Skills those are obligatory for a career in science

For a scientific researcher it is always advisable to differentiate their job from other fixed patterned jobs such as banking, accounting, corporate managing, marketing etc. Their job is researching, which always deals with the fundamental rules of the nature. From the very starting of a research carrier it should always be remembered by a researcher that what he/she will be doing as a job will be modulated by some universal regulations nature created. Actually research is nothing but discovering and applying the rule of the nature, which is called science. Therefore, learning is the most important part of this carrier. I am not saying that other jobs do not need learning skills, of course they do, but for a researcher sometimes learning is the only job for which he/she is getting paid. A researcher learns from the nature through experimenting and analyzing the data and teaches the world through a research article, through a talk or through teaching in the classroom. Hence, a researcher should always have five specific skills listed here:

Learning skill

Learning is the only skill which is important to achieve other skills; therefore, before you start to be a master on any other skill, you should always try to be a master learner. To learn a thing fast you need intense concentration. Who has intense concentration can learn more things in a short period and that will help that person to be skilled without spending much time. A researcher should always be keep learning new things, that may be directly connected to his/her job or may not be. Because, learning new things will help to nourish the brain. It is also important to get into brain storming skills, because if you train your brain to understand critical topics or to learn complex skills your brain will be more powerful. For that purpose you need to come out of your comfort zone and put effort to learn which is tough to learn. A subject that is interesting to you can be learned by you very easily, but a subject, which is not of your interest you need to put more effort to grab it. But that actually nourish your brain more. Therefore, the bottom line is improving learning skill is one of the most important criteria to be a good researcher.

Reading skill

If you want to learn something the best way is to read about that thing. Reading is the one of the best habit I can suggest, since that not only improve your learning skill but also enrich you with good thoughts and concentration of mind. For a researcher reading skill is the golden skill. A researcher or a PhD student needs to read a lot of stuffs like research papers, books and protocols. In my opinion a researcher should be a devoted reader and should make a habit of reading for at least a couple of hour daily. That reading may include a review article, a research paper, a book chapter, online contents or any other things like any kind of books on character building, lifestyle improving, habit improving, biography of the legends, money investing etc. Reading of research article is different from any other type of reading, because it is used to be written critically and need more concentration to understand the underlying theory, experimental design or hypothesis. To be very honest for most of the people reading a research article is not very enjoyable, but it can be if you present or explain a research article to someone, for example, to your colleagues or your supervisor after reading it deeply. That is why it is very useful for a researcher to be a part of a journal club.

Writing skill

For a researcher it is always crucial to present or publish research papers because that is the only way to communicate the world regarding the work has been done and to present the research work to the other people who are working on the similar field. It can be experimental, theoretical or synthetic papers. Skill of writing a research article is a stupendous skill, which needs clear thoughts, excellent communication power, grab on the language and simplicity of expression. If you are a PhD student who has joined recently in the research group should practice writing from the very first day in the lab. Writing the steps of the experiment as a protocol or method on daily basis is a real good habit. Along with that it is always nice to write the results of each experiment in a way such as that is the final draft you are going to send for publication. It will help you when you will be making your draft of research paper. If you are a PhD student, it is highly recommended to write your research paper by your own, at least the full first draft. If you are completely depended on your supervisor or your co-authors to take part in the paper from the very first day of commencing the writing, then you will never learn to write. Apart from that, writing a research proposal is another crucial part of a researcher’s life, specially for the group leader. A clear and well written proposal grasps the attention of the funding institutes easily and that will be useful to buy the fuel for a lab to run. Running a research lab needs adequate amount of funding, a well-established lab always have a massive reserve of funds which may only possible by making a good research proposal to be accepted. Therefore, for a young researcher or a PhD student having a plan to be a future group leader need to learn writing a research proposal by taking part with the supervisor.

Skill of presentation

Most of the time presentation of the work becomes a headache for the new researchers, as present a work in the most comprehensive way is a matter of skill.  Yes, I am talking about the power point presentation since it is another integral part of a researcher’s life. In some lab, weekly work presentation is a mandatory practice, which actually is an excellent practice to make a researcher a good presenter. Practicing presentation will help you to learn the art of teaching that is a key skill for an academician or scientist. Moreover, that will also help you to understand the topic more clearly. If you present your own work then that will help you to think more deeply about your work, and you may find a new way to extend your work or may get a solution of a problem regarding your experiment. If you are presenting other’s works related to your own research field then that will help you to correlate your own work with some other’s ideas. The best part of the presentation is the discussion of a particular problem. This discussion is not only helpful for the listener but also for the presenter as all through discussing a continuous process of thinking is carried out in the presenter’s mind which increase clarity of the thought process about that particular research problem.

Skill of thinking

Skill of deep thinking is an asset of a researcher and for everyone. The major power gaining process of the brain is depended upon the exercise done continuously by the brain. If you always get into the easy stuffs like an easy research paper, an easy theory or an easy technique, then your brain will be malnourished. In the modern age, most of us are searching for entertainment all the time. We spend a huge time in social media surfing, in search of worthless videos, reels, pictures, news etc. We do such things as there is no tomorrow and spending a big part of our real possession that is time. We all know that time is money, but we use to get stuck into those shallow stuffs of social media in such a way that we do not control ourselves. Basically, those are the junk foods for our brain which is dangerous in long term for brain’s health.  But we easily get into this due to the lack of thinking power. By nature our brains always try not to work hard, just like us, we do not want to work out at gym in our subconscious mind since that is hard for us and we need big courage to maintain continuity. But working out in gym makes us healthier, we know that but our brain says ‘later! Let’s have some fun first.’ That is the trap, and we are consciously got into that trap. In the similar way whenever we start to learn some tough skills, or start to read a critical paper or book, or start to watch an interview of a scientist on a complex topic our brain says, “stop it, not that much of fun is here, try some movie”. This is because our brain is not trained. We do not have the skill of critical thinking. Therefore, train your brain to think with a complex theory, critical papers or books, a hard to learn course. Use social media in a productive way. Search for videos from which you will get knowledge. See pictures which help you to build your research plans. Listen interviews of successful persons, like a successful scientist, artist, entrepreneur or investor. Read articles or books which make you enriched. These are the exercises which make your brain healthy and powerful.