枕著云的遠航

发信人: Raynorshi (YP03->BIO|非洲驴|FORZA ITALIA！), 信区: ypjh
标 题: 俺老板的群信
发信站: 北大未名站 (2006年07月13日02:27:39 星期四), 转信

各位：

随着实验室研究工作的发展，实验室大部分成员已经具有学习新技术，利用所掌握的技术获得数据的能力。我感到，就目前的情况看，要进一步提高我们实验室的整体工作效率，很重要的一个方面在于帮助大家了解和掌握一些所谓科学研究的方法，训练自己养成高效率工作的习惯。在我们实验室的《研究生手册》中，不同形式地涉及这方面的问题。最近，由于孙同天教授又一次来北大讲授《科学研究方法》，我将他所总结的关于实验室研究所必需掌握的基本技能做了一个归纳，形成了一个提纲。同时，将我对生命科学的基本结构和生命科学研究的基本特点的理解也做了一个提纲。现将这两份文件发给大家，供大家阅读。有关基本技能方面的一些内容，我以前在研究生手册中也有介绍，有关实验设计方案的写作、实验记录、面谈提纲、月报等都有特定的格式。现在将孙先生的"基本技能"发给大家的另外一个意思，是希望大家按照文件中的要求，完善自己的实验方案的写作、实验记录等等。关于月报，我请刘毳将她今年的月报放到实验室ftp上作为模版。请大家在自己的月报写作时参照。

无论做什么事，养成一个好的习惯是很重要的。而好习惯的养成需要平时在各种细节上的严格要求。我很少针对每个人来谈这些细节的问题。倒不是因为我不重视，而是因为我认为，你们是主体。我作为一个教师的责任主要是"激励（inspiring）"、"鼓励（encouraging）"和"帮助（assisting）"。

另外，我附了一份《阅读Basic Skills for a Laboratory Scientist前应该思考的5个问题
》。之所以附这份东西，主要是因为根据我的经验，人做任何一件事都是有目的的。一件事能否做好，很大程度上取决于他对做此事的目的是否清楚。一旦一个人知道Why的时候，他就在很大程度上会去问How。在这5个问题中，我之所以将基本技能放在最后，是因为没有前面两个问题，也就没有最后这个问题。而前面两个问题的存在又是以第1、2两个问题为前提的。但那已经超出了实验室专业领域所应该关心的问题。我想大家只要认真去面对、去思考，会有自己的结论。如果有问题，我欢迎大家来找我交流看法。

阅读Basic Skills for a Laboratory Scientist前应该思考的5个问题

一． 关于人
1. 什么是"人"
2. 为什么要"活"
3. 怎样活才有意义

二． 关于求学
1. 什么是"学习"
2. 为什么要学习
3. 怎么学习

三． 关于研究生
1. 什么是研究生
2. 为什么要读研究生
3. 怎么读研究生

四． 关于科学研究
1. 什么是"科学研究"
2. 为什么要进行科学研究
3. 怎么才能有效地进行科学研究

五． 如何在实验科学领域做一名富有成效的研究生

Basic Skills for a Laboratory Scientist
Adopted and modified from
Tung-Tien Sun
NYU Medical School

Scientific Attitude

Desire to get to the bottom of things （打破沙锅问到底）
Resisting the idea of coming to the premature conclusion
Willingness to spend effort to make things better and/or more efficient
Not afraid of learning new things
Wanting to fully understand every thing including the experiments
Not willing to leave any "mysteries" or poorly understood
phenomena behind

Good Citizenship in a Laboratory

Willingness to help and collaborate with colleagues
Take assigned lab responsibilities seriously
Never leave a mess in public areas;
Clean up your bench and shelves at the end of the day

Basic Computer Skill

Endnote; web search; Word; PowerPoint; Photoshop

Understanding and Use of the Literature

Paper Reading
Active vs passive
Recognize problems in the experimental design
Recognize key sentences

Understanding the literature
Critically and accurately evaluate a paper
Integrated the paper into a broader background
Generate interesting and original ideas based on the literature

Use of the literature
Organize the literature with Endnote
Writing note while reading the literature
Identify links of the paper with own project

Experimental Design

Getting techniques to work predictably and reproducibly
Risk assessment
Trust in authorities
Be aware of blind spots
Detailed understanding the chemistry and rationale of every step in the protocol
Thorough planning
Checking with colleagues and advisor beforehand
Detailed flow chart
Well kept notebook
Building up confidences (make any technique to work the first time > 70% of the time)

Generating high quality data
Identify clearly what the question is
Positive and negative controls
Find the best available information from the best sources to
evaluate the design
Resistance to doing an incomplete experiment (bad data are
worse than no data)
Interpret fully your data

Appendix: Format of a Lab Notebook
Date
Question
Ref. /Note
Design/table
Flow chart
Solutions and reagents
Results with clear labeling
Discussion

Paper Writing

Grouping data in a logical fashion into good figures

Interpret data in relation to existing literature and come up with new ideas

Write a good and useful first draft
Generate an outline with one idea or key sentence per paragraph
Go over and revise in consultation with advisor
Draft paragraph using the format of "question-answers-conclusion"
Revise in consultation with advisor
Final

Productivity

生命科学的构成及生命科学研究的基本特点
062506

一． 生命现象的"123"

1. "1"个核心--生存
2. "2"个层面--个体、种群
3. "3"个要素--获能、生殖、适应

二． 生命现象的认知发展特点

1. 由面到点
2. 由表及里
3. 由略而详
4. 由浅入深

三． 现阶段生命科学基本内容的构成及认知层次

原核生物 原生生物 植物 真菌 动物
蓝藻 …… 裸藻 …… 水稻 …… 酵母 …… 果蝇
……
生态系统

群落

种群

个体

系统

器官

组织

细胞

亚细胞

蛋白复合体

蛋白

转录复合体

RNA

DNA

四． 生命科学研究工作的问题提出及基本操作层次

1. 上述矩阵结构中特定节点的确定（PI研究方向的选择）
2. 由特定节点出发的特定问题（PI研究内容的选择）
3. 特定问题分解为具体问题（实验室工作的组织）
4. 具体问题的实验分析（个人实验工作的构成）

五． 生命科学研究工作中的三个永恒的问题

1. 为什么要做？
2. 为什么要这么做？
3. 做完后能下什么结论？

六． 生命科学研究实验工作的基本要素
<
br />1. 立论：论证"为什么要做"的问题
2. 策略：论证"为什么要这么做"的问题
3. 方案：论证"做完后能下什么结论"的问题
1) 构建研究工作的立体结构
a) 核心--研究工作要解决的中心问题，作为整个工作的焦点或重心
b) 纵向--不同结构层次
c) 横向--不同影响因子
2) 论证立体结构各节点存在的充分必要条件
a) 核心证据--在不同层次上检测实体的存在
b) 正面的扩展证据--如果如此，应该有什么（充分条件）
c) 反面的扩展证据--如果不如此，不应该有什么（必要条件）
4. 操作程序
5. 发现的整合与分享

七． 生命科学研究实验工作操作程序的核心环节

1. 实验目的
2. 实验流程
3. 实验材料与条件
4. 实验结果
5. 实验操作分析与结论

--
如果百年后我托梦给你，我定已与你共渡了百年，并求再与你相依一百年。
如果千年后我托梦给你，我定已与你相伴了千年，并求再与你厮守一千年。
——我将用自己证明给你看，我值得你托付三十生，三十世，直到共同把那奈何走烂。

※ 来源:·北大未名站 bbs.pku.edu.cn·[FROM: 162.105.106.196]

Don't Become a Scientist!

Professor of Physics
Washington University, St. Louis, Mo.

Are you thinking of becoming a scientist? Do you want to uncover the mysteries of nature, perform experiments or carry out calculations to learn how the world works? Forget it!

Science is fun and exciting. The thrill of discovery is unique. If you are smart, ambitious and hard working you should major in science as an undergraduate. But that is as far as you should take it. After graduation, you will have to deal with the real world. That means that you should not even consider going to graduate school in science. Do something else instead: medical school, law school, computers or engineering, or something else which appeals to you.

Why am I (a tenured professor of physics) trying to discourage you from following a career path which was successful for me? Because times have changed (I received my Ph.D. in 1973, and tenure in 1976). American science no longer offers a reasonable career path. If you go to graduate school in science it is in the expectation of spending your working life doing scientific research, using your ingenuity and curiosity to solve important and interesting problem
s. You will almost certainly be disappointed, probably when it is too late to choose another career.

American universities train roughly twice as many Ph.D.s as there are jobs for them. When something, or someone, is a glut on the market, the price drops. In the case of Ph.D. scientists, the reduction in price takes the form of many years spent in "holding pattern" postdoctoral jobs. Permanent jobs don't pay much less than they used to, but instead of obtaining a real job two years after the Ph.D. (as was typical 25 years ago) most young scientists spend five, ten, or more years as postdocs. They have no prospect of permanent employment and often must obtain a new postdoctoral position and move every two years. For many more details consult the Young Scientists' Network or read the account in the May, 2001 issue of the Washington Monthly.

As examples, consider two of the leading candidates for a recent Assistant Professorship in my department. One was 37, ten years out of graduate school (he didn't get the job). The leading candidate, whom everyone thinks is brilliant, was 35, seven years out of graduate school. Only then was he offered his first permanent job (that's not tenure, just the possibility of it six years
later, and a step off the treadmill of looking for a new job every two years). The latest example is a 39 year old candidate for another Assistant Professorship; he has published 35 papers. In contrast, a doctor typically enters private practice at 29, a lawyer at 25 and makes partner at 31, and a computerscientist with a Ph.D. has a very good job at 27 (computer science and engineering are the few fields in which industrial demand makes it sensible to get a Ph.D.). Anyone with the intelligence, ambition and willingness to work hard to succeed in science can also succeed in any of these other professions.

Typical postdoctoral salaries begin at $27,000 annually in the biological sciences and about $35,000 in the physical sciences (graduate student stipends are less than half these figures). Can you support a family on that income? It suffices for a young couple in a small apartment, though I know of one physicist whose wife left him because she was tired of repeatedly moving with little prospect of settling down. When you are in your thirties you will need more: a house in a good school district and all the other necessities of ordinary middle class life. Science is a profession, not a religious vocation ,and does not justify an oath of poverty or celibacy.

Of course, you don't go into science to get rich. So you choose not to go to medical or law school, even though a doctor or lawyer typically earns two to three times as much as a scientist (one lucky enough to have a good senior-level job). I made that choice too. I became a scientist in order to have the freedom to work on problems which interest me. But you probably won'tget that freedom. As a postdoc you will work on someone else's ideas, and maybe treated as a technician rather than as an independent collaborator. Eventually, you will probably be squeezed out of science entirely. You can get a fine job as a computer programmer, but why not do this at 22, rather than putting up with a decade of misery in the scientific job market first? The longer you spend in science the harder you will find it to leave, and the less attractive you will be to prospective employers in other fields. Perhaps you are so talented that you can beat the postdoc trap; some university (there are hardly any industrial jobs in the physical sciences) will be so impressed with you that you will be hired into a tenure track position two years out of graduate school. Maybe. But the general cheapening of scientific labor means that even the most talented stay on the postdoctoral treadmill for a very long time; consider the job candidates described above. And many who appear to be very talented, with grades and recommendations to match, later find that the competition of research is more difficult, or at least different, and that they must struggle with the rest.

Suppose you do eventually obtain a permanent job, perhaps a tenured professorship. The struggle for a job is now replaced by a struggle for grant support, and again there is a glut of scientists. Now you spend your time writing proposals rather than doing research. Worse, because your proposals are judged by your competitors you cannot follow your curiosity, but must spend your effort and talents on anticipating and deflecting criticism rather than on solving the important scientific problems. They're not the same thing: you cannot put your past successes in a proposal, because they are finished work, and your new ideas, however original and clever, are still unproven. It is proverbial that original ideas are the kiss of death for a proposal; because they have not yet been proved to work (after all, that is what you are proposing to do) they can be, and will be, rated poorly. Having achieved the promised land,
you find that it is not what you wanted after all.

What can be done? The first thing for any young person (which means anyone who does not have a permanent job in science) to do is to pursue another career. This will spare you the misery of disappointed expectations. Young Americans have generally woken up to the bad prospects and absence of a reasonable middle class career path in science and are deserting it. If you haven't yet, then join them. Leave graduate school to people from India and China, for whom the prospects at home are even worse. I have known more people whose lives have been ruined by getting a Ph.D. in physics than by drugs.

If you are in a position of leadership in science then you should try to persuade the funding agencies to train fewer Ph.D.s. The glut of scientists is entirely the consequence of funding policies (almost all graduate education is paid for by federal grants). The funding agencies are bemoaning the scarcity of young people interested in science when they themselves caused this scarcity by destroying science as a career. They could reverse this situation by matching the number trained to the demand, but they refuse to do so, or even to discuss the problem seriously (for many years the NSF propagated a dishonest prediction of a coming shortage of scientists, and most funding agencies still act as if this were true). The result is that the best young people, who should go into science, sensibly refuse to do so, and the graduate schools are filled with weak American students and with foreigners lured by the American student visa.

http://yuanpei.cn/blog/tb.asp?id=4775

这才叫赚钱：月薪8000的出租车司机给我上了震撼一课

这个司机做CSI恐怕也行。
这个叉头司机太强劲了，要做生意额朋友好好看看。。。

我要从徐家汇赶去机场，于是匆匆结束了一个会议，在美罗大厦前搜索出租车。一辆大众发现了我，非常专业的、径直的停在我的面前。这一停，于是有了后面的这个让我深感震撼的故事，象上了一堂生动的MBA案例课。为了忠实于这名出租车司机的原意，我凭记忆尽量重复他原来的话。

"去哪里……好的，机场。我在徐家汇就喜欢做美罗大厦的生意。这里我只做两个地方。美罗大厦，均瑶大厦。你知道吗？接到你之前，我在美罗大厦门口兜了两圈，终于被我看到你了！从写字楼里出来的，肯定去的不近~~~"

"哦？你很有方法嘛！"我附和了一下。

"做出租车司机，也要用科学的方法。"他说。我一愣，顿时很有些兴趣"什么科学的方法？"

"要懂得统计。我做过精确的计算。我说给你听啊。我每天开17个小时的车，每小时成本34.5元……"

"怎么算出来的？"我追问。

"你算啊，我每天要交380元，油费大概210元左右。一天17小时，平均每小时固定成本22元，交给公司，平均每小时12.5元油费。这是不是就是34.5元？"，我有些惊讶。我打了10年的车，第一次听到有出租车司机这么计算成本。以前的司机都和我说，每公里成本0.3元，另外每天交多少钱之类的。

"成本是不能按公里算的，只能按时间算。你看，计价器有一个"检查"功能。你可以看到一天的详细记录。我做过数据分析，每次载客之间的空驶时间平均为7分钟。如果上来一个起步价，10元，大概要开10分钟。也就是每一个10元的客人要花17分钟的成本，就是9.8元。不赚钱啊！如果说做浦东、杭州、青浦的客人是吃饭，做10元的客人连吃菜都算不上，只能算是撒了些味精。"

强！这位师傅听上去真不象出租车司机，到象是一位成本核算师。"那你怎么办呢？"我更感兴趣了，继续问。看来去机场的路上还能学到新东西。

"千万不能被客户拉了满街跑。而是通过选择停车的地点，时间，和客户，主动地决定你要去的地方。"我非常惊讶，这听上去很有意思。"有人说做出租车司机是靠运气吃饭的职业。我以为不是。你要站在客户的位置上，从客户的角度去思考。"这句话听上去很专业，有点象很多商业管理培训老师说的"put
yourself into others\' shoes."

"给你举个例子，医院门口，一个拿着药的，一个拿着脸盆的，你带哪一个。"我想了想，说不知道。

"你要带那个拿脸盆的。一般人病小痛的到医院看一看，拿点药，不一定会去很远的医院。拿着脸盆打车的，那是出院的。住院哪有不死人的？今天二楼的谁死了，明天三楼又死了一个。从医院出来的人通常会有一种重获新生的感觉，重新认识生命的意义，健康才最重要。那天这个说：走，去青浦。眼睛都不眨一下。你说他会打车到人民广场，再去做青浦线吗？绝对不会！"

我不由得开始佩服。

"再给你举个例子。那天人民广场，三个人在前面招手。一个年轻女子，拿着小包，刚买完东西。还有一对青年男女，一看就是逛街的。第三个是个里面穿绒衬衫的，外面羽绒服的男子，拿着笔记本包。我看一个人只要3秒钟。我毫不犹豫地停在这个男子面前。这个男的上车后说：延安高架、南北高架~~~还没说后面就忍不住问，为什么你毫不犹豫地开到我面前？前面还有两个人，他们要是想上车，我也不好意思和他们抢。我回答说，中午的时候，还有十几分钟就1点了。那个女孩子是中午溜出来买东西的，估计公司很近；那对男女是游客，没拿什么东西，不会去很远；你是出去办事的，拿着笔记本包，一看就是公务。而且这个时候出去，估计应该不会近。那个男的就说，你说对了，去宝山。"

"那些在超市门口，地铁口打车，穿着睡衣的人可能去很远吗？可能去机场吗？机场也不会让她进啊。"

有道理！我越听越有意思。

"很多司机都抱怨，生意不好做啊，油价又涨了啊，都从别人身上找原因。我说，你永远从别人身上找原因，你永远不能提高。从自己身上找找看，问题出在哪里。"这话听起来好熟，好像是"如果你不能改变世界，就改变你自己"，或者Steven
Corvey的"影响圈和关注圈"的翻版。"有一次，在南丹路一个人拦车，去田林。后来又有一次，一个人在南丹路拦车，还是去田林。我就问了，怎么你们从南丹路出来的人，很多都是去田林呢？人家说，在南丹路有一个公共汽车总站，我们都是坐公共汽车从浦东到这里，然后搭车去田林的。我恍然大悟。比如你看我们开过的这条路，没有写字楼，没有酒店，什么都没有，只有公共汽车站，站在这里拦车的多半都是刚下公共汽车的，再选择一条最短路经打车。在这里拦车的客户通常不会高于15元。"

"所以我说，态度决定一切！"我听十几个总裁讲过这句话，第一次听出租车司机这么说。

"要用科学的方法，统计学来做生意。天天等在地铁站口排队，怎么能赚到钱？每个月就赚500块钱怎么养活老婆孩子？这就是在谋杀啊！慢性谋杀你的全家。要用知识武装自己。学习知识可以把一个人变成聪明的人，一个聪明的人学习知识可以变成很聪明的人。一个很聪明的人学习知识，可以变成天才。"

"有一次一个人打车去火车站，问怎么走。他说这么这么走。我说慢，上高架，再这么这么走。他说，这就绕远了。我说，没关系，你经常走你有经验，你那么走50块，你按我的走法，等里程表50块了，我就翻表。你只给50快就好了，多的算我的。按你说的那么走要50分钟，我带你这么走只要25分钟。最后，按我的路走，多走了4公里，快了25分钟，我只收了50块。乘客很高兴，省了10元钱左右。这4公里对我来说就是1块多钱的油钱。我相当于用1元多钱买了
25分钟。我刚才说了，我一小时的成本34.5块，我多合算啊！"

"在大众公司，一般一个司机3、4千，拿回家。做的好的大概5千左右。顶级的司机大概每月能有7000。全大众2万个司机，大概只有2-3个司机，万里挑一，每月能拿到8000以上。我就是这2-3个人中间的一个。而且很稳定，基本不会大的波动。"

太强了！到此为止，我越来越佩服这个出租车司机。

"我常常说我是一个快乐的车夫。有人说，你是因为赚的钱多，所以当然快乐。我对他们说，你们正好错了。是因为我有快乐、积极的心态，所以赚的钱多。"

说的多好啊！

"要懂得体味工作带给你的美。堵在人民广场的时候，很多司机抱怨，又堵车了！真是倒霉。千万不要这样，用心体会一下这个城市的美，外面有很多漂亮的女孩子经过，非常现代的高楼大厦，虽然买不起，但是却可以用欣赏的眼光去享受。开车去机场，看着
两边的绿色，冬天是白色的，多美啊。再看看里程表，100
多了，就更美了！每一样工作都有她美丽的地方，我们要懂得从工作中体会这种美丽。"

"我10年前是强生公司的总教练。8年前在公司作过三个不同部门的部门经理。后来我不干了，一个月就3、5千块，没意思。就主动来做司机。我愿意做一个快乐的车夫。哈哈哈哈。"

到了机场，我给他留了一张名片，说："你有没有兴趣这个星期五，到我办公室，给微软的员工讲一讲你怎么开出租车的？你就当打着表，60公里一小时，你讲多久，我就付你多少钱。给我电话。"

我迫不及待的在飞机上记录下他这堂生动的MBA课。