Breaking the ice and forging links: the importance of socializing in research

PLoS Comput Biol. 2013;9(11):e1003355. doi: 10.1371/journal.pcbi.1003355. Epub 2013 Nov 21.

Abstract

When meeting someone for the first time-whether another PhD student, or the Founding Editor-in-chief of PLOS Computational Biology-nothing breaks the ice like eating pancakes or having drinks together. A social atmosphere provides a relaxed, informal environment where people can connect, share ideas, and form collaborations. Being able to build a network and thrive in a social environment is crucial to a successful scientific career. This article highlights the importance of bringing people together who speak the same scientific language in an informal setting. Using examples of events held by Regional Student Groups of the ISCB's Student Council, this article shows that socializing is much more than simply sharing a drink.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Computational Biology / organization & administration
  • Humans
  • Research*
  • Social Networking*
  • Societies, Scientific
  • Students*

Grants and funding

GM is supported by NICTA. NICTA is funded by the Australian Government as represented by the Department of Broadband, Communications and the Digital Economy and the Australian Research Council through the ICT Centre of Excellence program. MS is the former secretary of RSG Netherlands, which is co-founded and financially supported by the Netherlands Bioinformatics Centre (NBIC). The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.