by Shinichi Nakagawa

As 2024 draws to a close, I want to take a moment to reflect on another wonderful year for I-deel.
 
This June, I moved to Canada, where I joined the University of Alberta. It was a slow start with learning new things such as new acronyms, ticketing systems and hidden rules. While I settled into life at the University of Alberta  (see pics below for my new workplace with some exotic beasts), most I-deel members who stayed in Sydney have been doing a lot of great jobs in my physical absence (albeit moral presence).

I have been trying to find a way for many years how we could create a lab where people are comfortable expressing opinions and they can also disagree freely and they can resolve such disagreements - this is how science should work and this is how good scientists are made. This year, I felt our members are taking a lot of initiatives to be more independent and inter-dependent. This sounds like an oxymoron but it is not. Many members are leading projects. And also they are working with others to get help for where they can work together or where they can create synergy. I have been extremely lucky with my lab members in the past, but the current bunch is pretty incredible.

Not only they are a nice bunch of people working together. They are very productive and I highlight some of these successes this year:

1. Our three PhD students, Coralie, Lorenzo, and Kyle all published their amazing work in top journals (Methods in Ecology and Evolution, Environment International, Chemosphere and Environmental Pollution; note Lorenzo get an award for the best paper for his work on a meta-analysis on PFAS transfer in birds).
2. Speaking of the best paper awards, Losia led an international collaboration on this very topic into PLoS Biology.
3. Szymek published his simulation work on the sample size required to study both sexes in PLoS Biology.
4. Yefeng published his in-silico replication work in Nature Ecology & Evolution.
5. Patrice published a collaborative paper from our lab meetings on how to best write an abstract in Proceedings B.
6. Pietro got his masterpiece of a systematic map of meta-analyses on sexual selection into Biological Reviews.
7. Ayumi got her first meta-analysis (the function of eye patterns in butterflies) into eLife.

 
There are more amazing publications including many blog posts on various topics (thank you!), presentations and personal achievements from I-deel members this year. These are underlined by dedication and teamwork, for which I thank all I-deel members. Soon, in Feb 2025, I will be visiting Sydney to celebrate all these milestones with awesome I-deel members. In 2025, also I have a challenging job of replicating this awesome team here at the University of Alberta - the Centre of Open Science and Synthesis in Ecology and Evolution - a very exciting year ahead!

Completing a PhD takes a lot of effort and many years. By the end of your PhD, you have already acquired a very diverse range of skills, and I believe you are already an amazing scientist who should be easily employable. However, the reality is often different. If you would like to continue on the academic path, job opportunities are sadly quite scarce. This creates a large bottleneck, where most people with PhDs do not end up with a continuing academic position. However, there are some job opportunities tailored for different career stages, in a variety of countries, so there is a chance you may land the postdoc of your dreams if you apply! You’ll never get the job you don’t apply for, but you may get one out of the dozens of applications you put up. Perseverance can go a long way!

Here are a few tips and resources I have gathered that could be helpful.

1. Recognise the diversity of skills you have
The skills you have acquired during your PhD are unique, diverse, and not restricted to your specific research topic. You have acquired a wide range of transferable skills such leadership, coding, data management, writing, public speaking, or time, people, and budget management. These skills are sought out and valued by many! You have also demonstrated that you are an excellent and fast learner. Job ads often list a wide range of skills, and nobody ticks all the boxes – don’t be afraid to apply even if you’re missing some of the required skills, you just have to convince them that you can learn and master those skills quickly.   

2. Apply to as many jobs as you can
You’ll never get the job you don’t apply for, but you may get one out of the few applications you put out! It certainly takes time to apply for jobs, but this time is not always lost. It helps you think about the next big questions you would like to work on, you get experience with interviews, and you become a more efficient writer. You may also make important connections!

3. Email the people you would love to work with.
If you are a big fan of someone’s research, it might be a good idea to contact them and ask if they would like to collaborate with you. They may have some funding available or invite you to apply for a grant or fellowship. Even if they do not have a position available at the time, they may contact you in the future when a new opportunity becomes available. Just remember to contact previous and current lab members to make sure the atmosphere in the group is what you are looking for. In my view, working with people you get along with, and whose values and work ethics are aligning with yours is key to a happy and productive working environment!

4. Identify the people who have received funding recently
Often, the issue is not finding someone to collaborate with but finding someone who has available funding to employ you. However, if you consult grant reports and identify who has been awarded funding recently, there is a chance they have funding available for a postdoc! Of course, only contact the people you would like to work with, but that is an option I have heard worked for many.

5. Apply for fellowships
The issue with applying with already-funded postdocs is that you may not have complete freedom with the research topic, and you may be more constrained than during your PhD. However, with fellowships, you are free to design your own research project, which is both an interesting exercise and an incredibly exciting thing to look forward to! Fellowships are very competitive, but there are lots of them worldwide for different career stages, and some give you a lot of freedom (see below for some useful resources)!

6. Reuse your research proposals for multiple fellowships
Putting your first fellowship proposal together takes a huge amount of time. Do not underestimate fellowship applications - it’s best to start preparing your proposal months before the deadline! However, once you have put one proposal together, you can reuse the ideas and the structure for other fellowship applications. Note though that you often have to adjust many components of the fellowship, so it is still a time-consuming process. You should also make sure there is a good match between your research project, your supervisor, and the host institution. If you apply for a fellowship with a different supervisor, you’ll likely have to write a new proposal so that the project matches all the people involved. 

7. Apply for permanent positions
You may think you are not competitive for permanent job positions, but it can be worth a shot! It’s also a good opportunity to identify which skills and experience you currently lack to be competitive, and direct you to opportunities where you can broaden your skillset. For instance, may academic jobs require extensive teaching experience. If you have not done much teaching, perhaps it is a good way to realise you need to get more involved in teaching or even coordinate your own lecture! Applying for permanent positions might also be a good exercise to understand how job applications are structured, so you are ready when your dream job position opens up!

8. Seek out online platforms and resources
A lot of job advertising is happening on social media platforms such as Twitter/X, BlueSky, or LinkedIn. Feel free to let the online community that you are on the hunt for a postdoc on your profile – someone might reach out to you! Some academics have also compiled very useful lists of jobs and fellowships in ecology and evolution. For instance, Dieter Lukas has made this large list of independent postdoc fellowships here; or you can consult this one from Allison Barner here; Corrie Morreau has also put together a list of faculty positions and postdocs in ecology and evolutionary biology here; ERC Central is also a great website listing a lot of funding opportunities for ECRs; and many opportunities in Europe are posted on EURAXESS. There are also some interesting mailing lists that regularly post job opportunities such as Evoldir or ECOLOG-L.

9. Don’t take rejection personally
All people applying for positions are fantastic researchers, and not getting a job or fellowship does not mean you do not have the skills and expertise to carry out exciting research! There are too many people applying, and not enough jobs for everyone. Decisions are also highly subjective, so don’t take those rejections personally. You are amazing, whether you get the job or not! Just make sure to seek out feedback on your application once you have digested the outcome. You might receive some useful advice to make your application stronger next time!

10. Extra notes
There are of course, many additional challenges to finding a job. The common expectation for ECRs to move internationally for short contracts can be extremely difficult financially and mentally, so these are not viable options for everyone. This is even harder if you have to relocate a whole family, have mobility or health issues, or ties to a specific area.

I think it’s important to seek jobs in places you know you will likely enjoy living in, and if moving is not something you wish to do, then perhaps it’s best for you not to! This will make the job hunt a more challenging, but compromising on mental health and quality of life may not always be a great idea. Note that some postdoctoral fellowships do not have geographic restrictions (e.g., the AXA fellowships support research at any institution). These may interesting options if you are restricted geographically!

I have also focused this post on academic jobs, but there are many other amazing jobs outside of academia! As I said earlier, you have already acquired a diversity of skills during your PhD, and these will be valued beyond academia. I’m not very knowledgeable about non-academic jobs, but they are certainly worth exploring! 

5by Losia Lagisz

SORTEE (the Society for Open, Reliable, and Transparent Ecology and Evolutionary Biology) annual conference was held on 15-16th of October.  ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

By now, I hope, most of our readers should know about SORTEE (it's been around for 4 years). A few of our lab members participated in its creation, and many others joined the team of volunteers who help run the society and participate in its many activities, including the conference. This year was no different, with our lab members facilitating several sessions, especially unconferences and hackathons (the conference program is still available here). 💫💫💫💫💫

All the events were run virtually over 24 hours to include all timezones across the globe. The registered participants came from 35 countries (see the map above), representing higher geographic diversity than ever before (and it was visible during the sessions too!). The conference registration was free for SORTEE members and very cheap for non-members (or free, as needed - no questions asked). The two great plenary talks were recorded, as well as introductory and concluding talks by SORTEE President Rose O'Dea (all recordings, including from the earlier years, are available here). The conference itself went extremely well, with no hiccups, thanks to the fantastic effort and strategic skills of the organising committee, which I cannot praise enough. So thanks again everybody! 💜💜💜💜💜

SORTEE is a non-profit organisation, which strives to be inclusive and serve the scientific community. It relies exclusively on the volunteers. So, if you haven't volunteered in one of the many roles available yet, or wish to do more, you can still nominate yourself (and encourage others to do so) - nominations close October 30th via an online form available here. Have fun, learn new skills, network, and help making science more open! 🧚🧚🧚🧚🧚

I am looking forward for another SORTEE conference, in 2025, and all the different events and activities that will come before that (if you are not a member yet, join SORTEE to participate!). ✨✨✨✨✨✨

by Lorenzo Ricolfi

As a PhD student working on a computer-based project, I spend countless hours sitting at my desk. It’s a common trap: we think that the more time we dedicate to our research, the more progress we make. But in reality, extended periods of physical inactivity can reduce productivity and harm both mental and physical health.
Physical activity isn’t just about staying in shape; it’s a crucial part of maintaining mental sharpness and energy levels. Regular exercise triggers the release of endorphins, serotonin, and dopamine, key hormones that boost mood and cognitive function. Physical activity combats stress, reducing the likelihood of burnout, which is all too common in long academic journeys. On top of that, [a study from north american universities](https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3041121/#:~:text=Exercise training increased hippocampal volume,neurogenesis in the dentate gyrus.) and published on the journal PNAS showed that physical activity increases hippocampal volume, a part of the brain responsible for memory and learning.

An older study from the University of Bristol published several years ago found that employees who exercised before work or during lunch breaks reported an increase in performance. Positive changes in performance outcomes were almost exclusively linked to changes in mood. For those of us in academia, where problem-solving and creativity are essential, these benefits can't be overlooked.
PhD life in Australia, typically spanning 3.5 years, is a marathon, not a sprint. Like any long-term challenge, pacing is essential. Yes, a PhD is demanding, and there’s always more to do. But pushing personal boundaries on how many hours you can sit at a desk without moving isn’t productive. Studies show that sitting for prolonged periods increases the risk of heart disease, diabetes, and even reduced life expectancy. Even worse, extended desk time leads to a decline in focus and problem-solving abilities, defeating the purpose of staying glued to the chair in the first place.
Anyway, if you really don't want to do medium-intense physical activity, you should at least make time for a walk. In my journey, I’ve learned that stepping away from the desk, whether it’s for a short walk, a workout, or even a stretch, can reignite productivity. You return with fresh eyes, a sharper mind, and often the solution to a problem that had you stumped for hours.
Finding a balance between work and personal health isn’t easy, but it’s crucial. I’m now in the early stages of my final year of PhD, and throughout this journey, regular exercise has been a constant. I currently work out three times a week and make time for at least one long walk on the weekends. The toughest periods in my PhD were when I neglected exercise. I became fully absorbed in research a couple of times, pushing aside essential activities outside academia, and those were the hardest times. Life outside academia matters too, and the body and mind function best when we respect their limits. For those of us navigating the academic world, taking care of our physical health is an investment in both our current well-being and our future success. So, the next time you feel like you’re stuck in the PhD grind, remember that sometimes the best thing you can do is step away, get moving, and let your body, and your mind, recharge.

by Coralie Williams

Last month, I attended the International Statistical Ecology Conference (ISEC) in Swansea, UK. This was my first time attending ISEC, and I was excited as I had heard it was a friendly environment for networking with ecological statisticians and the R developer community.
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To start off, optional pre-conference workshops were offered. These workshops provided a great way to overcome jetlag, get into the stats/coding rhythm, and meet people in a smaller setting before all the attendees arrived. I often find that the first day of any conference can be overwhelming, so this was particularly beneficial. I attended the workshop on RTMB, a new R package designed to run flexible models with TMB (Template Model Builder) directly in plain R code. We received valuable tips from Anders Nielsen, one of the TMB maintainers, and Ben Bolker, the GLMM guru.

The conference itself was packed with a diverse range of topics, from software development to sophisticated multi-species models. While most presentations focused on animal taxa applications, there were also interesting topics on the modelling fungi distribution with spatially explicit capture-recapture models and models to predict different apple species flowering time. During the poster sessions, I presented my first PhD chapter, which is a meta-research project proposing ways to improve the reporting of simulation studies evaluating statistical methods. I was very pleased with the interest it generated. 

A highlight for me was attending this conference with the Ecostats team from my joint supervisor David Warton’s lab. It was great to get to know each other in a different setting and to see familiar faces throughout the week. I also enjoyed supporting the team in their talks throughout the conference. Additionally, I had the opportunity to attend the SORTEE (the Society for Open, Reliable, and Transparent Ecology and Evolutionary Biology) meet-up, where I met other fellow SORTEE members.

Overall, it was a great experience, and it reminded me of the importance of in-person conferences for promoting one’s work, networking with current and potential collaborators, gaining new perspectives on my own research and feeling part of a community.
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After the conference, I travelled to Lithuania for some time off. This was a special trip; Lithuania has a lot of folk tales and many beautiful national parks. When we were on the Baltic seaside, I found small amber stones along the beach, just as described in the tale of Jūratė and Kastytis.

by Pietro Pollo

Watching movies and shows is a hobby of mine. Unfortunately, it is hard to know what is truly interesting given the ocean of boring and uncreative media out there. In this post, I share some titles that I have recently watched in the hopes you like them too.
 
American fiction (movie)              
A comedy in which the protagonist, a writer who is a black man, questions the expectation that black people can only tell stories involving racism. Despite tackling such a heavy topic, it is a very funny movie, making it a must-watch. Available on Amazon Prime.
 
Anatomy of a Fall (movie)
The story of a woman that is accused of murdering her partner after his body is found outside of their house, and how their blind son perceives his mother during the trial. An interesting discussion on how tiny bits of information, like brief, intimate moments, can be taken out of context and be used to determine one’s reputation. Available on Stan.
 
Poor things (movie)
A story in which a revived woman (similar to a Frankenstein monster) explores and questions her reality, including societal norms, human behaviours, and life at large. The gender of the protagonist, and the taboos that surround it, becomes an important topic in this movie. All of this in beautiful, colourful, impressionist-style landscapes. Available on Disney+.
 
Problemista (movie)
In this A24 comedy, the protagonist is an immigrant trying to legally stay in the USA. In a desperate moment, he takes a job with a Karen-like boss (i.e. who complains about everything). This movie shows, in a light way, the difficulties faced by immigrants and the injustices of a system that claims to be meritocratic. Unavailable in any streaming service in Australia at the moment, but there are alternative ways to obtain it (wink-wink).
 
Under the bridge (show)
Based on a true story from Canada, this series follows the details of a crime involving teenagers. Prejudice, the need to fit in, and horrible things people can do to others as a result (especially when they are adolescents), are topics discussed here. Most importantly, this show explores how the negligence and hardships that people suffer when young, which society fails to address, end up causing a cascade of problems. Available on Disney+.

Despite friendliness and collaboration being key to the success of humanity, collaboration in science remains scarce. To understand why, we must consider the current state of science. There is a pervasive culture of "publish or perish," exacerbated by the intense competition for academic positions. Researchers may perceive collaboration as detrimental to their own progress. After all, why invest time in helping others when they could be future competitors for the same jobs?

​I pose that this ‘selfish’ attitude which appears frequently in science is costly. When scientists, especially early career researchers, work in isolation and don't contribute to projects beyond their own, they miss out on the huge benefits that come from diverse perspectives and outside expertise. Collaborators outside one's 'echo chamber' can provide fresh insights, challenge assumptions, and introduce new approaches that can significantly improve the quality and impact of research. Plus, collaboration often leads to more opportunities for co-authorship, which can help boost one's publication record and academic profile. This not only advances individual careers but also speeds up scientific progress as a whole. By not embracing collaboration, we’re missing out on both personal and collective gains, making it crucial to promote a more cooperative research environment.

​By Szymek Drobniak

Time is money – it’s a truism that nobody would dare to question. In our particular type of job – in being a scientist – time also equals benchmarks, indices, track record. The more time we have – the more papers we should be able to publish, the more students to supervise, the more brilliant ideas turn into reality. Interestingly, science also tends to be particularly rich in people representing all kinds of neurodiversity. My hypothesis is that such people are also often particularly creative. Unfortunately, certain kinds of neurodiversity can throw sand into well-oiled gears of our scientific work. Here’s a bunch of recommendations a veteran of ADHD, such as myself, can offer to make the working scientific life of at least some of you a bit more predictable and satisfying.

• Do not discard methods such as Pomodoro as overly simplifying or lacking flexibility (for those not into tomatoes: dividing your work into small, 15-30 mins. chunks, separated by short (5-10 mins.) breaks). Pomodoro may be surprisingly effective in identifying the ways you waste your working time (see what takes you during breaks and what makes them harder to finish), and in learning how to quantise your tasks into well-defined steps. My all-time favourite in implementing this method is the Be Focused app – but the Internet abounds in other options.
• Keeping track of ones’ calendar is one of the most annoying activities. Try to cultivate the following habit: the moment you plan a meeting, receive and invite, decide on a task or receive a task – put it into your calendar. Do not postpone doing this – your few taps on your phone away from permanently recording the task for future and freeing your mind from having to remember it. Also – make it a habit to check your calendar every morning.
• Do the same with a to-do list (yes, you want to have one, desperately). Some picks to consider – Todoist app, Tasks app, or whatever speaks to you functionally and visually. I would also like to preempt a question you surely will have: isn’t using calendar and a to-do list superfluous/too time consuming? It may be – but clever people have come up with solutions that connect to-do lists with calendars in a seamless way. If you want a hassle-free experience, without having to reschedule or move items as new things enter your agenda, consider checking out AI tools that manage your calendar for you. My current favourite is reclaim.ai – I honestly do not remember when I had to manually reschedule anything in my calendar.
• If a task/activity is taking too much time (e.g., because it is too difficult and you’re stuck without new ideas, or it begins to bore you) – leave it for a while (unless, of course, your being chased by a hard deadline, breathing frantically into your neck). Wonders happen when you set a task or problem aside or – even better – sleep with it.
• During the day, deal with the least liked tasks first.
• Don’t be afraid to declare some ours of your day/week as off-limits for others (within the limits of reason and your responsibilities, of course).
• To retain sanity and balance – try to do work at work, and non-work/fun things elsewhere. Don’t mix you working and leisure spaces. And for the sake of all known gods – don’t take work to bed. Some things do not mix well – like oil and water, or work and resting.

by Ayumi Mizuno

The SQuID (Statistical Quantification of Individual Differences*1) statistical workshop took place this March at Hokkaido University in Japan (Shinichi is a member of the SQuID team. He and my PhD supervisor decided to hold the workshop here). I had only attended workshops and seminars as a student before, but this time, I also prepared this workshop as a local staff member for around six months, with Shinichi.

The lectures were amazing. The course began with the basic linear model, but on the last day, we had the chance to conduct a simulation on our data using the squidSim package in R. Through the workshop, I became more familiar with how linear mixed models work and what insights they can provide about my research. In addition, I learned that simulations help understand the models better and are useful for planning data collection and analysis. The participants had diverse research backgrounds and countries of origin, so the conversation during break time was also exciting.

Watching participants enjoying coding and interacting with others made me feel all my work had paid off. I had predicted that some accidents might happen, but everything went smoothly. Even though preparing the workshop took up a lot of time*2, it was definitely a valuable experience for me.
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To conclude, I would like to share four small tips for people (like me) organising workshops or seminars for the first time. These are all general points but essential:

1. Early preparation is key. Most tasks often take longer than expected.
2. Communication is essential. Do not be afraid to check with the person you are working with, even if it is small. This can prevent irreversible mistakes.
3. Put yourself in your participants’ shoes. What may seem obvious to you might not be as clear to them.
4. Prepare plenty of drinks and snacks (both sweet and savoury tastes). While this tip may seem somewhat unrelated, it significantly contributes to the workshop's success by keeping participants focused and motivated (hunger or thirst can greatly affect these).

 
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*1 Please check this link for detailed SQuID info.: https://squidgroup.org/
*2 I had some sleepless nights worrying about whether the workshop would go well.