A certain level of such work is pretty much required of everyone, but keep it balanced.
• Volunteer up front for certain service assignments. You need to pull your weight so why not be proactive and volunteer for service assignments that have high leverage for you. Examples include serving on the department graduate admissions committee (gives you a first look at the best students in your field), and serving as coordinator of department seminar series (highly visible, brings you in contact with visiting experts in your field).
• It is easier to say NO to things you don't want to do if you have already said YES to things you do want to do.
• Help with saying "no:" When asked, get in the habit of saying that you need a day to think about it - even if you're pretty sure you want to say yes. And then take the time to figure out if this is something that: (a) you have the talent or skill for, (b) you have a strong interest in or commitment to, and (c) will help you connect up with other people in the College you're interested in working with.
• At times, I will help young faculty by recommending that they serve on certain committees w here they can gain visibility, learn how the college functions, and make connections. You do not have to take what they are given blindly, they can ask if there are alternatives. If they have a good reason, something can usually be worked out.

• Negotiate to simplify your initial teaching assignment through your start-up package, but also consider (beg, borrow, or barter) teaching a course previously taught by someone who is willing to loan you copies of their lecture notes, exams, homework assignments, and syllabus. Do NOT worry that you will be seen as weak or lazy - you will NOT. You want to do a good job right from the start - you can be creative and innovative later. Better yet, teach a course in which other faculty are teaching other sections so you can leverage off the infrastructure already in place.
• Maybe teach two classes back to back or schedule days without classes so you can block off time to do other work. This arrangement will free you for uninterrupted blocks of time for non-urgent but important matters.
• Also, try to teach a class with fewer students (big difference between a class with 30 students and the same class with 60 students).
• Limit the number of different classes you teach (number of preparations) to one, or at most two per semester. Insist on this arrangement and trade-off almost anything else to get it!
• Teach the same class at least 2 or 3 years in a row.
• Try and teach and undergraduate and a graduate course in the same field. Each contributes to the other and is a great way to leverage.
• Explain to students at course evaluation time the significance of what they are about to do in your promotion and tenure process. You shouldn’t solicit support for your application for tenure, but it is important for students to realize that they are not writing private notes to you, that what they say can have a real impact on your future.
• Beginning faculty should learned to put a limit on their class preparation time, usually no more than 1.5 hours for every class hour, by the end of the third semester of teaching. It is possible to overdue writing up lecture notes. I was a perfectionist in my teaching, but if you let it, class preparation can take all of your time." You can always add another example, always improve an overhead, and always revise a handout. At some point you have to put a box around it and say, 'enough'."
• Keep in mind that the time required to be a GREAT teacher is many times that required to be a GOOD teacher, and act accordingly. (Teaching preparation is more like a gas than a liquid or a solid, it consumes all the "space available.")
• Post answers to frequently asked questions on your course Web site.
• Reduce lecture time, invest in discussion and assessment time. Students read the book anyway, so do something complementary with your lecture time (you will be surprised at what this does for your attendance).
• Students learn from each other. Faculty need to realize this fact and leverage from it. Get students to capture, reuse, and share what they learn, and then YOU use the best of what they come up with the next time you teach the course.

• NIH Biophysical training grants and programs like LJIS and PMMB are good indications of the high quality of students at an institution. Ask about such programs when you interview to make sure that the department attracts well prepared students with an interest in pursuing interdisciplinary work.
• How do I find a good postdoc and attract the best students? By talking to my colleagues at other institutions that send me postdocs or students.
• Always be there to scientifically advise your students, be involved in their projects and show you care that they get results and that you keep up with the literature on what they are doing.
• Make up a hand out of your expectations for conduct and research in your lab.  Give a copy to each new student.
• Don’t be too personally nice to your students, some will want to join your lab just because you are nice, and this is not the sort of student you want or need. Be a little stand-off-ish and very demanding on your time input and theirs so they see you are serious.
• Try to get invited to meetings where you can talk about your work, but don't be too quick to take a postdoc that may not be as good as your students...they will come in time, and in the meantime, you are your own best postdoc.
• When co-author papers with students, have them do part of the writing. It saves you some time and is an excellent learning tool for them.
• Develop a way of organizing your students and your projects.  Find the method that works best for you.