The Struggling Scientists

Our 50th Episode! Can you believe it?In this episode, we reflect on our science communication journey and answer questions from our fans. We discuss why and how we started the podcast, growing on social media, and our plans for the future, including adding courses on science communication. We also answer questions from our fans about our most rewarding experience as science communicators, changing the PhD funding model, dealing with mean reviewer comments, and tips for starting a thesis. Don't miss out on this insightful and inspiring episode!If you have any questions, comments, suggestions, or papers we really need to read, you can reach out to us via our website: https://thestrugglingscientists.com/Would you like to know more about becoming a guest on our podcast or sponsoring us? Then please check out the information on our website!Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

Open Access Publishing has been a significant development for the Scientific world. Today we talk with open access expert Chirag Jay Patel from R Discovery about this topic. We discuss:What led to the open access movement?What have been the biggest benefits of open access publishing?What aspects could still be improved?What developments are occurring with open access?How is R discovery using open access to help researchers?If you have any questions, comments, suggestions, or papers we really need to read, you can reach out to us via our website: https://thestrugglingscientists.com/Would you like to know more about becoming a guest on our podcast or sponsoring us? Then please check out the information on our website!Check out the Free R discovery app via: https://thestrugglingscientists.com/RdiscoveryAdvertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

In this episode, we talk with assistant Professor Francesca Grisoni about AI in drug discovery! Her research group focuses on deep learning and we ask her about how AI is used in the lab, how it outperforms (or not) traditional methods and the challenges of AI research.If you have any questions, comments suggestions, or papers we really need to read, you can reach out to us via our website: https://thestrugglingscientists.com/If you would like to know more about becoming a guest on our podcast or sponsoring us please check out the information on our website!Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

Today we introduce a new series to our podcast: PhD Productivity, and discuss the why, how, and what of the series. We are going to discuss tools and resources to help PhD students and other Scientists become more organized and productive. And more importantly, feel in control again! We also introduce the first tool, Notion, and discuss how it can be used to capture ideas, manage projects, and more.Check out notion now with the link: https://thestrugglingscientists.com/notionIf you have any questions, comments suggestions, or papers we really need to read, you can reach out to us via our website: https://thestrugglingscientists.com/If you would like to know more about becoming a guest on our podcast or sponsoring us please check out the information on our website!Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

We have for you another fun Science News episode, so much amazing Science has reached the News recently that it was difficult to choose! But we made a selection and will bring you up to speed with the actual science behind the news!Bats channeling their inner death metal singerThe first vaccine for Bees approved in USMale and Female stem cells created from a single personCuring Cancer with CRISPRPapers and Patents are becoming less disruptive2.6-billion-year-old CRISPR enzymes can still edit cellsHigh Cows and THC laced milkGregor Mendel dug up and DNA analyzedThe first virovore discoveredIntermitted fasting changes gene expressionRobot Ninja TurtlesRemote control wormsIf you have any questions, comments suggestions, or papers we really need to read, you can reach out to us via our website: https://thestrugglingscientists.com/If you would like to know more about becoming a guest on our podcast or sponsoring us please check out the information on our website!Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

On this second Christmas day, we have a very special gift for you! A Christmas episode about standing up for your Science and Climate Change!Ernst-Jan Kuiper, a former scientist, and current climate change activist, joined us for this episode to discuss his experience with climate change research, activism, and advocacy. He discussed what it is like to join protests as a scientist, the main findings of climate research, misconceptions about climate change, and what people can do to help. He also shared his thoughts on countries that are doing well with regard to curbing their carbon emissions and the progress being made in governments taking climate change more seriously.If you have any questions, comments or suggestions you can reach us via our website: thestrugglingscientists.comAdvertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

Yesterday we had the first real frost here in the Netherlands, and now that we have the first real evidence that winter is finally here we knew we needed to do a special winter-themed episode. So today we are going to talk about the winter dip, more officially called seasonal affective disorder (SAD). We are ready with a warm cup of chocolate or thee on this cold cold day to talk some science! We have gathered an enormous amount of information from many papers and are going to try to shape this into something that is both enjoyable and interesting! If you have any questions, suggestions or papers we really need to read you can reach us via www.thestrugglingscientists.comAdvertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

Today we discuss the Ig Nobel Prize winners from 2022. Ten interesting pieces of research that were awarded this prize for Science, that first make you laugh and then think.Some highlights include:A Moose Dummy master thesisAncient ritualistic Maya enemasIcecream as a treatmentConstipated scorpionsIf you have any questions, comments, suggestions, or papers we really need to read, you can reach out to us via our website: https://thestrugglingscientists.com/Would you like to know more about becoming a guest on our podcast or sponsoring us? Then please check out the information on our website!Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

In this episode we interviewed dr. Elisabeth Bik about detecting fraud in scientific publications. She is an expert in detecting image tampering and has already found problems resulting in the retraction of over 900 articles.We talk with her about:The percentage of publications that have fraudulent imagesWhat steps to take if you find a fraudulent paperWhy do serial offenders keep committing fraudHow serious journals and institutions take this problemThe drawbacks of exposing fraudHow you can be more informed when reading papersFollow Elisabeth on Twitter @MicrobiomDigestIf you have any questions, comments, suggestions, or papers we really need to read, you can reach out to us via our website: https://thestrugglingscientists.com/Would you like to know more about becoming a guest on our podcast or sponsoring us? Then please check out the information on our website!Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

Today we are talking about things we learned from the PhD besides our scientific knowledge. We picked 10 of our biggest learning moments and are sharing them with you.If you have questions/comments/suggestions or topics we really should discuss you can reach out to us via our website: thestrugglingscientists.comAlso, check out our science-inspired merch!Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy