My Starting Fourth Dimension Landmark Equally Not-A-Scientist: 365 (Busy) Days Out-Of-Business!

I precisely noticed (thanks to the counter on my personal homepage) that it has been 365 days, i year, since my final contract equally a paid scientist run out (a 2-year mobility grant yesteryear the Austrian Science Fund FWF). Time for a resumé.

My homepage, January, the 18th, 2018

Time actually flies. I'm out-of-business for 365 days. Wow. It for sure doesn't experience similar it. 

How does it feel? I precisely beloved it!!!

Science is fun. Well, when you lot are non brain-dead similar sure political "conservative" movements inward Europe (AfD, AKP, Fidesz, PiS) or the USA (Republicans, non all, but many together with all those sitting inward the White House) together with consider it evil. Science is oftentimes linked to fact (there is, notably, a departure betwixt 'results' – the facts – together with 'conclusion' – their interpretation), together with everyone tin sympathize why they don't similar that. Did you lot know that the USA unemployment charge per unit of measurement dropped downwardly to a 10th inward the same fourth dimension span? If not, banking concern check out what Team Trump said before the election.

Being a professional person scientist is no fun

Science-business, on the other hand, tin hold upward a nasty one. The most annoying fleck for me was to larn our query published. You analyse your data, you lot larn your results, you lot create approximately colourful graphs to acquaint them (which occasionally receive got been appreciated equally scientific art), together with thus you lot receive got to draft a text. That could hold upward fun, but you lot pass most of the fourth dimension thinking close what purpose the reviewers volition pick on, volition hold upward hard to follow, etc. The purpose I hated most to draft was the introduction ... commonly an verbalize waste materials of fourth dimension (and space).
Still. You create it equally best equally you lot can, together with you lot dump the paper, together with larn out its faith to the wizards (and monsters) inward the Forest of Reviews (#FightTheFog, bring together the struggle here, precisely noticed #16 has signed up!), thus it may hold upward deemed worthy together with cleansed from fault (real together with unreal), together with heretic views.

The latter, admittedly, is a personal together with non thus mutual job of a paid researcher: I create non similar next the (main)stream, when it leads to a cliff. Do what has been done hundreds of times earlier (with piddling benefit), together with confidential single-blind peer review volition hold upward similar dipping into butter amongst tabular array salt crystals that you lot carried hours through Paris (to receive got a unique French care for inward Stockholm), precisely to receive got the safety receive got it away from you lot at the aerodrome (being already orangish on their scanners...) Do it differently, together with a bumby ride is assured, including optional peachy into concrete walls.

But it could receive got been worse. I was lucky to receive got never occupied an institutional position, my salary was paid yesteryear personal grants funded yesteryear the German linguistic communication (DFG), Swedish (VR) or Austrian (FWF) national query agencies. So, I had piddling admin, no lecturing obligations, together with other services that keeps you lot away from research. There are still, though a substantially decreasing number, of professors that work Ph.D. students together with post-docs to non alone write their papers but also e.g. to maw their lawn at the weekend. The backside of my medal was that I had to write applications every straight off together with thus to continue the Rubel am Rollen (old German linguistic communication saying: the roubels rolling). And applications need, higher upward or inward add-on to other things – luck, contacts, beneficial combination of nationality together with gender activity – publications inward "good" journals. "Good" inward this context way high journal touching on factor, which has piddling to create amongst the character of studies published inward the journal.

If you're getting fed-up amongst writing (publishing), you lot receive got to halt amongst professional person science (unless you lot receive got a permanent position, together with fifty-fifty then, it may hold upward problematic because of internal evaluation etc.) And I did, together with did non apply again. For Republic of Austria my science tape (and "impact") would receive got in all probability hold upward skilful plenty for approximately other few years.

My Google-Scholar statistics (per 18/1/2018), which defined my value equally a scientist (sadly enough).

Explanatory note: The H-index is a odd-statistic grade widely used to rank scientists; the i10-index is the issue of papers cited to a greater extent than than 10-times (sounds little, but fifty-fifty inward the highest touching on journals Science and Nature, most papers never accomplish it). My 2016/2017 citation surge is a fleck inflated yesteryear an increased issue of self-citations. We published xx papers inward 2016/2017 – the fourth dimension inward Vienna (2015/2016) was rattling productive (it commonly takes close a yr betwixt finishing the query together with getting the newspaper published). Main argue is that nosotros before long realised that my applied projection was useless to pursue (for scientific together with science-political reasons), thus I was gratis to roam the scientific landscape. Also, I discovered (too late) PeerJ equally dissimination platform, which has been a game-changer regarding the joy to divulge despite peer review. If alone other journals would follow their example, but without pressure from the scientific community, at that topographic point is no hope.

And straight off it has been i yr that I'm out-of-business (professionally).

The final 365 days ...

... receive got been, oddly enough, in all probability the most productive 365 days of my life equally a scientist. Although I'm non working anymore (as far equally socially feasible). As a skilful German, I alone operate when getting paid for it, together with no-one has the money/means to pay me. But I nonetheless poke my (now former) colleagues to larn our unpublished materials out together with nonetheless aid them amongst tips together with tricks, together with a graphical pimp-up hither together with at that topographic point (I beloved doing overnice graphics). But I larn out all the dingy work, similar getting it published, to them (they are paid for it, right?) And, having an excessive amount of gratis time, I started blogging; thank you lot to David Morrison, who hosts the Genealogical World of Networks together with encouraged me to seek it out: Disseminating scientific discipline is fun again.

Being non hindered, or precisely annoyed, yesteryear the peer review process, blogging allows me to freely dissiminate my ideas. As a paid scientist, it's tricky. Everything that is non formally published (in a peer-reviewed journal) is gratis to steal, together with you lot don't desire – no, you lot can't afford – your ideas beingness stolen. You demand them, together with the formal publications, for the side yesteryear side grant.

In my EndNote reference database, my (non-comprehensive) "publication" listing for 2017 looks similar this (20 entries, best yr ever):

And – because it is fun – there'll hold upward to a greater extent than to come upward inward 2018. You don't desire to immature adult woman it, mayhap there'll hold upward the i or other skilful thought to steal.

So come upward together with follow me (us) on

• The Genealogical World of Networks, a weekly (every Monday) spider web log on phylogeny, networks together with related things (this Mon was Tatoo Mon XIII)
• This rattling Res.I.P blog, where I volition postal service (on a irregular basis) scientific ideas beyond networks, dissect the i or other published, peer-reviewed written report crossing (or has crossed) my path, together with release unpublished results/graphics that piled upward on my dump heap during my 1.5-decade-long career equally a professional person scientist
• Early Retirement project on ResearchGate, which provides monthly (to bi-monthly) summaries of my science-related posts together with advertises the occassional (unavoidable) newspaper amongst me equally co-author (even when doing little, approximately things seem to alone operate when I deed equally a articulation or catalyst).
• Twitter, announcing novel posts together with because it's stylish these days (don't worry, you lot won't larn a lot of see-what-I-eat-or-like tweets; I'm non a fan of 140-digits)
• Google+, ditto, but amongst to a greater extent than construction (so mayhap easier to honor what you lot want)

So let's hope, I'll honor plenty torches inward 2018 to lite my way to the side yesteryear side bridges to burn!
 
PS If you lot desire to continue me doing what I do, you lot mightiness desire to actively advertise this spider web log to friends together with colleagues, thus I tin larn plenty traffic to brand approximately coin out of it. So far, I'm far away from the 10,000 views (I totalled 2500 since start), you lot demand to sell yourself to Google's AdServ. Otherwise, I may hold upward forced to larn a existent task over again (such equally replacement instructor or worse, thus far my French is also bad to work), together with you lot tin hold upward sure that I won't bother amongst scientific discipline (or else), when I receive got to operate 8 hours a solar daytime (or fifty-fifty four).