Establishing a career in research is difficult – in addition to keeping on top of the latest scientific updates and laboratory tools, early career researchers must navigate a myriad of difficulties, securing permanent job roles and funding, finding a good work–life balance and navigating publication.

BioTechniques LEARN seeks to provide resources covering all the areas an early career researcher needs to support them in their career. With guidance from our panel of Mentors, we provide resources including career and mentorship guidance and tips for getting your work published (and noticed) – all in addition to how-to guides for the methods you’ll need in the lab, and the latest new protocols from the peer-reviewed pages of BioTechniques.

Mentors

Introducing our panel of Mentors; Antentor Hinton Jr, Bashiru Garba, Jennifer Cihlar, Jens Coorssen, Josh Hall and Nixon Niyonzima who each have a specific area of expertise within the Life Sciences. These individuals are each dedicated to supporting other scientists and expanding the community. With a passion for enabling accessibility in research, encouraging young scientists and developing technical skills, the Mentors are on hand to help any early career researchers in their fields.

Careers and publishing advice

Early on in your career, there may be several aspects that are challenging, here on LEARN we can offer practical advice for developing your career in science, including topics such as diversity in STEM, the gender gap, mental health, and how COVID-19 has affected lab researchers. When it comes to publishing your work, there are many ways to present your findings and views and even more ways of publishing these to reach a wide audience and increase the impact of your work. Learn more about publishing, whether it’s about how double-blind peer review works or how to make the most of your publication.

Techniques

Mastering techniques for your lab work can be vital to delivering the best outcomes for your research and to improve the reproducibility of your work. With these practical how-to guides from LEARN, including journal content, infographics, webinars and videos on flow cytometry, sequencing and Western blots, no technique will be out of reach.

Protocols

Featuring state-of-the-art content from our journal, BioTechniques, the protocols section hosts an array of step-by-step, lab-based methodologies and techniques throughout the Life Sciences. A multidisciplinary abstract introducing the topic as well as links to the full protocol and the original publication can be found within each topic section. Why don’t you test out the protocol with your peers and let us know how you got on? Or, perhaps you would like to submit your protocol to the journal – contact our Managing Editor, Ebony Torrington, via email at [email protected]