Soft skills for junior researchers: Mental clarity and decision-making for academics

How should I manage my daily work? Which conferences should I go to? What should be my research strategy? Is my work good enough? Is this paper ready for submission? Should I do a postdoc? The path of the academic is full of decisions, and they all seem crucial. However, many of the hurdles we face in our decision-making stem from the way we think about the decisions themselves and several documented cognitive biases. In this workshop, we will work on different aspects of decision-making such as worry, procrastination, regret, and decision paralysis. We will also review the most common biases affecting our decision-making process as academics and practice some useful tools and strategies to reduce their impact and be more efficient with our time. 

Facilitator: Vicent Botella-Soler Vicent has been a PhD student (physics), a Postdoc (neuroscience), a machine learning consultant for start-ups, a R&D manager for a tech company. With extensive international experience in both academia and industry, he now works as a freelance consultant and author, helping academics and industry professionals snap out of cognitive traps and longheld beliefs hindering their development. He specializes in critical thinking and decision making for individuals and teams. Dickerson et al.

NCCR Automation members only! Please register here.