Endocrine Abstracts

No Network, no Nobel…

Networking is a way of life in science. Every rung on the ladder depends on whom you know as well as what you know. The process begins with choice of supervisor and lab for PhD training. By the time the doctorate is awarded, the newly fledged researcher has already accumulated a network of vital contacts that will usually remain of value, personally and professionally, throughout their career. An important early step is choice of learned society. Most early researchers gain their early introduction to future collaborators and mentors through participation in the ‘Masonic’ world of their discipline-specific academic society. Poster and oral presentations allow the individual to stake a claim in the field and lead to key personal and professional connections that result in peer recognition. The academic journals and national and international meetings that define a particular field will provide the context necessary for recognition to grow and academic appointments follow. There is no steadfast recipe for networking. How to approach people, whether through introduction or by ‘cold calling’ are matters of personal judgement. When and with whom to network are usually no-brainers. How not to look stupid or how formal you should be are common sense. If you do not have these essential personal skills you would do well to try and acquire them. They will stand you in good stead, no matter how long your publication list or the impact factors of the journals in which you publish.