As requested from @RyanET & @jboerckel here is my thread about my recent conference talk:

"The three M's: powerhouse of a successful scientific career"

What's most important for a scientific career? Maybe everyone would agree on publications, grants, awards.

But... 1/x

But how to get those? Of course, this highly depends on your research results, which depends on (hard) work and a small amount of luck.

But there are strategies to improve your publication output besides this:

- know the "right" journals and editors
- know potential reviewers

- collaborate with other researchers for co-authorships

You see, all of these strategies need "Networking"

Same is somehow true for receiving awards:

You can only get an award when you know about it and apply for it. So most important advice: APPLY

What’s important for a successful award application:
- motivation letter
- letter of support
- being a member at the respective scientific society, people should know your name

How to find out about awards?
- being a member at scientific societies in your research area (receiving newsletters)
- searching for awards online
- social media
- talking with colleagues, mentors

This brings me to the first M:

MENTORS

“you can only be what you see”

- mentors can be your direct supervisors AND also other scientists/clinicians

- good scientists are not always good mentors

- tasks of a good mentor:
--> advice you to scientific, career and life-related questions

- introduce you to other scientists (“networking”)
- inspire you
- write letters of support for you
- proof-read your documents (letter of motivation, CV, grant application, etc.)

What does a good mentor NOT do?

- make your decisions for you
- form you to a “new-version of the mentor”
- always provide "nice" feedback, not constructive advice

How to find a good mentor?

--> scientific societies, networking

Have a look at @AcademyEcts and @ORSsociety

The second M: MEMBERSHIP (in scientific societies)

benefits of (inactive) membership:

- eligibility for awards
- newsletters (awards, grants, events)
- reduced fees for conferences, paper submissions etc.

benefits of active membership (participating in committees, board of directors, etc.)

- networking, get to know important people (reviewer, editor)
- people will know your name --> get invitations for papers, moderations, talks
- learn how a scientific society works

How many memberships?

inactive: as much as you can afford

active: concentrate on max. 3 societies (at least 1 should be international)

When to start with being active?

The earlier the better! But don’t forget that's lots of work.

Have a look at @MuSkITYR & join us for FREE

You see, the third M: MONEY

Money is important…

… directly for your research

… indirectly for your research and career (childcare etc.)

How to get money?

- grants
- awards, travel awards
- special programs (gender equality funds, support during pregnancy & childcare)

Most important advice regarding money and how to find special funding programs (esp. for women, underrep. minorities):

Inform yourself (online), ask your peers, ask your mentors, watch out for newsletter!

This brings me to SURPRISE the fourth M: (Social) MEDIA

And I want to talk a little bit about Twitter here:

The twitter community can offer:

- Networking, collaborations, connect with peers (especially in COVID times)
- News and publications updates (faster than pubmed)
- Grant and award offers
- Education
- Advocacy

Twitter can even increase your citation rate!

But I don't need to talk about why you should use Twitter as a researcher/clinical scientist too much here, because YOU already are on Twitter ;)

How to be successful on twitter?

This would be another thread ;)

Final conclusions:

- find (diverse) mentors
- do networking via conferences, active membership, social media
- apply for awards to get money
- search for special funding sources (gender equality etc.)

AND most important:
have fun with what you are doing!

@OpenAcademics