Did you know that there are actually guidelines for determining authorship on scientific papers?
Continue readingCredit where credit’s due (a short guide to authorships in scientific papers)
How to…
Pathfinding (some tips on finding science jobs outside academia)
There seems to be no shortage of outlets and people offering advice on how to find jobs outside academia right now, but for what it’s worth, this was the way I went about it.
Continue readingShutting up shop (a short guide on how NOT to start a research group)
In January 2023, I resigned from my position at the Department of Cell & Developmental Biology at the University of Würzburg. Here are some of the things that I think I should have done differently when I moved there in 2015 to start my junior research group.
Continue readingThe fruits of your labour (a short guide to writing Results sections)
TIR has previously provided a general summary of how to write scientific reports/papers, as well as more detailed and specific advice on writing Figure legends and Materials & Methods sections. Now we turn our attention to the real food & drink of any manuscript: the Results section.
Continue readingHitting the target (a short guide to validating antibody specificity)
Antibodies are essential and ubiquitous tools in biology, but their unguarded usage can easily lead to error. Here’s how to validate their specificity, and ensure that they’re hitting the right target.
Continue readingThere at the birth (a short guide to reviewing scientific papers)
Being asked to review a paper is one of the biggest but commonest responsibilities a scientist has to take on. Here are some tips for how to go about it. Continue reading
Would you Leica bit of help? (a short guide to documenting microscopy image acquisition)
In our latest “How To…” guide, we provide a customisable template for state-of-the-art documentation of image acquisition, as well as a sample Materials & Methods section for the writeup. Continue reading
The devil in the details (a short guide to writing figure legends)
A short guide to writing the most important text of any scientific manuscript. Continue reading
Smash it up smash it up (a short guide to biochemical fractionation)
Would you like to understand why many reported immunoprecipitations and pulldowns are unreliable? Are you worried that your immunoprecipitations, pulldowns, or affinity purifications aren’t as compelling or as efficient as they could be? Then read on. Continue reading
Your postdoc questions answered (an EMBL Careers Webinar Q&A)
On 11th September, TIR writer Brooke Morriswood participated in an EMBL Careers Webinar with Kristina Havas-Cavaletti and Mariana de Niz on “how to choose a postdoc position”. Some of the questions asked by webinar attendees, and the panel’s answers, are below. Continue reading
Total Internal Reflection 