Do you remember the feeling you had the first time sitting at the wheel of a car? Were you overcome by the feeling of excitement, anticipation, fear, or perhaps a combination of them all? For many, obtaining a driver’s license is a rite of passage; a symbol that you are equipped with both the knowledge and skill of how to safely operate a motor vehicle. This achievement, … [Read more...] about Student Drivers of Research: The Benefit of Launching a Student IRB Program
Faculty
Ditch One Size Fits All Safety Protocols
Safety protocols are only as good as the Principal Investigators who enforce them and the students who adopt them. Operating a lab is no easy feat. It takes patience, consistency and teamwork. In an attempt to learn more about how PIs create a culture of safety, I reached to a few across our university campus to get some tips and tricks for creating effective safety … [Read more...] about Ditch One Size Fits All Safety Protocols
Little White Lies
To comply is to obey, or conform to instruction or official requirements. In a perfect world, research non-compliance wouldn’t occur and following the rules would be a behavioral norm. But the reality is, to err is human. … [Read more...] about Little White Lies
Funny You Should Ask: It’s Not the Heat, It’s the Humidity
Yes, it's time for another edition of “Funny You Should Ask,” the feature that encourages researchers and scholars to set scientific method on the shelf for a moment and take a more light-hearted approach. We present four University of Houston professors with a commonplace observation – last time, we wondered if breakfast is really the most important meal of the day – and … [Read more...] about Funny You Should Ask: It’s Not the Heat, It’s the Humidity
Funny You Should Ask: Paper or Plastic?
Prepare yourself for another edition of “Funny You Should Ask,” the feature that encourages UH researchers and scholars to put scientific method on hold and amuse themselves with a more light-hearted approach to inquiry. Previously, we’ve challenged our participants to ponder such puzzlers as whether breakfast is the most important meal of the day or whether it’s not the heat, … [Read more...] about Funny You Should Ask: Paper or Plastic?
Engaging Faculty in the Business of Research
The world of academic research is tough. As institutional research offices juggle regulatory and financial challenges within a continually strained system, they still have to lead their respective enterprises and serve their research communities. … [Read more...] about Engaging Faculty in the Business of Research
Three Things Are True
(1) We are the only species that cannot live without technology. (2) All new technology brings about dangerous revenge effects. (3) Humankind cannot live without creating new technology. … [Read more...] about Three Things Are True