HHMI Bulletin

[ Winter 2013 / Vol. 26 No. 1 ]

Table of Contents
Table of Contents

Winter 2013

Vol. 26 No. 1
Features
A Happy Oasis

A Structural Revolution

One Foot in Front of the Other

Rational Exuberance
Centrifuge
Musical Magnet

Something’s Brewing

Tethered to the Wind
Bench Report
Cellular Search Engine

Rickety for a Reason

Sister Act
President's Letter
Taking the Long View
Perspectives & Opinions
How do you encourage innovation in your lab?

Model of Success
Toolbox
A Trick of Light
Science Education
The Past, Present, and Future Earth

Trash Is Treasure
Lab Book
A Fruit Ripening Mystery

A Time to Transcribe

A Toxic Environment for Kidneys

An Immunological Arms Race

Getting to the Root of Things

Kinetochore Structure: A Sizable Problem

Melody-Modifying Mice

Sick Snake Science

The Origins of Doubt

Tunneling Out
About the Bulletin
Contributors
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Back Issues

How do you encourage innovation in your lab?

edited by Nicole Kresge

Great scientists are also great innovators. New ideas, techniques, and devices form the bedrock of scientific discovery. Here, four researchers share how they inspire innovation in the lab.

	Carolyn R. Bertozzi HHMI INVESTIGATOR University of California, Berkeley
I put forth "grand challenges" during group meetings and one-off hallway encounters. Usually these incite eye rolling, but once in a while a coworker takes a serious interest in a "moon-shot" project. I also aim to give my students and postdocs a great degree of independence in crafting their research projects. For postdocs headed for academic careers, I encourage exploration of new territory that could form the basis of their future research program. Finally, I send trainees to conferences and encourage them to attend sessions outside their immediate research area.
	Eric Betzig JFRC GROUP LEADER Janelia Farm Research Campus
I try to encourage my group to: a) Not follow the academic herd. b) Keep an eye out for the unexpected. c) Focus on what's not working—understanding the problem is half the battle. d) Work harder than the other guy. e) Not get trapped by their success.
	Craig S. Pikaard HHMI-GBMF INVESTIGATOR Indiana University Bloomington
There is no simple formula. Innovation requires having a sense of what questions to pursue, possessing a broad enough perspective to piece together clues and synthesize hypotheses, maintaining a healthy skepticism of existing models, grasping the limitations of current technologies, knowing how and when to seek out collaborators, and being willing to go for it when a promising idea comes to mind. Imagination, creativity, and exploration are what make science fun, and in my lab, we revel in these aspects of our work. I look for creative junior colleagues like those described in an ad for IBM fellows decades ago: dreamers, heretics, gadflies, mavericks, and geniuses.
	Martin D. Burke HHMI EARLY CAREER SCIENTIST University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign
I try to recruit highly innovative students ... and then stay out of their way!