Freelancing has high-paying opportunities, but not every student wants quick money or to freelance. Some peers want to achieve something more in their careers. I am talking about those who want to become scientists.
Becoming a geneticist or scientist in any field is a long journey, but rewarding. You can gain name, fame, royalties and IPRs and obviously more money. However, in the ever-changing era, it isn’t easy to establish yourself as a scientist without the help of social media.
I’m not talking about Instagram, Facebook or Snapchat; I’m talking about ResearchGate. It’s a dedicated platform made for researchers only! If you know or don’t know, in this article, I will show you how ResearchGate will help you boost your scientific career.
Key Topics:
Access research papers:
ResearchGate has 25 million members and they showcase their works on the platform. It has millions of free research papers available. What’s the biggest problem students of life sciences face is accessing paid research papers.
ResearchGate has a feature, you can request a full-text article from authors. You can even add a small note to ask them to give you free access to their papers. How can you do that?
Just go to the search box and type or query, keyword or research area on which you want the paper. Within a click, you can access all the papers, journals, institutes, people and Q&A around the topic.
Related article: My Genetics Degree Didn’t Teach Me This: 7 Skills I Had to Learn the Hard Way.
Showcase your work:
Showcasing your work is an important part of your research journey. This helps you to collaborate, get opportunities and build a career path. ResearchGate gives you the option to showcase every piece of your work.
You can not only upload your research article, but also your communication, review, conference paper, presentation or poster, even your infographics or figures. This helps you to build your early research profile and gives you access to connect with experts.
What you have to do is navigate to the “add” button, click on it and explore the option. You can upload so much information here.
Networking opportunities:
Networking was the biggest problem when we were doing research. The present platform extensively provides networking opportunities in your field.
What you have to do is type your keyword, the name of a scientist or the topic in which you want experts, then click on the people and that’s it… You can directly follow them or message them as well.
Related article: Why Your Wet Lab Skills May No Longer Be Relevant After 2025.
Research updates:
The one important feature that I personally like about ResearchGate is the research updates. Based on your profile and interests, the home feed shows the latest and related research.
For instance, if you upload your conference poster on the genetics of MTHFR, it will immediately show the latest uploaded articles and other information on this topic.
This helps you to get more insight into your topic, connect with experts in your field and explore the latest information.
Q&A with experts:
The last and important feature of the present platform is the Q&A option. Here you can ask technical and other questions and experts will answer them directly. For instance, if I ask that I am not getting a good PCR amplicon for MTHFR, experts and others in this field share their protocols, tips and recommendations.
ResearchGate Q&A is very important for your existing research project. I personally got many tips and recommendations during my initial research years, and now I am actively contributing my knowledge to the community.
Want to know more?
- You can directly follow a specific journal, institute or scientist.
- You can also find jobs here.
- You can find the statistics of your research work – reads, citations, research interest and more.
- You can add your co-author and the lab where you are working.
Read more: How to Avoid Online Scams – A Guide for Biological Science Students and Researchers.
Wrapping up:
ResearchGate is a dedicated research platform for students and researchers. I personally got an initial research boost when I started using the platform and trust me, you can also replicate the same.
Click the link and join ResearchGate now, be active, make your profile, add your work, institute, affiliations and start exploring the science.
