Lessons from a coffee shop

Words by: Dr. Jeannys F Nnemnbeng
Edited by: Dr. Gabriele Baniulyte

Under the freezing sky of Fall, we felt a gentle breeze of Spring
“Live on Coffee and Flowers” - Matt Berninger

If you are an aficionado of coffee like most of us and enjoy the enchanting smell of flowers, you would have been right at home at Remi43 Flower & Coffee. Indeed, last November, a couple of postdocs and the INet-Net leadership team met at Remi43 for chat and sweets. 

Needless to say, as usual, it was a pleasant experience, but for me, it had a little plus to it. I was introduced to self-promotion in Academia. I was blown away. Shout out to Gaby for her insight on the matter and as I am feeling with a kind spirit let me share with you what I learned that day.
Doing research is great but making sure your research is seen is even better. You see, with the rise of the digital age, we have access to a myriad of tools to help spread what we are so passionate about. We have the possibility to share what we spend hours in laboratories or in the field measuring, researching, and reading about. One of those tools is Google Scholar.

I don’t know if it is the same for you, but for me before that fateful encounter, I used Google Scholar purely to research papers relevant to my research. I had no idea I could create a profile to store everything I ever published. And, that's not all! It not only stores what you published but also records any citations associated with those publications. Isn’t it amazing?

I also learned that day the intricacies of the immigration process while navigating academia. It was great. All in all, it was an enriching conversation sprinkled with moments of laughter and in-between bites of almond croissant.

Hope to see you there on the next one and as always, keep on shining!