August 13, 2008
Networking, but Not Intimidating, Graduate Students
Graduate students have a problem, no matter what field they are in. And the problem, says Daniel M. Colgate, is that they can’t find others who share their academic interests. So he and a fellow student started the Graduate Junction. The Junction “does not aim to be a social-networking site,” says Mr Colgate, a graduate student himself, in chemistry, at the University of Durham in Britain. The networking is intended to be academic, and specific to early-career researchers. Mr. Colgate recently told The Chronicle a few things about the site.
Q. So what’s wrong with Facebook? Can’t academics use its groups?
A. It is already so big, and nobody I know would consider putting a technical keyword into the groups search there. I have discussed using Facebook groups with many friends and contacts, and they agree with me: It is just too big to be useful. They would prefer a more focused academic site.
Q. But those exist, too.
A. There are literally hundreds. But existing networks project a very academic atmosphere, which makes people feel that if they don’t have 10 publications and a lectureship lined up, they can’t contribute.
Q. Were you intimidated?
A. My co-founder, another student, and I felt isolated within our own projects. Literature reviews only reveal completed work, and relevant conferences happen infrequently. The Graduate Junction aims to prevent this isolation.
Q. How is your site going to do that?
A. Members can e-mail each other, leave notes on their profile blog, create research groups, each of which has a group forum, along with the generic forums. The site has been live for a little over two months and has over 6,000 members. On August 11, we’re adding a lot more interactive features.
Q. And you want to open up communication among disciplines?
A. It’s all free-form and searchable. There can be so much crossover between subjects. Most people aren’t even aware of these overlaps because they have never had the chance to find them before. That is why we focus on keywords, rather than institution or department. I believe it is better to find a handful of people who are really interested in your work than 6,000 who also work in a “XXX” department somewhere.—Josh Fischman
Posted on Wednesday August 13, 2008 | Permalink |Comments
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I applaud Dan Colgate’s initiative and wish him and his colleagues well. Thirty-some years ago one of my freinds and colleagues and I identified essentially the same problem. We conspired with our major professor and others to establish a cross-disciplinary scientific society and journal. The first meeting of the American Society of Primatologists was held in Seattle in 1977, and the 30th was in West Palm Beach this year. The journal we started, the American Journal of Primatology, is a carefully peer-reviewed journal that is indexed widely, is published by Wiley-Blackwell, and is available online. It is a monthly journal that recently published its 300th issue. Our little society, with about 600 members, about half of whom gather each year at the annual meetings, draws students, junior & senior faculty, and geezers like me, together where we are able to communicate about a full range of logistical challenges, advances in methods, places we’ve been, ideas for future projects, fundraising for conservation, and the latest exciting discoveries. The ASP has become a wonderful family of scientists who have a passion for primates.
Every 2nd year there is an international primatological congress. Many of us attend, especially when the meeting is held in Madagascar, Indonesia, Japan, Kenya, China, Uganda, or some other lovely place that offers opportunities to get out and see primates in the wild. But the international meetings are expensive. I just (sadly) missed the one in Scotland. The international society has become like family too.
The virtual meeting place for graduate students, especially with its cross-disciplinary emphasis, should be a great success, and I certainly wish them well. But don’t give up communicating after you have a number of significant publications. We need more scientists who can listen and read as well as they can speak and write.
— Joe Erwin Aug 14, 11:00 AM #