Profitable Ph.D....which doctorates pay the most?

You get a Ph.D. for the sheer science of it, right? Well, it doesn't hurt to make money too. According to phddegree.org which went through several studies to find the answer, Pharmacologists are doing fine.
http://www.phddegree.org/profitable-phds-which-doctorates-pay-the-most-25-studies-and-stat-sources.html
A Ph.D. opens up academic doors, helps you get a job faster and sets you in an elite group in the profession. It does pay off financially too though which is nice to know. Check out the site, it's an interesting view on Ph.D. and estimated professor salaries.

Suggested Reading for Grad Students!

Graduate students need higher stipends, fewer questions from prying relatives about when they'll graduate, and more department events with unguarded pastries. You might think the last things grad students need are more books. After all, if you're in grad school, most of your time is already occupied researching and writing your dissertation — which, of course, is a thick book that no one will ever read.

But sometimes you need a break from doing the things grad students do, like hiding from your adviser, wondering why the undergrads call you "sketchy," and listening to NPR. Here, then, are three books to help you survive grad school.

Click on this link: NPR

Interested in applying?

We're entering in our annual recruitment season. Let me know if you have any questions on the Case Western Reserve University Department of Pharmacology graduate program!

http://pharmacology.case.edu/education/apply.aspx

Ohio's state microbe?

The New York Times reports that Wisconsin has just appointed the cheese-making bacteriumLactococcus lactis as its official state microbe. It's the first state to do so, which got us thinking: what should the other states' microbes be?

Based on its popularity there, California should surely elevate the botox bacterium Clostridium botulinum to the level of state microbe.

And the retired communities of Florida would appreciate the 250-million-year-old Lazarus bacterium, Bacillus permians, as their pet bug.

For Alaska: the ice-age bacterium Carnobacterium pleistocenium.

The "indestructible" bacterium Deinococcus radiodurans that (probably) survived the Trinity A-bomb test is a worthy emblem for New Mexico, while the titchy state of Rhode Island would feel mighty next to a nanobacterium.

On account of Salt Lake City, Utah gets the salt-loving Haloarcula marismortui, while vampire-friendly Louisiana gets the blood-consuming malaria parasite Plasmodium falciparum, which was once common in the state.

The oil-eating bacterium Syntrophus might be useful in Texas; the garden state, New Jersey, famous for its marshland garbage dumps, gets sewage-eating methanogenic bacteria andWashington state might appreciate the rain-making bacterium Pseudomonas syringae.

Nevada, home of the neon glow of Las Vegas, gets the flashing lights of Vibrio fischerii, and if the creationists in Kansas can be shouted down then rationalists will delight in the MRSA "superbug", as an example of evolution in action.

Feel free to suggest your candidates for the remaining states...

Taken from: http://www.newscientist.com/blogs/shortsharpscience/2010/04/suggested-candidates-for-state.html

Important Judicial Decision

Last week, Federal District Judge Robert Sweetruled that patenting a human gene amounts to nothing more than a "lawyer's trick." The decision, in a case about patenting mutations of two genes associated with breast cancer, called into question decades of precedent and thousands of biotechnology patents. Analysts are worrying about the companies that depend on those patents, biotech executives are working to put out the flames, and investors are trying to figure out whether to press the "sell" button just yet. Despite the uncertainties for the market, however, Judge Sweet's decision may set a precedent that ends up helping biotech researchers, businesses, and consumers, too.

More info at: http://www.slate.com/id/2250082/

Innovation?

http://www.slate.com/id/2240838/

Here is an interesting article about encouraging scientific innovation. What do you think?

Holiday Reading List from Phdcomics

http://www.phdcomics.com/comics/archive.php?comicid=1262

Check it out!

Cool!

Seasons Greetings!

http://www.npl.co.uk/educate-explore/christmas/

The snowman is 10 µm across, 1/5th the width of a human hair.

The snowman was made from two tin beads used to calibrate electron microscope astigmatism. The eyes and smile were milled using a focused ion beam, and the nose, which is under 1 µm wide (or 0.001 mm), is ion beam deposited platinum.

A nanomanipulation system was used to assemble the parts 'by hand' and platinum deposition was used to weld all elements together. The snowman is mounted on a silicon cantilever from an atomic force microscope whose sharp tip 'feels' surfaces creating topographic surveys at almost atomic scales.

Student Recruiting Time!!

It's time to start recruiting students! We're working on our facebook page and sporatically try to update this blog. Let us know if you have any thoughts or ideas!

We appreciate it!

Pretty pictures!

Wired just came out with a selection of their tip microscopy photos.
http://www.wired.com/wiredscience/2009/10/photomicrography/all/1

Pretty cool! It's also interesting to see how things have progressed in since the 80s!!