Stuart Thompson

Given the whole Elon thing, I am dipping my toe into Mastodon. You can find me there at @DrSThompson" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener">toot.wales/@DrSThompson

📌 3 Year Research Assistant (PhD Position) in Soil Science at Institute of Ecology, Technical University Berlin in Germany ... Please share and spread the word! For details visit: wp.me/pbv48T-9OU

Interested in doing a PhD studying fungal natural products? I have two PhD projects advertised through @MIBTP_BBSRC at @uniofwarwick 1/ discovery of bioactive molecules for use in crop protection 2/understanding the biosynthesis and mode of action of pleurotin 🍄🧬💊 Please RT

We are looking to hire a postdoc (as early as januari 2025) to work on computational enzyme design, working in close collaboration with industry. For more information and applications Contact us via DM. #PostdocJobs #PhDJobs

Post-doc position available in my lab at SLCU. If you are passionate about plant development, live imaging and learning exciting tools like genetic mosaics and quantifying cellular growth please apply! jobs.cam.ac.uk/job/49272/

Trade-offs involved in the choice of pot vs field experiments 📖 nph.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/np… #Commentary by Montesinos highlighting the recent work by Zhu et al. 📖 nph.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/share/GRUKFCYD…

PhD students — How to read a research paper? Here is how you can get 10x more out of reading a research paper. 𝟏. 𝐂𝐡𝐞𝐜𝐤 𝐫𝐞𝐥𝐞𝐯𝐚𝐧𝐜𝐞: Before diving deep into a paper, skim through the abstract, introduction, and conclusion of the paper to make sure that the paper is relevant. You don't want to spend 2-3 hours ending up with nothing. 𝟐. 𝐖𝐫𝐢𝐭𝐞 𝐬𝐲𝐧𝐨𝐩𝐬𝐢𝐬: If you found the paper to be relevant, write the synopsis of the paper within concrete 3 bullet points - (i) what the authors did (ii) How they did it (iii) What they found. It will establish the broader picture of the paper within your mind. Once you are certain what is it about, you can easily navigate through the paper. 𝟑. 𝐈𝐝𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐟𝐲 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐩𝐮𝐫𝐩𝐨𝐬𝐞: Why do you want to read this paper? Do you want to understand the research methodology? Are you looking for a new research idea to take from this paper? Be clear about the purpose. It will save your time and help you to focus on the specific part. 𝟒. 𝐑𝐞𝐚𝐝 𝐜𝐫𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐲: Read the paper critically. This means that once you have read the paper, you should be able to answer - what are the strengths and weaknesses of this paper. This is important so that you get the capability to assess the quality of a research piece. 𝟓. 𝐖𝐫𝐢𝐭𝐞 𝐤𝐞𝐲 𝐭𝐚𝐤𝐞𝐚𝐰𝐚𝐲𝐬: As you go through the paper or after finishing reading, write about points like (i) what are the key takeaways for me from this paper (ii) where I can use these takeaways (iii) what can be done on the top of the existing work (iv) Can something be improved. You don't need to write long stories. All of this you can write within 5-10 min. Knowledge not put in writing evaporates. 𝟔. 𝐒𝐤𝐢𝐦 𝐭𝐡𝐫𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡 𝐫𝐞𝐟𝐞𝐫𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐞𝐬: After finishing the main body, check the references. You may find some very relevant works there too. If such is the case, you can snowball depending upon the time you have for reading. 𝟕. 𝐏𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐭𝐚𝐤𝐞𝐚𝐰𝐚𝐲𝐬: Look at the diagrams, tables, graphs, and writing style of the paper. Ask yourself whether such style of diagrams or graphs, etc would be good for my paper. If the answer is yes, note it down in your takeaways. 𝟖. 𝐍𝐨𝐭𝐞 𝐞𝐱𝐞𝐦𝐩𝐥𝐚𝐫 𝐩𝐚𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐬: Some papers you read might be very relevant to the paper you want to write next. Note 2-3 such papers and put them in front of yourself while writing your next paper. It will serve as a reference guide for your paper writing. 𝟗. 𝐑𝐞𝐚𝐝 𝐚𝐧𝐲𝐰𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞: As a researcher, the more you read, the better for you. A paper is not to be read only in the lab or office. Sometimes, you get more out of a paper - reading it while sitting in a park or traveling on a train or bus. Try reading in different places and see what works the best for you. Anything you'd like to add?

How to write a grant? 1. Write it for the reviewer, not you, the applicant. 2. Communicate in stories. 3. Make your story cohesive—leave no puzzling gaps. 4. Make your story resonate to keep the reviewer reading. 5. Accept chance and noise in peer-review. pnas.org/doi/epub/10.10…

Postdoc positions are open in my lab at National University of Singapore. If you are experienced in single cell sequencing / plant-microbe interactions and interested in biological nitrogen fixation. Please send me your application to my email! @NUSingapore

A thread with a ton of Ph.D., PostDoc, and other opportunities for life science students (1/n)

Given "events" I am largely disengaging from ex-Twitter (I guess I have been for a while), although I will repost the odd thing. Instead, from now I will mostly be on Mastodon (@DrSThompson@toot.wales) and I am getting started Bluesky (drstuartthompson.bsky.social).

Oct issue. Read FREE: CRISPR/Cas-mediated plant genome editing: a decade after implementation (see cover); 25 Years of thermomorphogenesis research; Fuels for ROS signaling in plant immunity; Anthropogenic land-use legacies & much more cell.com/trends/plant-s…

!!!Recruiting!!! Looking for a Senior Research Laboratory Technician to come and join the plant-parasite interactions team @Cambridge_Uni @CropSciCentre @plantsci You get to work this nice bunch jobs.cam.ac.uk/job/42719/ #PlantSciJobs

#LifeOrigins&Evolution bbc.co.uk/news/science-e…

FoodSecurity bbc.co.uk/news/world-afr…

'The bottom line: "It's pretty much every summer now that a record-breaking heatwave is happening, not just in one breadbasket, but multiple breadbaskets around the world"... "We are currently heading into a climate regime that we have never seen before."' axios.com/2023/08/07/cli…

We are honoured to have been chosen as one of the finalists for the #GreenGown Awards in the - tomorrow’s employees category. Thank you to the panel! Thank you for recognising our collective efforts to creating a sustainable future. #SustainableFuture @LifeSciWestmin

The Cavendish Living Lab presents the Sustainability Symposium 2023. 🌱 🙌Today we celebrate our impactful journey, felicitate graduating students, and gain insights from sustainability-focused speakers. This is where collaboration, inspiration, and celebration unite! 🌍

Our alumni, Dain Robinson, inspired our students with her talk on what a career in sustainability look like. Her journey that started at @UniWestminster has now transformed into an inspirational story for everyone that wants to build a career in sustainability.

Sheena Patel and Mohsin Ravjani from Change Ahead @changeaheaduk delivered a talk on ‘Project Greenlight: Cultivating Wellness and Independence.’ Their team's inspiring work foster to provide well-being and self-sufficiency in communities. 👥🏠 @pooja_basnett @Dipankarsg31

First CRISPR-edited salad hits the U.S. market wng.org/roundups/first…