103. Brandon Brown: Farms not grants, academic negotiations, and unusual academic contributions

BJKS Podcast

Brandon Brown is a professor at University of California Riverside, where he studies global health and ethics. He also writes career columns for Nature and Science, which we talk about: negotiations in academia, his sabbatical, his life owning and working a farm, different types of grants and contributions in academia, and much more
BJKS Podcast is a podcast about neuroscience, psychology, and anything vaguely related, hosted by Benjamin James Kuper-Smith.
Support the show: https://geni.us/bjks-patreon
Timestamps
0:00:00: Brandon's path to becoming a scientist
0:20:39: Start discussing Brandon's career columns in Nature
0:32:17: Grant applications: small vs. big
0:41:36: Postdoc-phase: is my plan crazy?
0:55:32: Different types of contribution/recognition in academia
1:09:22: Negotiation in academia
1:22:47: Contributing to team science
1:30:30: Sabbaticals
1:39:19: Brandon's farm
1:48:15: A book or paper more people should read
1:49:33: Something Brandon wishes he'd learnt sooner
1:51:43: Advice for PhD students/postdocs
Podcast links

• Website: https://geni.us/bjks-pod
• Twitter: https://geni.us/bjks-pod-twt

Brandon's links

• Website: https://geni.us/brown-web
• Google Scholar: https://geni.us/brown-scholar
• Twitter: https://geni.us/brown-twt

Ben's links

• Website: https://geni.us/bjks-web
• Google Scholar: https://geni.us/bjks-scholar
• Twitter: https://geni.us/bjks-twt

References and links
CAMP: https://www.campstatewide.org/
truEvolution: https://www.truevolution.org/
Brandon's columns (most of which we discussed):
https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-024-02390-w
https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-022-03184-8
https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-024-00381-5
https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.364.6447.1306
https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.372.6548.1358
Coelho (1988). The Alchemist.

Chapters

1. Brandon's path to becoming a scientist (00:00:00)

2. Start discussing Brandon's career columns in Nature (00:20:39)

3. Grant applications: small vs. big (00:32:17)

4. Postdoc-phase: is my plan crazy? (00:41:36)

5. Different types of contribution/recognition in academia (00:55:32)

6. Negotiation in academia (01:09:22)

7. Contributing to team science (01:22:47)

8. Sabbaticals (01:30:30)

9. Brandon's farm (01:39:19)

10. A book or paper more people should read (01:48:15)

11. Something Brandon wishes he'd learnt sooner (01:49:33)

12. Advice for PhD students/postdocs (01:51:43)