Liberato Manna
@MannaLiberato
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Senior Scientist & Assoc. Director @IITalk , Assoc. Editor @NanoLetters “You might be poor, your shoes might be broken, but your mind is a palace” Frank McCourt
Joined January 2019
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Salaries of PhD students and postdocs in many countries are extremely low and career prospects are very grim. How can one think of convincing the best minds to stay in research, under these conditions?
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Do we realize that PhD salaries in most countries are close to/below the poverty line? It is ok to consider the PhD as a training period, yet, does this justify an excessively low salary? Also, it's not uncommon for PhD students to have family. Then, how do they make ends meet?
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In academia we are having hard time getting and retaining the best people, simply because industry pays them more and gives them better conditions, and this is a worldwide issue. Then, shouldn't we improve the salary and working conditions in academia instead of just complaining?
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When you see good papers coming from groups from less known institutions, located in countries that have little funding for research and that are comparatively much less attractive for talented researchers, consider the huge efforts these groups have to make every day to compete
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I advise any student taking an introductory course in quantum mechanics to adopt this book as a companion. It approaches the subject in a way that is quite different from traditional texts, by immediately addressing very foundational points, as for example the measurement problem
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Many of my colleagues from the US don't even look at CVs of applicants from countries like India, Egypt, Iran, China or Pakistan. I instead almost only get candidates from those countries and I can definitely say that there are many bright people that those colleagues are missing
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If you are starting a PhD in materials chemistry, get a book like this one as a companion. You will learn a lot and will get many good ideas
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When looking for a group where to do a PhD, don't pay attention to the ranking of the university: that's useless. Check what the group has achieved, get in touch with some alumni and ask them how they had been supervised. A good PI and a collaborative environment are what counts
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Get ready. It's coming next January and I am sure it's going to be a wonderful read as all the previous books by Susskind
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Most people who work in research don't aspire to become famous. They only want to work with dignity. A funding system that rewards only "excellence" is profoundly wrong and inefficient. Also please someone define excellence
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Scientists, in my opinion, should use social media not to publicize how great or successful they think they are but to give practical advice to the community, especially the younger generations. We do not need people showcasing themselves at every occasion.
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The salary of PhD students in Italy (and I guess in many other countries) has hardly increased in the last ten/fifteen years. No wonder why a PhD path is not so appealing...
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PhD programs are primarily about training students. Current paradigm of having lots of papers at a PhD stage must change. Students should get the best possible & focused training (up-to-date, useful & engaging courses). Papers should not count when they compete for first postdoc
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Scientists under the constant pressure of continuous evaluations are not thinkers any more. They become producers of papers
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Another great book you need to check if you are into computational chemistry
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First-year PhD students should not be left on their own. Make sure they are associated to more senior students and/or postdocs on a daily basis. They need to build confidence and technical skills and they likely have many questions that they may not want to ask directly to you
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A PhD is not just about learning techniques and collecting data. It's also about engaging in critical thinking, applying logic, developing a collaborative attitude (also since you cannot know/do everything) & refining communication skills. Make sure you get trained on all this.
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Italian Universities must increase the salary of PhD students to be attractive. However, they don't care, perhaps because they assume that they can always hire internal candidates who are happy with a tiny stipend. They don't really give a damn about international competitiveness
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Assessing researchers only by publications/citations fails to identify all those who achieve notable results while working with little resources, in countries where science is not so praised, and who are able to turn young minds from unremarkable backgrounds into great promises
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One of the worst things that can happen in an academic environment is PhD students left to their own devices. This unfortunately is seen to occur quite often. If PIs don't have time or resources to supervise students, then they should not hire them.
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It's not important how many papers you have published, what h index or how many citations you have reached, but what science you have developed, what technology it has led to, how well you have trained the new generations of scientists, how committed as a teacher you have been
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A great book that every solid state chemist/materials scientist should have, with many solid state physics concepts explained in a way that they make sense from the standpoint of atoms/molecular orbitals and not with abstruse formalism. One can build a whole course around it
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So happy that the Nobel Prize has been awarded to such great minds, in an area in which I have built my whole career to date. That’s a recognition of the importance and impact of the quantum dots field!
BREAKING NEWS
The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences has decided to award the 2023
#NobelPrize
in Chemistry to Moungi G. Bawendi, Louis E. Brus and Alexei I. Ekimov “for the discovery and synthesis of quantum dots.”
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Few aspiring PIs realize that their best time is during their PhD/postdoc, with their hands on experiments and the chance of savouring the exhilarating thrill of a real time discovery. Once they'll become PIs, they'll be spending most of their time at a desk, filling stupid forms
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We should always give our students and postdocs the chance to write the initial draft of the manuscript, even if in some cases we will have to rewrite it almost entirely. Otherwise, when will they learn how to write? Also, writing, even if painful the first times, is a great task
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A system that gives too much emphasis on number of publications and citations leads to huge distortions: too many review articles, too many useless, non-reproducible papers, too many groups doing the same thing, too few real-breakthrough papers, as people try to avoid risky roads
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Many students/postdocs are great in the lab but have problems in putting together a starting draft for a manuscript. For many PIs this is good enough, as they basically write the whole story. I say no, this is not good enough, and PIs must spend time to train them how to write!
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Probably the best quantum chemistry book around, with its solutions manual. Very complete, clear in exposition, deep and replete with examples and great problems.
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When at conferences, spend time at poster sessions, engage with the younger scientists, give them suggestions and encouragement. That's one of the very few chances they have to talk to you. Your words mean a lot to them.
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I find it absolutely crazy to charge fees as high as 100 Euros (or dollars) to someone applying for a PhD program, knowing that such person will have to file many of these applications to get at least one through. There are many ways of making money but please not this one!
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Regardless of your background, if you are starting a PhD/Postdoc in materials chemistry, get a textbook on Inorganic Chemistry. It contains a lot of stuff that you need to know and I am sure you will find many inspiring ideas for your research. It certainly worked that way for me
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For a successful PhD in experimental science is not enough to learn a few tricks in the lab and do the experiments suggested by your PI. You need to have a solid knowledge of the fundamental disciplines of your field. For nanoscience this means physics, chemistry & math at least
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A balanced life is what you need, also as a scientist. Take vacation, go hiking, spend time with your family, do care about what happens in the world and not only in your lab and let the people working in your group do the same. Good science starts from living life to its fullest
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Great reference for any issue you might have with math applied to your everyday work in physical sciences!
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The competition for funds is so fierce that researchers are constantly busy writing grants as the chance of getting one funded is so slim. Can't there be an alternative way, so that they spend more time doing actual science than writing stories on how to pull rabbits out the hat?
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Don't be afraid to start a PhD in a topic that is much different from that of your major/master. My bachelor thesis was in computational protein crystallography, then I went on developing nanocrystal synthesis in my PhD. You will bring to the table invaluable knowledge & skills.
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Group meetings should not be meant as "exams" for the presenters, but as unique occasions in which they receive lots of feedback from the other members and especially from the PI. PIs should make sure that the attitude during these meetings is not inquisitive but collaborative
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Great assortment of books if you are a novice in materials science/chemistry/physics and want to approach the electronic structure of materials from different angles and at different depths
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Many students applying for a PhD in our group ask questions on the ranking of our institution & our local university. This is the wrong question to ask. You should rather investigate how the group is performing and what kind of supporting environment/PI you are expected to find!
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A career in science should be motivated solely by the desire to discover new things and to do good for the society. Nothing more.
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Funding agencies: please stop asking scientists to write proposals that are ground-breaking, paradigm-shifting, revolutionary and all that stuff. This is nonsense. All these things come by chance and not by command. It serves only one purpose: to put even more stress on us.
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First two things to teach to students:
1. Read as much literature as you can.
2. Don't believe blindly in what your read. Many claims are either simply wrong or at best not sufficiently supported by the experimental evidence.
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I believe that every chemist interested in materials science should read this magnificent 1987 review by Hoffmann entitled "How Chemistry and Physics Meet in the Solid State". I am sure that you will find it informative and inspiring. You will learn a lot
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We will have several openings for PhD and postdoc positions in the coming weeks, so stay tuned!
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If you are a chemist starting a PhD in materials chemistry/materials science make sure you enroll in an introductory course on solid state physics. It's important that you also understand the properties of what you will be making in the lab. There is really no shortcut to this.
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One of the most annoying questions I get from review panels is how I see my group in comparison to others and who are my competitors worldwide. I do not want to see science as a competition or a staircase where groups occupy given steps. Steps towards what? Insanity perhaps?
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I am going through lots of post doc applications of people showcasing impact factors, citations, and often a long list of papers "to be submitted". Not good. I would very much prefer that the applicants state clearly what is their core expertise and what they have achieved. Stop
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If you are a chemist working on computational chemistry/spectroscopy you should have a look at this book. It deals in an accessible way with many advanced topics that are not usually covered in standard quantum chemistry courses and actually closer to the needs of your daily work
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What should a PhD student have achieved at the completion of his/her first year: i) background knowledge of the field: ii) ability to write decent reports and give reasonably good presentations; iii) technical lab skills. This is a lot, so please no pressure on publications yet!
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Candidates for a postdoc position should be assessed mainly on knowledge, critical analysis, communication & technical skills, and only secondarily on quality/number of publications, as those depend strongly on the group/PI of origin: a thorough interview is key to the evaluation
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I don’t understand those collaborators requiring a given piece of research work (whether experimental or theoretical/computational) to be delivered within a (usually) short deadline. Things in science must be first understood and ascertained deeply. We are not making pizzas here
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If you are writing a review article, start by introducing the topic in a way that a non-expert would understand. Most people read reviews because they are novices and want to learn. If you take too many things for granted, the work will be a hard read and many will lose interest!
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I am not ok with the cult of personality in research, which is mainly a collaborative effort. By focusing too much on the few individuals who make it to the very top, we forget about the 99% of the people who do the actual work.
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A scientist today is required to excel in so many things: getting ideas & funds, teaching, communicating, managing, securing IP, etc. Myths of superhumans are created and many experience burn out. We need instead a model of science more focused on team work than on individuals.
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Students, please keep reading, don't get focused on your ongoing project(s) only. By reading (also from textbooks) you will get plenty of inspiration for new ideas.
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A combination of three excellent (and small!) books to approach the electronic structure of materials, regardless of your background
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I honestly don't like when chairs introduce a speaker mentioning how many publications and citations that person has. It does not mean anything and actually conveys a wrong message especially to the young scientists in the audience.
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The PI has the responsibility to create and sustain an environment that is collaborative and enjoyable, in which the members should feel safe to share information and provide/receive feedback and should not fear of being judged, ranked, marginalized, exploited.
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How attractive can research look to the eyes of the young generations, if, as researchers, we spend most of our time writing grant applications that won't be funded, filling pages and forms for evaluation/ranking purposes and have to wait too many years to get a decent position?
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Foreign PhD students in Italy are under increasing strain. In addition to getting a very low stipend (around 1200 euros a month, with which they can barely survive in a big city), now they must pay 700 euros per year for health insurance, up from 150 of last year. This is insane!
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It does not matter how many papers you publish. What matters is that each paper you write tells a consistent piece of science and that it is well done.
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You should not ask yourself how many papers you will be publishing this year and in which journals, or whether you will have more citations than last year, but rather what scientific problems you will approach and what tools and collaborations you are going to need to solve them.
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If people from your team are afraid of talking to you as a PI, then there is something wrong in the way you are managing your team
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The best way to create a fertile and sparkling research environment is to allow your team members to pursue their own ideas. Your role is to give guidance, provide coaching and suggest directions, not to impose your ideas at all costs.
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Many students & postdocs are very much stressed when giving group meeting talks. It is the responsibility of the PI to create the right environment and attitude to convince the group members that these occasions are meant to provide feedback and not to judge/evaluate performance
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You should learn as many things as possible (for example experimental techniques) during your PhD/postdoc, since that will dictate how you will be able to diversify and directly supervise the activities of your group once you'll become a PI. You wont' have much time to learn then
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Did you know?
In a typical covalent bond between two atoms, an electron involved in the bonding jumps forth and back between the two atoms one quadrillion times per second on average!
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The better you treat your group members, the more they will give you back, not only in terms of productivity, but especially in terms of affection. You will create a lifelong link with them. You will build a community.
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Another very useful book on approaching the electronic structure of solids from a molecular orbital approach, with tons of examples on various materials. I use it extensively in my course.
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Scientists need to disconnect a bit from time to time in order to relax and enjoy life. It took me years to learn this, after having gone through times of mental exhaustion, overdriven by that nasty academic pressure. Your personal health is more important than your science!
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A very dangerous attitude in research is that we often tend to glorify people more than their results, individual achievements rather than team work, and this entails a lot of negative consequences, primarily on the well-being of people and on science itself
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Treat your group members well, inspire them, take care of them even after they leave your group, and you will create a vibrant community that will support you and will disseminate your teaching and work ethics over generations
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You are on the right track when you care more about the next scientific challenge than your ranking in the community, the content of the manuscript you are co-authoring than your order in the authors list, how well you are advising your team members than how many hours they work
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The best way to understand if your story is missing some key data is to start writing the paper. Only then you will realize how all the pieces need to fit together and that, more often than not, additional experiments are needed. Don't procrastinate! Also, start from the figures!
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The most ridiculous thing that is requested from a researcher is filling time sheets
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"High-quality research requires appropriate employment and working conditions for researchers"
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The time we spend to write proposals with success rates below 5% is 95% wasted. Add to that the time that we invest to fight with a monstrous administrative machine. This is what a researcher's life has become: nonsense. We were trained for decades to end up filling excel tables.
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Being at the ACS fall meeting in San Francisco, it’s disheartening to see the many homeless people around. I wonder why a rich and powerful country as the US cannot take enough care of the poor and marginalized ones, people who clearly need both material and psychological support
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So honored to be part of this! I want to acknowledge all the people who, over the years, have helped me reach this milestone, and especially
@IITalk
, for being such a great and supportive working environment!
📢 The ERC Advanced Grants competition results are out. Over €544 million in funding for leading researchers.
All info ➡️
@EUScienceInnov
🇪🇺
#EUfunded
#FrontierResearch
#AdG
[🧵
#thread
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Not all those who do research have a disruptive application in mind. Yet, funding schemes for fundamental science are becoming increasingly scarce and mainly available to the elites. We are killing curiosity driven science in favor of market oriented research.
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I am tired of having to write reference letters in which I am asked to assess wether a given candidate is a rising star in his/her research field. Is that what we are after? Rising stars capable of writing shiny articles for shiny journals? I thought science was more than that...
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The current system of research funding, where huge resources (time/money) are wasted in writing/evaluating a vast number of proposals, to assign then the money only to a tiny elite (usually the same people over and over) is profoundly wrong, inefficient and unjust
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Feeling down? You are not alone. Even those who appear to the world as great achievers go through very difficult times. Your mental health is important. Don’t isolate yourself if you are having “strange” feelings. Talk to friends and colleagues, seek advice, take a break
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To keep in mind: having a high number of citations does not immediately mean that the science you are producing is highly impactful in absolute terms. It mainly means that you are part of a large community
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I receive many emails from people willing to join my group. The point is that we cannot hire anyone without opening a call, and a call is possible only when we have funds. When that happens it is widely advertised. Please apply online then. Don’t assume that an email will work
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Charging fees for applying to PhD & other programs means raising barriers to applicants from poorer countries. That's not only discriminatory and perpetrating inequality but also counterproductive, as universities severely restrict their search for talents.
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Italian Research needs to be more attractive, especially for foreigners. Let's start from PhD students. Two priorities:
1. Offer higher salaries, enabling students to live with dignity.
2. Have decent application websites. Right now most of their English versions suck.
More?
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Success in science is only partially related to your skills. It has also a lot to do with how nicely your profile fits with the narrative of the moment
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This is a very well written and affordable book to start from if you want to learn the basics of solid state physics. With the camera flash intentionally turned on while taking the photograph, it gives the cover an even more intriguing appeal
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Successful research groups are certainly led by capable PIs, but is definitely the contribution from their best students and postdocs, some of them simply outstanding, that truly makes the history of such groups
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Why I have the feeling that there is always the same group of people at conferences, over and over? Where is the diversity and inclusion? It's only the elites meeting ang gossiping...
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In the conclusions section of a manuscript, don't simply repeat what you have already written in the abstract and in the introduction. Put in some deeper thought: what have we learnt overall? How do we move from there? Is your material/model/protocol expandable to other systems?
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As a PI, you are not smarter than your team members. You only have more experience.
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Good scientific results are not going to be appreciated as they would deserve if they are not presented in a clear way. Writing good papers is a hard work and an art that is painfully learned over the years.
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What should be praised is not the work of large and well funded groups in places full of resources, instruments and competences (that's a piece of cake), but the work of groups who can achieve notable results out of almost nothing
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This is the seminal 1993 work from Moungi Bawendi's group that kick-started research in colloidal quantum dots...
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Many scientists live in a box, essentially caring only about experiments, papers, grants and standing in their narrow community. While remaining so focused boosts productivity, it makes life monochromatic and also puts extreme pressure on team members working to produce results
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A very useful book that every scientist should have read.
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